Poland awards dozens for risking lives to save Jews during Holocaust

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Dozens of Poles were awarded medals Monday for risking their lives during World War II to save Jews from the Holocaust. President Lech Kaczynski awarded state medals - many posthumously - to around 70 people from across Poland. First lady Maria Kaczynska presented them to the people or their relatives in a gala ceremony at Warsaw's National Theater. Among those awarded was Zofia Brusikiewicz, 81, whose parents hid 13 Jews in an apartment in Warsaw and Irena Gut-Opdyke, whose dramatic story is narrated in a one-act play, "Irena's Vow," that opened Off Broadway in September. Most of the recipients are already among the 6,000 Poles holding the title of the Righteous Among the Nations from Yad Vashem. They were largely found thanks to testimony deposited with the institute.