THE LOOKS

Jews with “good looks” usually opted for live “above” – moving around the town equipped with false IDs, posing as Poles. These included Dawid Zylbert, who, with the aid of Mieczysław Małkowski survived for two years hiding in a hole dug in the ground in Warsaw’s Żoliborz (today’s Kępa Potocka); or Mietek Lipski, living by the Żak family at Plac Grzybowski 1 in Warsaw, was working in the city.

The ones unlucky enough to have “the wrong looks” were usually destined to remain in confined hideouts constantly, dependant on the help of their Polish keepers. “The wrong appearance,” writes Hanna Wehr, forced you to be extremely cautious: never showing in public, staying at the house, often in a hidden room with a masked entrance ... ‘behind the closet.’ People like that had to be looked after by others.” People like Rywnka Goldiner (“Jagódka”), hidden by Zofia Bagan and her parents in Bełżyce near Lublin. People like Aleksander Artemowicz, hidden by the Ryszewski family for three years at their apartment at ul. Nowy Zjazd 7 in Warsaw. People like Emma and Henryk Makower, for eighteen months hiding in Nowa Miłosna by the Urzykowski family. And many other Jews, whose stories can be found at the Museum’s website.