Węgrów

Protecting the dearest ones

Leokadia and Antoni Piątkowski had a farm on the outskirts of Węgrów. One day Antoni’s relative brought two Jews to their home – Mendel Klein and an unknown man who had escaped from the ghetto in Węgrów, which had been liquidated by the Germans. The Piątkowskis did not refuse to help, even though their nine-person family lived in small house. They prepared a hideout in their barn for the two men.

On the morning of 27 January 1944, probably following a denunciation, German gendarmes stormed onto the premises. The discovered Jews and the household members were dragged out to yard, where they were ordered to dig a pit. A brutal interrogation followed, and the Germans did not spare even the smallest ones, Leokadia’s grandchildren. Seeing that the whole family could be punished by death, Leokadia took all the blame for helping Jews. She was shot together with the two men in hiding. The rest of the family was spared. After a few days, under the cover of night, the family of Leokadia Piątkowska moved her body to the cemetery. It is unknown what happened to the remains of the Jews.