Frieda, Leon, Herman, Celia and Moshe stayed with the Polziecs until the Soviet Army liberated the area in July 1944. Today, Czeslaw is the only remaining member of the Polziec family. Maria and Stanislaw Polziec, Frieda Tepper, Celia, Herman and Moshe Wiesenfeld died years ago. Leon Gersten and Czeslaw had not seen each other since 1944. The past Chanukah reunion that JFR organized between the two men was a very emotional one at a special dinner honoring Czeslaw and his family.
“We saved five Polish people of the Hebrew religion, that is all,” said Czeslaw Polziec in a JRF documentary video. “We are not heroes; it was just a matter of human decency.”
“We owe our lives to the Polziec family – it’s like they gave birth to our family. For us they will always be heroes,” says Leon.
Since its founding, the JFR has provided more than $32 million to aged and needy rescuers—helping to repay a debt of gratitude on behalf of the Jewish people to these noble men and women as well as facilitating a Holocaust education program.
“This Yom Ha Shoah, it is important to recognize the righteous gentiles, who risked their lives to save Jews during the dark days of the Holocaust. It is a fitting lesson to all of us that ordinary people can rise up against genocide and tyranny and do what is right. Moving forward, it becomes our responsibility to honor their legacy by the teaching young people the power of moral responsibility and personal choice,” JFR’s vice president, Stanlee Stahl told Tazpit.