Tadeusz Czezowski
Even before World War Two, Professor Tadeusz Czezowski, a professor at the University of Vilna, was renowned, in Jewish circles; he was a fierce opponent of Numerus Clausus that restricted the number of Jewish students who were accepted to the university.
In 1941, after Vilna was occupied by the Germans, Professor Czezowski, his wife and daughter (who died shortly after the war) tried to alleviate the suffering of the Jews. They smuggled food into the ghetto for their friends and, after the Vilna Ghetto was liquidated, from purely humanitarian motives, they hid eight members of the Volk and Fessel families in their home, despite the Anti-Semitic environment. Professor Czezowski even managed to get Aryan papers for a number of Jewish families, entitling them to move around the streets freely. Professor Czezowski also hid Zlata Kacharginski, a Jewish refugee, who stayed with them until Vilna was liberated in 1944
In 1963, Professor Czezowski, his wife and their adopted daughter, Lianor, were invited to visit Jerusalem. While there, they met up with a number of people whom they had rescued. On the 16th of April, 1963 Yad Vashem recognized the professor, his wife and late daughter as Righteous among the Nations.
Written by Michael Shemyavitz
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