Alfred Kwarciak Has Died. He Saved Jews During the Inhuman Times of the Holocaust

Alfred Kwarciak has died. He was 89. The funeral ceremony will take place on July 22 at the chapel of the municipal cemetery in Bolesławiec. It will begin at 1:00 p.m..

Let us recall. In recognition of his exceptional acts of courage and dedication to other people, as well as his entire life journey, in 2019 the Bolesławiec City Council awarded Alfred Kwarciak the title “Distinguished Citizen of the City of Bolesławiec.”

Profile of A. Kwarciak (from a resolution of the Bolesławiec City Council)

Mr. Alfred Kwarciak, born on November 30, 1932, in Dubno, has lived in Bolesławiec since 1947. He is a witness to History, written with a capital H, and a custodian of memory. On February 22, 1989, together with his parents and two brothers, he was honored by Yad Vashem (the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority) in Jerusalem with the title Righteous Among the Nations for saving Jews from extermination during World War II. On January 27, 2010,

Alfred Kwarciak was granted honorary citizenship of Israel, which was ceremonially presented to him on May 7, 2010, by Israel’s ambassador Zvi Rav-Ner. Mr. Alfred Kwarciak was awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2013). On his initiative, a commemorative plaque was unveiled on September 1, 2015, on Kubika Street, bearing the inscription: “Never again! In memory of the Polish Righteous Among the Nations who, in the inhuman times of the Holocaust, from 1939 to 1945, saved their Jewish neighbors and sacrificed their own lives and those of their loved ones. His vitality and commitment find expression in cooperation with the Society of Friends of Lviv and the Southeastern Borderlands – Bolesławiec Branch, and above all in contacts with young people, with whom he traveled to the Borderlands in May 2018 as part of the campaign ‘Save your great-grandfather’s grave from oblivion’ and gave the most important history lesson, because it was based on his own experiences and memories.

The story of Alfred Kwarciak has been described, among other places, on the websites of the Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem and the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, on the Polish Righteous portal, and in local publications: Rocznik Bolesławiecki, vol. 3:2010 and vol. 11:2018, as well as in the publications “Save from Oblivion. Memories of the Bolesławiec Borderlands Residents” and “The Jubilee of the Bolesławiec Borderlands Residents 1989–2019. 30 Years of the Society of Friends of Lviv and the Southeastern Borderlands, Bolesławiec Branch, and the Siberians’ Association, Bolesławiec Circle.”

The story of Alfred Kwarciak and his family was also presented in a documentary by Przemysław Kania, entitled “The Righteous. The Story of Kwarciak,” produced in 2018. In October 2019, Mr. Alfred Kwarciak took part in an official state delegation organized by the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression, during which Polish Righteous Among the Nations visited the Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem, attended the 4th National Convention of Poles Who Saved Jews, and met with the President of Israel, Reuven Rivlin. At the same time, Mr. Alfred Kwarciak was honored with the “Pro Patria” medal awarded by the head of the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression.