During the German occupation Józef Mądry lived in Chorzelów in the district of Mielec. In October 1942 two Jewish fugitives from Mielec, Sara Kuper and her daughter Mira, came to his house. Using the “Aryan” documents for the name of Kanarek they rented room a room in his house. Soon the Pole realized that his tenants were Jewish women. He wrote in his story:
I built a hideout under the barn, masked it beyond recognition and I put my tenants there. […] Food was brought to them only at night due to suspicions [from the side of] by the children who believed that the ladies had gone out. […] The Gestapo together with the “navy blue” (Polish) police conducted frequent inspections which was terrible because it seemed that it was the end of our life but God was shielding us and just because I was a believer I decided on that risky step.
Sara and Mira were hiding at Mądry for 22 months. At the end of the German occupation they emigrated to the USA.
On Feb. 24, 1981 Józef Mądry was awarded the medal of the “Righteous Among the Nations”.
Józef Mądry. From collections of the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw