Low this article has been rated as lowimportance on the. Warsaw, poland the young catholic man spirited his jewish girlfriend out of auschwitz in 1944, saving her life. Jerzy bielecki, a polish resistance fighter who in 1944 helped his jewish girlfriend escape the auschwitz death camp, has died at the age of 90. Bilecki, jerzy the jewish foundation for the righteous. The beautiful story of jerzy bielcki and cyla cybulska, whose love. Jerzy bielecki holds photos of himself in 1944 and cyla cybulska in 1945. Jerzy bielecki holds photos of himself in 1944 and cyla cybulska, his jewish girlfriend, in 1945. She was a young jewess, who thanks to his courage was the only member of her family to survive the holocaust. Jerzy bielecki, saved jewish girl from auschwitz jewish. Jerzy and cyla walked through the fields for ten days.
Jerzy bielecki holding photos of him in 1944 and his sweetheart cyla cybulska in 1945 at his home in southern poland ap. This article is within the scope of wikiproject poland, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of poland on wikipedia. Nearly three years later, cyla cybulska, her parents, her two brothers and her younger sister were crammed into a train with thousands of other polish jews and shipped to auschwitz. A story of moral courage as told by stanlee stahl executive vice president, jfr jerzy bielecki and stanlee stahl. Summer 1944 jerzy bielecki was in the first transport of polish. Bielecki was walking in broad daylight down a pathway at auschwitz, wearing a stolen ss uniform with his jewish sweetheart cyla cybulska. The yad vashem institute in jerusalem awarded bielecki the righteous among the nations title in 1985 for saving the girlfriend, cyla cybulska. This story begins in years 1942, jerzy bielecki was a 21yearold catholic pole in auschwitz.
The two escaped from the auschwitz death camp 66 years ago. Jerzy bielecki was 19 years old, roman catholic and suspected of being a member of the polish resistance when he was arrested by the nazis in june 1940 and transported to auschwitz, where the number 243 was tattooed on his arm. It was then that bielecki decided that they needed to escape. Between january and september 1943, cybulska s entire family was murdered. The pair escaped from auschwitz together 66 years ago. In the fall of 1943, after about three years of hard labor, he made the acquaintance of tzila cybulska. Cyla cybulska zacharowicz 19202005 find a grave memorial. Jerzy bielecki, a polish catholic inmate at auschwitz who helped his jewish girlfriend escape the death camp and, as a. Jerzy bielecki escaped from auschwitz with jewish girlfriend cyla cybulska. He was a roman catholic, imprisoned for helping the polish resistance. Historia niezwyklej obozowej milosci faktograf youtube. Jerzy bielecki 28 march 1921 20 october 2011, nowy targ was a polish catholic social. In 1940, the germans caught 17yearold jerzy bielecki as he was escaping from occupied poland into hungary, and sent him to auschwitz as prisoner no.
His knees buckling with fear, he tried to keep a stern bearing on. Jerzy is making a promise to cyla that he will rescue her. In this may 11, 2010 photo jerzy bielecki is seen presenting photos of him in 1944, left, and cyla in 1945, in his home in nowy targ, southern poland. The two fell in love, and bielecki began working on a daring plan for escape. Remembering a righteous man the jewish foundation for. Cyla cybulska always regretted losing contact with the man who had helped her escape from auschwitz during. On july 21, 1944 a polish prisoner jerzy bielecki camp no. Sometime after that cybulska and bielecki met and fell in love. Er ist ein katholischer pole namens jerzy bielecki. It all happened in july 1944, when the 23yearold bielecki used his relatively privileged position in auschwitz to orchestrate a daring escape for both of them. Do not post the full text of ed articles without permission of the owner. What results, is the subject of sebastian jungers book war and the movie restrepo.
Jerzy bielecki hold photos of himself and his girlfriend, cyla cybulska bielecki was 17years old in 1940, when the nazis caught him trying to escape from occupied poland into hungary. He was a roman catholic who had been imprisoned in 1940 as a member of the polish resistance. Workshops study visits education auschwitzbirkenau. Jerzy bielecki 28 march 1921 20 october 2011, nowy targ was a polish catholic social worker, best known as one of the few inmates of the auschwitz concentration camp who managed to escape successfully. During the winter of 1944, jerzy decided to attempt to escape from auschwitz.
Jerzy bielecki, 90, a polish inmate who led his jewish girlfriend out of auschwitz in 1944, died oct. We drove from zakopane, poland to the nearby town of nowy targ on a warm august morning, eager to meet rescuer jerzy bielecki for the first time. Nearly three years later, cyla cybulska, her parents. In 1944 jerzy bielecki was employed in the grain warehouse located in the building of the socalled unterkunft in the vicinity of the main camp.
Jerzy bielecki, who saved jewish girlfriend in auschwitz. Jerzy bielecki holding photos of him in 1944 and his sweetheart cyla cybulska in 1945 at his home in southern poland ap the day was july 21, 1944. Death record, obituary, funeral notice and information about the deceased person. Jerzy bielecki led cyla cybulska out of her barrack at auschwitz and passed a sleepy guard to the woods and freedom. It is with great sadness that we report the death of jerzy bielecki, a righteous gentile,who risked his life to save cyla cybulska, a polish jew. Cyla cybulska was shipped to auschwitz with her parents and siblings in 1943. The next afternoon, bielecki, dressed in the stolen uniform, came to the laundry barrack where cybulska had been moved for work duty. Former inmate recalls daring escape from auschwitz. There he met and fell in love with cyla cybulska, a polish jew. Sweating with fear, he demanded the german supervisor release. In july 1944, the 23yearold bielecki used his relatively privileged position as a germanspeaking catholic polish inmate of auschwitz to orchestrate the daring rescue of his jewish girlfriend, cyla cybulska. With the help of other resistance members in the camp, he escaped in 1944 together with his jewish girlfriend, who was an inmate of auschwitz ii.
His knees buckling with fear, he tried to keep a stern bearing on the long stretch of gravel to. Auschwitz survivor, bielecki escaped to freedom with cyla cybulska in 1944. Jerzy died on thursday, october 20, 2011, at the age of 90 in poland. Exinmate recalls daring escape from auschwitz cbs news. Although men and women were not allowed to communicate with each other, jerzy and cyla were able to exchange a few words every day. Jerzy bielecki 90 1921 2011 this is the grave site of jerzy bielecki. Decades later, catholic pole recalls saving jewish. A pretty darkhaired one, winked at me, bielecki recalled. Miraculously, after 39 years the two found each other. Urodzilam sie i wychowalam w miasteczku lomza, gdzie zastal mnie wybuch ii wojny swiatowej. Jerzy had one of the few successul escapes from aushwitz. Jerzy bielecki, hero fled auschwitz with jewish girlfriend.
Sent to work in a warehouse, he met cyla cybulska, a jewish girl. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks. He became head of postwar christian association of the auschwitz families. But cyla received a false report of jerzys death and immigrated to the usa after the war. Blog page 2 of 6 the jewish foundation for the righteous the. Jerzy bielecki, a germanspeaking polish inmate at the same nazi death camp, lived to age 90 and died peacefully in his sleep thursday at his home in nowy. Yet it took 39 years for them to see each other again. Former inmate recalls daring, romantic escape from auschwitz.
Bielecki was walking in broad daylight down a pathway at auschwitz, wearing a stolen ss uniform with his jewish sweetheart cyla cybulska by his side. A small group of female prisoners was also working there, repairing grain sacks. This day, july 21, in jewish history by mitchell a. Jerzy bielecki the stories of six righteous among the. Two and a half years later cyla cybulska, a jew, arrived at the camp with her parents, two brothers, and sister. Cyla cybulska who died in 2006 and jerzy bielecki who died in 2011 remained friends until the end of their lives. Jerzy bielecki polish boy met cyla cybulska jewish girl in auschwitz. The young catholic man spirited his jewish girlfriend out of auschwitz in 1944, saving her life. Start this article has been rated as startclass on the projects quality scale. She was the only member of her family who left the camp alive, and she owed her life entirely to a man named jerzy bielecki.
Jerzy had been in the camp for three years when cyla arrived. When they finally met again, jerzy brought cyla a bouquet of 39 roses one for each year they spent apart. However, another young couple, the polish jew cyla cybulska in camp under the name cyla stawiska and the pole jerzy bielecki. Touching story between jerzy bielecki and cyla cybulska. Former inmate recalls daring, romantic escape from.
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