Argentina – A Polish Catholic woman who served with the underground Polish army and saved a Jewish family from the Holocaust has died in Argentina at age 87.
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Janina “Juana” Klein Dylag died Tuesday. She and her husband had emigrated to Argentina in 1948.
Klein Dylag, along with her husband, was a member of the underground Polish army with the rank of sergeant major. Thanks to her actions, the lives of Felicia Erlich and her daughters, Danuta and Irena, were saved from Nazi persecution.
Klein Dylag learned of the plight of the Erlichs during her work in the resistance. Her own narration of their story explained how she saved them: “Felicia, together with her daughters […] had escaped from a ghetto, where her husband was and where he ended up dying. I asked permission from my mother and we gave them refuge.
“They moved into a room in my house and did not go out until the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, because it was noticeable that they were Jewish and it was dangerous for them to be seen. The Nazis could have taken them prisoners or shot them if they were found.”
In 2003, the Raoul Wallenberg foundation honored Klein Dylag for her role in saving the Erlichs.
In view of Benedict XVI’s trip to the Holy Land last week, that foundation launched a worldwide appeal for testimonies like that of Klein Dylag — of Jews saved by Catholics during the Holocaust.
May this wonderful woman rest in peace. G-d bless her.
May Hashem give piece of mind to your family, and bring you onto him.
When we say “Never Forget”, we should remember those who perished and the evil hand that killed them… but we should also never forget those who put their own lives and the lives of their families at risk to save yidden.
I will remember this great Catholic person who gave of her own life to help others and who had love in her for the opressed. Thank you Mrs. Janina Klein Dylag, and may you rest in peace.
Please allow me to point out, last week when the news about an African American Reform rabbi broke, we had a rush to judgment and condemnations. However when we have a news of the passing of real Righteous Among Nations person you don’t have even a handful of posts leaving a message of healing to the family and a brocha to her soul.
G-d bless this wonderful woman and her family. No. 5 makes an excellent observation — some people would rather focus on divisions, whether religion, particular sect, nationality, gender, skin color, etc. rather than focus on what we have in common with all other humans. If more people could focus on our shared humanity rather than labelling people as “other” or “different” this would be a much better world. Sadly, even jews sometimes forget the most important lesson of the holocaust – labelling people as “other” permits dehumanization, which can than lead to all sorts of atrocities. Thank g-d this woman and her family had the courage to break that pattern, even at the risks of their own lives.