Jerzy and Irena Krępeć, a Polish

Poles

thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...

 husband and wife, living in Gołąbki

Ursus (district in Warsaw)

Ursus is a district of Warsaw, one of the 18 such units into which the city is divided. Between 1952 and 1977 it a was separate city, a legacy of which are Ursus' poor road connections with the Warsaw city centre...

 near Warsaw

Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

 during Nazi German occupation of Poland

Occupation of Poland

Occupation of Poland may refer to:* Partitions of Poland * The German Government General of Warsaw and the Austrian Military Government of Lublin during World War I* Occupation of Poland during World War II...

 in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, were the Righteous who rescued Polish Jews with families including refugees from the Ghetto in Warsaw

Warsaw Ghetto

The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of all Jewish Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. It was established in the Polish capital between October and November 15, 1940, in the territory of General Government of the German-occupied Poland, with over 400,000 Jews from the vicinity...

 during the Holocaust.

The ceremonies

Jerzy and Irena Krępeć were bestowed the titles of Righteous among the Nations

Righteous Among the Nations

Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....

 by Yad Vashem

Yad Vashem

Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....

 on April 18, 1994. Their medals of honor were presented to a widowed Irena Krępeć by the Israeli Consul General in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 Daniel Gal, during the ceremony at the Israeli consulate in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, on December 12, 1995 in the presence of the Polish Consul General Małgorzata Dzieduszycki, and the French and English press.

Daniel Gal explained in his speech that the Holocaust survivors pleaded on behalf of the entire Krępeć family with all its members and that Yad Vashem honored Jerzy and Irena first. Subsequently, their son, Tadeusz living in Montreal, and Jerzy’s two sisters, Eugenia Krępeć–Muszyński and Alina (Halina) Krępeć–Tyszka, were recognized as Righteous in May and November 2002, with more testimonies by their Jewish countrymen. Eugenia’s daughter, Aleksandra Muszyński however, refused to be recognized. The ceremony was written about in 12 newspaper articles in three languages. "My father never sought recognition or compensation for what he did," said André Krepec — Halina’s oldest son — who attended the forum together with his widowed mother, three brothers, sister, and their families. "For him, it was just a question of human values…"

The rescuers and the rescued

Following the 1939 invasion of Poland, Jerzy Krępeć (1896–1981) and Irena née Adamus (1906–17.11.1999), were forced out by the Nazis from their estate near Płock. They moved to Gołąbki near Warsaw with their three children: Tadeusz (14), Krystyna (13) and Maria (9), and rented a farm called Osada not far from where Irena’s parents lived. Soon they began to take in Jews who escaped from Nazi persecution. Among them: Krystyna Izbicki, Anna Zofia and her son Jozef Ettinger, Krystyna Radziejewski and her foster-daughter Larissa Sztorchan, Czeslawa Konko (children's instructor), Zofia Sidor, her sisters, Eliza Temler and Dr. Tworkowski. More than 20 Jewish refugees joined in after the Warsaw Uprising

Warsaw Uprising

The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces...

. They all worked at the farm and in the fields to maintain food supplies and also, for their own cover. Children, both Christian and Jewish, attended classes at an underground school set up by the family.

Jerzy Krępeć rented a second farm nearby where he placed his two sisters: Alina Tyszka (with daughters, Marta and Stefa) and Eugenia Muszynski with her teenage daughter Olenka (14). Alina Tyszka was expelled from her estate near Bydgoszcz (which was incorporated into the 3rd Reich). Her husband Feliks, a Polish officer, was executed by the Nazis with his two uncles. Alina escaped when threatened with arrest, because of her earlier assistance given to Jews at a forced labor camp in Bielin where she worked in 1941. Eugenia's husband was held as a Polish POW in Germany. The two sisters immediately began sheltering more Jews. They all worked together at the farm. Their older children, especially Tadeusz and Olenka helped. The Jews moved from one farm to the other in case of danger. Some received false identification cards thanks to Jerzy's underground contacts, which was good also for their morale.

The entire Krepec family helped everybody in need with shelter, food, clothing and moral support. People in the village knew about the numerous Jewish families living at both farms, but nobody betrayed them and all refugees survived. Indeed, Jerzy Krepec had many silent partners, including neighbors well aware of the succession of farmhands speaking Polish with an accent. Undeterred by the associated risk, Tadeusz Krepec used to sneak out at night and steal guns and grenades from the German Panzer division stationed nearby, then bury them at the farm for the Polish Underground.

After the war, the Krepec family kept in touch with the Jewish friends who had stayed with them during the occupation. They were receiving shipments of oranges from Israel, however, they would not accept the offer to help emigrate from their homeland. Their son, Tadeusz Krepec, who studied at the Warsaw Polytechnic eventually came to Montreal in 1973 as an engineer.