From the Liveblog of
Saturday, January 27, 2024
Polish woman whose family rescued Jews during Holocaust pleads with Hamas to release hostage
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleCanaan Lidor is a former Jewish World reporter at The Times of Israel
Janina Rosciszewska, a 92-year-old Polish woman whose parents and brother risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust, asks Hamas to release the hostages they are holding.
In a filmed message played for thousands of people gathered at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, she asks Hamas to free the hostages abducted from Israel on October 7, in the name of all the Righteous Among the Nations, Israel’s official title for non-Jewish rescuers of Jews from the genocide.
“They have done nothing, they are no more to blame that they were born Jewish than I am for being born Polish,” says Rosciszewska, who was recognized along with her parents and brother as Righteous Among the Nations in 1990.
The Rosciszewskis are responsible for the survival of the Bierzyński family, whose members they harbored at great peril in their home in Dolina Będkowska near Krakow.
Rosciszewska’s message comes on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which coincides with the 16th consecutive rally on the square for the return of the hostages.
The Times of Israel Community.