Born in Poland in 1908 as Maria Roszak, Sister Cecylia Roszak is best known for her heroism in saving Jewish children during the Holocaust. The sister died on Friday, November 16 at the age of 110.
The sister with the others at the convent near Vilna risked their lives to hide 17 members of a Jewish Zionist underground movement. It was the convent that also helped smuggle grenades into the Vilna Ghetto to help with the Resistance. Their actions resulted in their mother superior being arrested by the Nazis.
Six of the nuns and their mother superior were honored by Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem as "Righteous Among the Nations" in 1984 for their heroism.
The World Holocaust Remembrance Center, also known as Yad Vashem, is also the only organization that recognizes non-Jews who risks their lives to save Jews. Since the 1960s ,about 24, 355 people from 47 countries have been recognized for their heroism as "Righteous Among the Nations". The trees planted on the Avenue of the Righteous on the Mount of Remembrance are each labeled for a different "Righteous" person, including the nuns in question.