Felicja Masojada (born Kołomyja, Volhynia, Russia, 18 May 1898; died Kisorycze, Poland, 15 June 1943) was a Polish resistance member during World War II,[1] posthumously recognised by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations.[2]
Felicja Masojada | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 18, 1898 |
| Died | June 15, 1943 (aged 45) |
| Cause of death | Murdered under torture |
| Awards |  |
Life
editOf ancient Polish descent and born in 1898 at Kołomyja then under Tsarist rule, she was the eldest daughter of Michał Masojada (1862–1940) and Maria Karolina née Osiniak (1875–1940).[3]
Predeceased by her husband Wiktor Gallert (1897–1930),[4] she resumed her maiden name. Devoutly Catholic, Felicja Masojada became a teacher and, well respected in the local community, was promoted in 1937 headmistress of the primary school in Okopy, Podlaskie Voivodeship.
Following the Russian invasion of Poland in WWII, Masojada and the local priest, Fr. Ludwik Wrodarczyk,[5] sheltered Jewish refugees, nursing the infirm.[6] Instrumental in arranging medical supplies with Soviet partisans Masojada continued risking their collection in person, even during the Volhynia massacre.[7]
On 15 June 1943 Ukrainian nationalists ambushed her coach returning from Rokitno on the forest road at Kisorycze. Masojada, accompanied by her maid Elżbieta Jeż and coachman Kasper Koziński, were brutally murdered (save the coachman's Ukrainian wife, whom the UPA spared).[8]
Family and legacy
editNominated by one of those she rescued, Alexander Lewin, the Yad Vashem Institute posthumously honoured Felicja Masojada with the title of Righteous Among the Nations.[9]
On 3 August 2000, Colonel Edmund Masojada, was presented with her insignia by Israeli ambassador Shevah Weiss.[10]
Her nephew, Milek Masojada FSAICE (1929–2015), emigrated to South Africa, having five children, including an elder son, Alderman Bronek Masojada, Sheriff of London (2023/24).[11]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "The Polish Righteous – Recalling Forgotten History | Muzeum Historii Żydów Polskich POLIN w Warszawie".
- ^ "Righteous Among the Nations Honored by Yad Vashem by January 2022" (PDF). www.yadvashem.org.
- ^ "Strona główna". Fundacja "Wołyń Pamiętamy".
- ^ "Warsaw University of Life Sciences - Strona główna". Warsaw University of Life Sciences.
- ^ Rostkowski, Marek A. "Father Wrodarczyk OMI (1907-1943). Priest and Martyr". bibliotekanauki.pl. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
- ^ "Wartime Rescue of Jews by the Polish Catholic Clergy The Testimony of Survivors" (PDF). www.savingjews.org.
- ^ "Volhynia Massacre".
- ^ "Righteous among the nations – Polish teacher Felicia Masojada from Okopy village | DARKNESS CASTS NO SHADOW". November 21, 2017.
- ^ "Church Rescue in Poland - Part 2". Rescue in the Holocaust.
- ^ "The Shevah Weiss Center for Research on Israel and the Jewish Diaspora – Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Studiów Międzynarodowych".
- ^ "City of London elects Sheriffs". City of London elects Sheriffs.