BS”D 20 Iyar 5781 On 2 May 1946 near Krościenko a group of bandits likes to the Partisan Group “Lightning”, led by Józef Kuraś, nom de guerre “Ogień” (Fire)fired against Jewish civilians crossing the border, killing more than 10 of them. “A common element in the leaflets distributed in Podhale by ‘Fire’ was the identification of the Jewish nationality with the communist regime” – we read in the brochure published by the Kraków department of the Institute for National Memory in 2017 under the title “Józef Kuraś ‘Ogien’ and the Partisan Group ‘Błyskawica’ “. “Even when one can see the reasons which led to the execution of Security Department agents and of Party Functionaries, one cannot justify acts of ciolence against common people who were not engaged…

BS”D 20 Iyar 5781 Maria Róża Jakubowicz [pron. IPA /ˈru.ʐa/ /ja.kuˈbɔ.vʲit͡ʂ/ ], may her memory be a blessing, was born on 1 May 1918 in Dobczyce, [IPA /dɔpˈt͡ʂɨt͡sɛ/ ], daughter of Abraham Pistol, peace be upon him. Maria Róża Jakubowicz – as Sławomir Pastuszka wrote in “Nasza Gmina” – was named by the Jews of Kraków “The Mother of the Community” and is regarded as the model Jewish woman. Thanks to her exceptional personality the members of the Community of Kraków could feel an unrivalled togetherness. They could feel like in a real Jewish home, as those which most had lost during the Shoah. Her heroic and courageous role during the Second World War deserves greater mention. After the war, right after she came to Kraków in…