Warsaw, on… September 1984
Jewish Historical Institute
in Poland
Warsaw, Świerczewskiego Street 79
We wish to kindly ask you to send our declaration concerning help which we provided to Jews during the Nazi occupation in Poland in the years 1939-1945 to the Institute of National Remembrance [Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority], Yad Vashem, in Jerusalem.
We, the undersigned:
– Jan Maślankiewicz, born on 1 September 1916 in Warsaw,
– Aniela Maślankiewicz, born on 27 May 1919 in Warsaw,
during the occupation we were residing in Warsaw at Wronia Street 38, and we currently live
in Piaseczno near Warsaw [...].
In the summer of 1941, my wife Aniela Maślankiewicz and our three children resided in Piaseczno, where we had a summer house. During her stay she met a Jewish woman named Helena Poper and her daughter Kamila. This acquaintance led us to allow Helena and Kamila Poper to live at our apartment in the winter months (1941-1942). Our building was located next to the German barracks (a school building). This location allowed them to live there in peace for several months.
We would like to emphasize that we were motivated only by humanitarian reasons and that we were aware of the potential, grave consequences.
Here are the addresses of Helena and her daughter, who live in France and could confirm
our statement:
[...]
Paris X
[...]
Paris (20).
For a while we maintained correspondence with the aforementioned. It ceased for an unknown reason (I submit the last letter from Mrs Poper, dated 20 December 1972).
In addition, the fate during the terrible German occupation brought us together with a Jewish man named Adam Landau (now deceased), who used to live at Łucka Street 2 in Warsaw before the outbreak of the war.
His looks and accent allowed him to survive the occupation on the Aryan side. He took part in the Warsaw Uprising. I met Adam Landau during my service in the Citizens’ Militia in Warsaw, at Miedziana Street 6.
When the Warsaw ghetto was established, his family, consisting of a wife and a son, was deported to the ghetto. Landau changed his surname to Laskowski and fought in the Uprising under this name. Our acquaintance and common experiences brought us so close together that for several months Adam lived with my family in Piaseczno, in the years 1942- 1943. When the Warsaw Ghetto was being liquidated, it was decided that his son Ryszard would be escorted to the Aryan side. Adam had no shelter for him, so he brought him to Piaseczno, to live with my family.
Ryszard Laskowski (or Ryszard Landau) survived the occupation. We do not know his address, he probably lives in America and works as a violinist.
With the exception of Adam Laskowski, the people mentioned in our statement are alive, and the help which we provided for them was selfless. We are sending our letter in the hopes that it would be of use to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.