Miriam Peleg (1913–1996) was a member of the Council for Aid to Jews, codenamed “Żegota.” Żegota was a clandestine rescue organization of Poles and Jews in German-occupied Poland. Supported by the Polish government-in-exile, Żegota coordinated efforts to save Jews from Nazi persecution and murder. It operated from 1942 to 1945.
Born Maria Hochberg, Miriam was from a Polish-Jewish family. She grew up in a small town about 70 miles east of Kraków. As early as the summer of 1940, Miriam obtained false identity papers. Miriam used the alias “Maria Górska.” She spent the war living outside the boundaries of the Kraków ghetto on what was referred to as the “Aryan side.” According to Miriam, she was able to pass as a non-Jew because of her fluent Polish and “Aryan” looks. Miriam’s ability to live under a false identity allowed her to be actively involved in rescue efforts. From the start of World War II, she helped other Jews evade Nazi persecution.
In 1943, Miriam joined the Kraków branch of Żegota. She worked as a liaison between Żegota and Jewish underground organizations. Miriam was in charge of Żegota’s “legalization unit.” This unit provided false identity documents and financial assistance to Jews. Miriam also directly helped Jews in hiding, including children. She assisted several people who had escaped ghettos or camps, such as the Kraków ghetto, the Janowska camp, and Auschwitz-Birkenau.
In 1948, Miriam immigrated to Israel. There, she worked as the director of the Tel Aviv branch of Yad Vashem. Miriam also served as a member of the committee that awards Yad Vashem’s honor of “Righteous Among the Nations.”
In this interview, Miriam describes why Żegota was important during the war.
Z własnego doświadczenia, ze spotkaniami z ludźmi, którzy żyją, którzy przeżyli, którzy jeszcze dzisiaj są ze mną w łączności, moi tak zwani podopieczni, tak? Muszę powiedzieć, że to był… to był ostatni nieraz ratunek dla tych ludzi, że dostawali dokumenty, dostawali pieniądze, ale nie tylko to. Ważniejsze jeszcze była, było uczucie moralne, które towarzyszyło potem tym ludziom, że jednak jest ktoś, jest coś, jest taka organizacja, która się nimi zajmuje, która troszczy się o nich, że nie są tak bardzo osamotnieni, bo w Polsce nie było to takie łatwe, to życie na “aryjskich papierach.” Ale fakt, że się nimi ktoś zajmuje, że ktoś o nich się troszczy, to było najważniejszym motywem dla tych ludzi. Ja oceniam pracę Żegoty bardzo wysoko, dlatego… może nie ilościowo, ale jakościowo. Ilościowo naturalnie trudno tu mówić, jak się wymienia liczbę sześciu milionów zamordowanych, to trudno mówić o tysiącach, ale jednak to były tysiące. Tysiące ludzi, którzy w ostatniej nieraz chwili zostali uratowani dzięki tej organizacji. Miałam pod swoją opieką placówkę legalizacyjną, która się mieściła właśnie u tej pani Wójcikowej, i wiem, ile kenkart, ile dokumentów pracy, ile różnych zaświadczeń myśmy wydawali, żeby tym ludziom jakoś ułatwić i jakoś pomóc. Większość z moich podopiecznych przeżyła wojnę, to muszę powiedzieć. Jest nawet kilku z nich tutaj w Izraelu.
Based on my own experience, based on my meetings with people who are alive, who survived, who are in contact with me even today, my so-called charges, I have to say that often it was…it was the last hope for these people, for them to get documents, to get money. But not only that. Even more important was the feeling of moral support that stayed with these people, [the feeling] that despite everything there was someone, there was something, that there was an organization looking after them, worrying about them. That they were not completely abandoned. Because it wasn’t so easy living on “Aryan papers” in Poland. But the fact that somebody was looking after them, that someone was caring for them, that was the most important thing for these people. I rate Żegota’s work very highly, because… perhaps in terms of quality more than quantity. Quantity is, of course, hard to speak of, when you think of the six million who were murdered, then it’s hard to speak of thousands, but there were indeed thousands. Thousands of people who often at the last moment were rescued thanks to this organization. I oversaw a legalization unit, which was based at out of Ms. Wójcik’s [home], and I know how many [fake] identity cards, how many work papers, how many different certificates we gave out to make things easier for these people and to help them somehow. I have to say, most of the people in my care survived the war. A few of them are even here in Israel.
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