The Skorulski Family
Konstanty Skorulski Father
born 4 May 1896 – died 1970
Helena Skorulska Mother
born 26 January 1893 – died 1 January 1990
Czesław Skorulski Son
Leokadia Gaweł née Skorulska Daughter
born 23 April 1928
Recognized as the Righteous Among the Nations:
31 January 1993
- Leokadia Gaweł née Skorulska
- Helena Skorulska
- Czesław Skorulski
- Konstanty Skorulski
Help Was Extended to:
Boruch Szapiro
Zieda Szapiro
Mirka Szapiro
born 1927
Henia Szapiro
born 1934
Lipka Szapiro
born 1930
Story of Rescue
July 2010, Alicja Placha
Before World War Two the Skorulski family lived in Zułów, in Wileńszczyzna (the Vilnius Region). Konstanty, apart from running a farm, worked for Boruch Szapiro, who was a timber dealer.
In November 1943, when the Nazis increased the repression of Jews, Szapiro asked the Skorulskis for shelter and help for himself and his family. Konstanty and Helena were faced with a dilemma: “Here there were kids, after all,there were four of us, and it was scary. But after that he [Boruch] came once again, and our parents agreed, took them in,” recounts one of the daughters, Leokadia Gaweł.
In the basement under the cottage the Skorulski family sheltered the five-person Szapiro family for seven months, till May 1944. None of the neighbors or family members knew about the hiding of the Jews
The conditions in the hiding place were very poor. “Potatoes were kept there; if the potatoes didn’t freeze, people wouldn’t either. From time to time my mom brought some coal in a bucket, and it warmed up somewhat. It was horrible,” recalls Leokadia. At night the Skorulskis enabled the hidden to enter the house and have a bath in a water tank. The Jewish family shared the food expenses.
After World War Two the Szapiro family stayed in Podbrodzie (Pabradė) for a short time, then they went to Israel, from where they corresponded with the Skorulski family.
