Wlodzimierz Daniluk

Born: Unknown, Solniczki, Poland

In March 1943, Wlodzimierz Daniluk and his family heard a knock on the door of their home in Solniczki. Standing on the other side was a starving, shivering man named Paitiell Lopata. He asked for some food. Wlodzimierz and his wife, Anna, did not have a lot to share. They were a poor farming family, but they gave Paitiell food and shelter. When Paitiell returned to the ghetto in the village of Bialystok, he told other Jewish friends about the family. Soon, the Daniluks were hiding four Jewish men in their home. Wlodzimierz began to worry. What would happen to his family if these men were discovered? His oldest daughter, Luba, argued that the penalty for hiding one Jewish person was the same as hiding four. Paitiell and the others stayed until July 1944, when the Red Army liberated eastern parts of Poland.

Tragically, even after the Nazis were defeated, the family and their guests were not safe. In May 1945 when the war was finally over, the Daniluks invited the Jewish men and some guests to a party to celebrate the victory over Nazi Germany. In the middle of the party, a group of armed Polish Nationalist right-wing thugs broke into the house. They were angry that the Daniluks had given shelter to Jewish people during the war. They murdered seven people, including Wlodzimierz, Luba and some of the Jewish survivors. Two small children died when the thugs burned down the house.