The first to come to the manor in Orwidów Dolny in the Wilno region were two from the Dąbrowicz family, with their goat "Sabina". “They were not Jews, although I'm unsure about the descent of the goat. Jews love goats”.
Later came Stefan Świerzewski with his wife Nata, a Catholic from a Jewish background. They had been hiding in Wilno. However, a neighbour accused the apartment's owner that it contained Jews, that they should move out or he would have to report them.
“I called together all the workers and asked, 'The Świerzewski couple want to go to Warsaw. I am offering them the opportunity to stay, but you must decide'. And everyone answered, 'Miss, let them stay, because if we help them here maybe someone will alsohelp our people in Russia'”.
In June 1941, Ms. Dąbrowska’s mother was transported deep into Russia.
It continued like this: she went to Wilno, she stopped for a visit with the Fedecki family, they had a house and were hiding a young married couple on their veranda, the Minkowskis. He was a lawyer from Sosnowiec and she was the daughter of a well-known dentist from Wilno. They asked if she would take them in. By all means, the house is large.
Then she was in Wilno again. “Ma’am – someone turned to her – you can save a child.” The girl was named Miriam and was three years old, she was blond and spoke only Russian, they carried her from the ghetto.
The last to come was Sonia Tajc, the granddaughter of the Nitsons, wealthy landowners. She was 15 years old and did not speak Polish very well. What to do? She came up with an idea: Sonia will herd the cattle with Janusz, so they will have to leave early in the morning and return after dusk.
But that’s not all. There were also acquaintances from the poets’ group “Po Prostu”, different Jews who stayed two or three days, and also Helena Snarska, whose real name was Lusia Wajnryb, who had jumped from a train heading to Treblinka and had somehow made it to Wilno to the priest, Father Kretowicz, who – like Father Chlebowki – managed to obtain birth certificates for Jews.