Genia Sznajder lived with her family in the village of Szreniawa, outside Krakow. Barbara Dobrolubow was a close friend from school. Many photos that remain from the period show the two young girls spending time together.
After the German invasion of Poland and the deportation of the Jews of Szreniawa to the ghetto, Barbara demanded that her parents hide Genia in their home. The decision to hide the girl in their home was fraught with danger. Many of the village residents collaborated with the Germans and frequent searches were carried out. One day the Dobrolubow family learned that a search was being conducted. Genia hid in the family's wardrobe and Zofia locked its door and hid the key.
When the German soldiers came to the house, they searched each room thoroughly. When they entered the room where the wardrobe stood, they demanded that Zofia open it. Zofia said that the wardrobe wasn't in use and served only as a divider, and that the keys to it had been lost years before. One of the soldiers thrust his bayonet through the cupboard but as he didn't strike anything, the soldiers left without searching further. The bayonet that had penetrated the cupboard narrowly missed Genia, who was crouching down low.
After this incident, Zofia and Tadeuz decided to send Genia to relatives in Warsaw, the Koczorowski couple. They supplied Genia with false documents and found her shelter in a monastery where Genia was able to remain until the end of the war. At war's end, Genia learned that her parents Ita and Avraham and her brother Fyszel had been deported to Auschwitz and murdered. Her two older brothers had been deported to camps, but survived. In 1954 Genia immigrated to Israel.
On January 29, 1992, Yad Vashem recognized Barbara Dobrolubow and Jadwiga and Zygmunt Koczorowski as Righteous Among the Nations.
In 2017, Tamar, Genia's daughter went on a "roots" trip to Poland with her family. Neither Genia nor Barbara were still living, but Tamar contacted Barbara's son, Krzysztof Dohnal and they arranged to meet in his home in Krakow. Here, for the first time, Tamar's family heard the story of Genia hiding in the cupboard. When they heard that the wardrobe was still in his possession, dismantled in the attic, they all went up to see it and were moved beyond words. After the meeting,Tamar asked Krysztof to donate the wardrobe to Yad Vashem as a testimony to the fate of her mother, Genia, and in tribute to the dedication and bravery of the Dobrolubow and Koczorowski families, who risked their lives to save her.
Yad Vashem Artifacts Collection
Courtesy of Krysztof Dohnal, Krakow, Poland
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