Mother trembled like a leaf. Stefan Galas about rescuing Jews in Strzeniówka near Nadarzyn

INTERVIEWEE: Stefan Galas
INTERVIEWEE’S BIOGRAPHY AND DETAILED THEMES DEVELOPMENT: sztetl.org.pl/en/oral-history...
INTERVIEWER: Mateusz Szczepaniak
OPERATOR: Piotr Boruszkowski
RECORDING DATE: 12th June 2019
RECORDING COPYRIGHT: POLIN Museum of the History of the Polish Jews
THE MOST IMPORTANT THEMES:
00:00:00 - Information on the place of residence of the interviewee’s family.
00:03:48 - Education in Nadarzyn and Milanówek.
00:07:45 - Housing conditions, encounter with Rachela Birenbaum in a forest and help granted to her and her father Izaak Birenbaum.
00:08:49 - Josef Jass, a Jewish acquaintance from Nadarzyn.
00:12:30 - Living conditions during the occupation, a bandit attack on the farm.
00:15:15 - War preparations, living conditions on the farm, hideouts.
00:22:55 - Life during the occupation.
00:24:36 - Disappearance of Izaak Birenbaum, Rachela and Josef’s departure for Lower Silesia and their marriage, departure for Israel, visits to Poland and contact after the war.
00:30:07 - Absence of knowledge of the names of the Jews in hiding, meeting with Jass and his family in 2017, seeking recognition as one of the Righteous Among the Nations.
00:36:52 - Attitude of the Polish community in Nadarzyn towards Jews before the war.
00:40:53 - Neighbours, the Czajka family.
00:43:54 - Participation of the Czajka family in hiding Jews, everyday life during the occupation.
00:47:48 - Life of Josef Jass during the war.
00:50:36 - Reaction of the people in the interviewee’s circle to the decision to hide Jews.
00:52:58 - Dangerous situations: assaults, presence of Germans in the vicinity, threat posed by the Russians.
00:59:06 - Capture and release of the interviewee from a roundup.
01:01:24 - Fear, attempts of Jas and his family to repay the help.
01:03:45 - Memories of the outbreak of the war.
01:13:57 - Memories of the end of the war.
01:16:45 - Relationship between Josef Jass and Rachela Birenbaum.
01:18:41 - Settlement of the interviewee’s cousin in Dzierżoniów.
01:21:51 - The interviewee’s life after the war: education, employment at a forest inspectorate, service in the army, employment at a school.
01:29:37 - Memories of the Muranów from the 1960s and from before the war (Nalewki street, Jewish shops, president G.W. Bush visiting the former ghetto).
01:34:00 - Relations with Josef and Rachela Jass after the war.
01:39:17 - Reflection on helping other people during the war.
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