Maria and Edward Teski lived in Warsaw, at 12 Noakowskiego Street. They had two children.
Maria came from Międzyrzec Podlaski, a small town located south east of Siedlce. She knew the Muszyńskis, a Jewish family from there. Stanisław was a lawyer, while his wife Irena and his mother- in- law, Lea, ran a dental surgery.
In 1940 the Nazis established a ghetto in Międzyrzec, where they gathered – according to different sources – from 17,000 to 24,000 Jews. The ghetto existed until summer 1942, when the Nazis sent most of its residents to Treblinka extermination camp.
The Muszyński family managed to avoid that fate. Already in 1941 they fled to Warsaw and turned to the Teski family for help. It was decided to take them in. The Teskis gave one of their rooms to the Muszyńskis, supplied them with food and took care of them. After some period of time they organized a detached hiding place for them, in case unexpected guests came to the house.
Moreover, at a later date the Teskis gave shelter to a Jewish boy, Janusz Konorski, who survived the occupation under the false identity of Ryszard Stankiewicz.
Jadwiga Jóźwik, who worked for the Teski family as a nanny helped them provide for additional residents and avoid the dangers resulting from hiding Jews in the house. Details of the hiding are known from the report.
All the Jews hiding in Noakowskiego Street survived the war. Janusz’s mother found him and they went to Paris together. The Muszyński family emigrated to the United States several years after the war. They remained in touch with Maria Teski and her family.
