The Guzek Family
Zuzanna Guzek née Kobus Mother
born 4 April 1886 – died 1970
Józef Guzek Father
born 17 July 1890 – died 29 August 1941
Eugeniusz Guzek Son
born 24 November 1922
Recognized as the Righteous Among the Nations:
19 March 1987
- Eugeniusz Guzek
- Józef Guzek
- Zuzanna Guzek née Kobus
Help Was Extended to:
Józef Mackiewicz Father
born 1893 – died 6 August 1944
Diana Mackiewicz Mother
born 1900
Waldemar Mackiewicz Son
born 1923 – died 6 August 1944
Stefan Szor Husband
born 1915
Halina Szor née Rajbenbach Wife
born 1921
matka Haliny Rajbenbach
ojciec Haliny Rajbenbach
Maria Rajbenbach Daughter
Chaim Leszcz Husband
Chana Leszcz Wife
Eugenia Leszcz Daughter
Ignacy Leszcz Son
born 1934
Story of Rescue
September 2010, Magdalena Leszczyńska
Eugeniusz Guzek did not attach any importance to the differences on the grounds of nationality or faith: among his schoolmates were both a protestant and Jewish boys. After all, does it really matter when it comes to going out together to the cinema or dancing?
Eugeniusz was a man of action: before the war he was very active in a Polish scout organization and during the war – in the Underground. As a Home Army soldier, he took part in the Warsaw Uprising. When during the German occupation one of his scout friends asked Eugeniusz to hide a Jewish family, he decided to help, although this decision entailed new responsibilities and dangers.
The Guzek family – Eugeniusz, his mother Zuzanna and sister Jadwiga – became very engaged in this help. They did not only take in the first family of the Mackiewiczs, but also the Szor, Leszcz and Rajbenbach families. They shared their small and uncomfortable flat on Nowogrodzka Street with the Jewish fugitives, and they obtained food, which in those days was a difficult and often risky task.
The Guzek family helped as long as they could – even during the Warsaw Uprising, Zuzanna was not only able to break free from the German round-up, but she also took one of her protégés with her.
In the period from 1943 to August 1944 the Guzek family hid 12 people altogether, eight of whom survived. They kept in touch with three of them also after the war ended and after their departure to Israel.
