A ceremony posthumously honoring a Polish couple who saved a Jewish girl during the Holocaust was held today in the Garden of the Righteous at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. Accepting the Righteous Among the Nations medal on behalf of the couple, Alfons and Aurelia Gawlek, was their daughter Ewa Bielaczyk.
The Gawleks were recognized for their actions in saving Ola Shari (nee Roztach), who was represented at the ceremony by her daughter, Helen Shari-Motro - who sought out and discovered the Gawleks' daughter in Poland.
After Ola's parents died in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II, the Gawleks employed her as a nanny, knowing that she was a Jew pretending to be a Christian. Ola looked after their daughter Ewa. After the war, Mrs. Gawlek gave Ola a large sum of money so as to allow her to start a new life, and the two never saw each other again. Ola moved to the United States, married, and moved to Israel in 1987. She told the story of how she survived the war to her brother and daughter, and expressed her wish to somehow repay the family that saved her. Her daughter Helen, a journalist and lawyer, went to Poland to find the Gawleks, and published an article in the local press telling of her search. Ewa Gawlek, now 64, responded to the article and contacted Helen.
The Gawleks were recognized for their actions in saving Ola Shari (nee Roztach), who was represented at the ceremony by her daughter, Helen Shari-Motro - who sought out and discovered the Gawleks' daughter in Poland.
After Ola's parents died in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II, the Gawleks employed her as a nanny, knowing that she was a Jew pretending to be a Christian. Ola looked after their daughter Ewa. After the war, Mrs. Gawlek gave Ola a large sum of money so as to allow her to start a new life, and the two never saw each other again. Ola moved to the United States, married, and moved to Israel in 1987. She told the story of how she survived the war to her brother and daughter, and expressed her wish to somehow repay the family that saved her. Her daughter Helen, a journalist and lawyer, went to Poland to find the Gawleks, and published an article in the local press telling of her search. Ewa Gawlek, now 64, responded to the article and contacted Helen.