Mieczysław wraz z siostrą Otylią do września 1939 roku mieszkali w Ostrowcu Świętokrzyskim (województwo kieleckie). Po wybuchu wojny przenieśli się do Warszawy. Ich mieszkanie służyło jako schronienie, miejsce przejściowe dla wielu Żydów z Ostrowca (m. in. skorzystali z ich pomocy: Marian Kargul, Wanda Zilberdrut, Jakier i Jenta Czernikowscy z dwoma córkami, Henryk Leszczyński, pani Kierblowa z córką, Stanisław Hollander, Warwejcłowa z córką). Pomagali Żydom wyrabiając im „aryjskie” dokumenty, szukając pracy i domu. Wielu osobom uratowali życie przemycając ich z Polski przez Czechy i Słowację aż na Węgry. Pod koniec wojny Mieczysław został aresztowany przez Niemców za pomoc Żydom. Wypuszczono go dopiero po wyzwoleniu. Mieczysław Podgajny i Otylia Pracka zostali uhonorowani tytułem Sprawiedliwy wśród Narodów Świata w 1983 roku.
Źródło:
Księga Sprawiedliwych wśród Narodów Świata. Ratujący życie podczas Holocaustu. Polska, tom II, red. naczelny Izrael Gutman, Kraków 2009, s. 571.
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| Wanda (Chaja) Zylberdrut z córką Mariką, 1946 rok, zdjęcie z zbiorów Lucyny Rudzkiej |
PODGAJNY, Mieczyslaw ((1918-)
PODGAJNY-PRACKI, Otylia ((1907-) sister
Brother and sister resided in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski where they knew many Jews. During the occupation they moved to Warsaw, to a modest apartment consisting of one room and a cellar. Not having the possibility of concealing Jews in their home, they helped many from Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski to find other shelters, to get false identification, or even employment. They helped Jakir and Jente Czernikowski and their daughters, Barbara and Frumka, Stanislaw Holanski, Marian Kargul, Mrs. Werwejel with her daughter, Wanda Zylberdrut with her daughter. So Wanda got work as a manicurist and Henryk Leszczynski as a driver in a German business. Stanislaw and Marian were able, thanks to Mieczyslaw's connections, to cross the frontier into Czechoslovakia and Hungary, safer at that time. At the turn of 1943 and 1944 Mieczyslaw was arrested under the suspicion of hiding Jews, but luckily he escaped from the prison. See: Grynberg, op. cit.
Źródło/Source:
https://www.savingjews.org/righteous/pv.htm
Until the outbreak of the war, Mieczysław Podgajny and his sister Otylia Pracka lived in Ostrowiec Świtokrzyski, in the Kielce district, and had ties with many local Jews. Early in the occupation, they moved to Warsaw where they shared an apartment. When the Germans began to liquidate the Jews of Ostrowiec, Podgajny and his sister became an address for Jews fleeing from the Ostrowiec ghetto looking for a place to hide on the Aryan side of the capital. Their one-room apartment and cellar served as a transit station, through which the following Jews passed: Marian Kargul, Wanda Zilberdrut, Jakier and Jenta Czernikowksi and their two daughters, Henryk Leszczyński, Mrs. Kierblowa and her daughter, Stanisław Hollander and Mrs. Warwejclowa and her daughter. Podgajny and Pracka obtained “Aryan” papers, jobs and places to live for the Jewish fugitives, both in and outside of Warsaw. Thanks to connections they had with people who knew how to cross the borders illegally, Podgajny and his sister managed to get a number of the Jews they cared for out of Poland to Hungary through Czechoslovakia, thus saving their lives. Towards the end of the occupation, the Germans arrested Podgajny on suspicion of helping Jews and he was freed only after the liberation. Podgajny and Pracka neither asked for nor received any remuneration for their efforts to save Jews, and everything they did was motivated by altruism.
On September 19, 1983, Yad Vashem recognized Mieczysław Podgajny and his sister Otylia Pracka as Righteous Among the Nations.
Źródło/Source:
Yad Vashem
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