Babilenska, Gertruda (1902–1997)

Polish-born Gentile who, during World War II, raised a Jewish boy as her own after his mother died. Name variations: Babilinska. Born near Danzig (Gdansk), Poland, in 1902; died in 1997; one of a family of eight children; children: adopted son Michael Stolowitzky.

Though pre-1939 Poland was a land permeated with often virulent anti-Semitic politics and prejudices, many Polish men and women risked their lives during World War II to save endangered Jews. Born in 1902 near Danzig (Gdansk) into a family of eight children, Gertruda Babilenska would become such a woman. Her father worked in the local post office, and the family was religious in a practical fashion. Raised by a mother who was concerned about others, Gertruda Babilenska was armed with a simple and strong moral education. An untutored Polish domestic, she worked for 15 years for a wealthy Jewish family named Stolowitzky, raising their two children, a daughter and a son named Michael. After the father was sent to Auschwitz and the daughter died, Babilenska moved with the mother and son to Warsaw, but conditions were poor there and they left for Vilna-Vilnius, Lithuania.

When circumstances in Vilna proved no better, Mrs. Stolowitzky made Babilenska promise to take care of her son if anything happened to her. Despite the dangers of life in Vilna—Babilenska was hit by an anti-Semite and the local Nazis gave poisoned candy to children—she stayed with the family. After Mrs. Stolowitzky died of illness, the Catholic, single, 40-year-old Babilenska decided to raise the boy as her own. When Michael took ill and she had to risk taking him to a German doctor, she told the physician that he was her brother. After Michael recovered, she inquired as to the doctor's fee, but he refused to allow her to pay, saying, "No, you have made me feel like a man"; it was clear that he was aware of the boy's identity.

After the war, Babilenska took Michael to Palestine, soon to be Israel, and they arrived under extremely difficult conditions on the legendary ship Exodus. The boy's relatives in Israel were hostile to her and threatened to withhold funds for his schooling if she remained in Israel. The issue was resolved by Michael, who demanded he remain with Babilenska.

In Israel, Babilenska lived in a tiny room with no water and no toilet. She labored as a maid to pay for the room and to purchase items for Michael, who grew up to work as a travel agent, first in Israel and then in the United States. After her son's departure, she remained in Israel. Visited often by her son, she was immensely proud that he became "such a good Jew." In her final years, Michael took care of her until she died at age 95.

sources:

Block, Gay, and Malka Drucker. Rescuers: Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust. New York and London: Holmes & Meier Publishers, 1992.

related media:

Her story, entitled "Mamusha," appeared on "Rescuers: Stories of Courage," on "Showtime" cable network, starring Elizabeth Perkins and Fraser McGregor, October 5, 1997.

John Haag , Associate Professor, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia