On 7 March 1944, the Germans discovered the ‘Krysia’ bunker in Warsaw’s Ochota district, where the Wolski family had been hiding Jews – including the historian Emanuel Ringelblum – for two years. Those arrested – together with Mieczysław Wolski and Janusz Wysocki – were murdered a few days later in the ruins of the ghetto.

Bunker “Krysia” was a hideout where the family of Mr and Mrs Wolski were hiding 38 Polish Jews. Among those in hiding was a distinguished historian, Dr. Emanuel Ringelblum, who, as part of the “Oneg Szabat” group, prepared a secret archive that documented the extermination of the Polish Jewish people by the German occupation.

The so-called Ringelblum Archive, or the Underground Warsaw Ghetto Archive, is one of the most important collections documenting the Holocaust of Polish Jews.

A Warsaw gardener, Mieczyslaw Wolski and his family brought aid to refugees from the Warsaw Ghetto hiding from the German occupiers in 1942-44. In 1942-44, Mr Wolski built a special shelter under his greenhouse on Grójecka Street and hid 38 Polish citizens of Jewish origin.

The area of the bunker, which was called “Krysia” (Cristine), was 28 square metres large, while its height was 1.83 metres. It had to remain very quiet there during the day. Only at night would Mieczysław Wolski visit the hiding Jewish Poles. 

Mieczyslaw Wolski also set up a grocery shop to feed the hiding Jews without drawing attention.

As a result of a denunciation, the Germans found the shelter. On 7 March 1944, the Wolski family’s property was surrounded by Gestapo and Blue Police units. The Germans arrested the 38 Jews hiding in the bunker, as well as the gardener Mieczysław Wolski, who had been looking after them for two years, and his teenage nephew Janusz Wysocki. 

Also among them were also Emanuel Ringelblum, his wife Judith and their son Urim. All of them were murdered in the ruins of the ghetto on the morning of 10 March 1944.

The “Krysia” bunker was the largest and longest-lasting Jewish hiding place in occupied Warsaw. 

For their deeds, the Wolski family – Mieczysław, Małgorzata, Halina Michalecka, Wanda Szandurska and Janusz Wysocki – were awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations in 1989.

Source: IPN, British Poles

Photo: @ipngovpl

Tomasz Modrzejewski