On 28th February 1871, Wilhelm Fraenkel and Maria, neé Liban, welcomed a son,  Henryk Fraenkel, a future industrialist and philanthropist. Fraenkel got his education at St.Jack’s Gymnasium in Cracow, followed by various trade courses. Fraenkel took up a job at his father’s company soon after. In 1890 he got transferred to Bernard Liban Cement Factory in Bonarka where got promoted to General Manager. What is more, Fraenekel was one of the founders of the Austrian cement cartel as well as a co-founder of the Factory of Fire-Clay Ceramics and Faience in Skawina. From 1905 he held the position of  a councellor of the city of Podgórze. In 1913 Fraenkel joined the Rifflemen Association, yet his poor health prevented him from taking part in battles. Instead, he was involved in organisational…

Aleksander Rosner, a pioneer of modern gynaecology and obstetrics, a professor at the Jagiellonian University and a long-time Head of a University Department, the son of Antoni, was born on 26th February 1867 in Cracow.  After Aleksander Rosner had graduated from St. Ann’s Gymnasium no.3, he began medical studies.  He was an exceptional student – maxima cum laude. Rosner finished his studies in 1889 and obtained his MD title a year later. He travelled across Europe, visiting leading research centres.  Thanks to Maurycy Madurowicz, Rosner took the opportunity to develop his professional career under the tutelage of  Ludwik Rydygier, among others. In 1895 Rosner defended his postdoctorial thesis and set off on another scientific journey across Europe. After his return, Aleksander Rosner obtained the title of Associate Professor and began…

Born in Vienna on 23rd February 1907, Oswald Bouska  was a German Police officer working in Cracow during WWII, awarded a Righteous Among the Nations medal in 1964. Oswald Bouska was a high-rank police sergeant working at a police station responsible for Cracow’s ghetto. A zealous Nazi at first , after witnessing the way the Jews were mistreated, Bouska changed his mind. Durig his work in Cracow, he helped Cracow’s Jews by working with Julius Madritsch (pronounced a Righteous Among the Nations), the owner of a sewing room located at Rynek Podgórski3 which offered empoyment to around 800 Jews and Poles. At the end of 1942, Madritsch found out that all children from the ghetto in Cracow would be deported. Thus, he decided to save some of them using Bouska’s…

Maciej Jakubowicz was born on 20 February 1911, son of Helena (born Schenker) and Maciej (homonym). Before the Second World War he was a reserve Polish Army Lieutenant and then fought in the September Campaign (1939). He was consequently arrested and held at the prison on ul. Montelupich in Kraków, before being transferred to Nowy Wiśnicz.  During the occupation, he had at first “Aryan papers” under the name of Jan Gołąb. In 1942 he was once more arrested and taken to the labour camp of Kraków-Płaszów but managing to escape from it. Until the liberation, Jakubowicz had to hide in the woods around Dobczyce. After the Second World War, he was a member of the board of the Congregation of the Mosaic Faith (currently the Jewish Religious Community in Kraków) and…