Albina Przybyszewski Kusek
Poland

Albina and Dennis Przybyszewski lived in Stydyn, a small Polish town. (They were trying to survive during the difficult times of the Nazi occupation.) When the Nazis began to take away the Jews, Albina and her husband took several young Jews into their home in the hope of saving them.

In May of 1943, a young Jewish man, his wife, and her sister were hidden in their home. The sister, Ita, had gone to another village when the Ukrainians under German command attacked the house. The young couple were killed and Dennis Przybyszewski was taken away and subsequently killed. Albina ran to another village and when she returned she saw what had happened. Ita went to another place temporarily. But they met again in July 1943 in Sarny when they were being deported to labor camps in Germany. Ita was with another young Jewish girl, Batia. During the processing for departure the officials called out the name Przybyszewski, the people who stepped forward were Albina, her mother, Albina's two young daughters (Barbara and Jadwiga), Ita and Batia. During their entire stay in Germany until the end of the war, they lived together as one family enduring many terrifying incidents.

The two women whom she rescued, one now living in Canada and one in Israel, are forever grateful for Albina's determination to save them. Albina, a resident of the Chicago area for many years, now resides in Florida.