On the occasion of the European Day of Remembrance for the Righteous, the State Museum at Majdanek hosted an event during which the guests were introduced to the biography of Henryk Wieliczański - a former prisoner of the Majdanek camp and recipient of the Righteous Among the Nations medal. The guests also had the opportunity to see the memorabilia donated to the Museum by the Wieliczanski family, including the medal and diploma awarded to Dr. Wileczanski. Following the lecture, there was a guided tour of the Museum grounds with a special focus on the history of former prisoners of the camp who received the Righteous Among the Nations medal. The event was attended on behalf of CH KUL by its Secretary, Ms. Magdalena Stachal.
Henryk Wieliczanski was born on November 21, 1903 in Lodz. In 1931 he graduated from medical school in Warsaw, and in 1939 he became a military doctor with the rank of an officer. That year he also married his wife, Teodosia, with whom he had two children. During the war, Dr. Wieliczanski was active in the Home Army under the pseudonym “Zygmunt.” He also conducted secret medical teachings in his apartment.
In 1942, a young Jewish woman, Sara Celnik, turned to him for help. Henryk and Teodosia agreed to hide her in their home as a caregiver for their daughter under a changed name (Stefania Pabianska). It was probably one of these facts that determined the doctor's arrest on January eight, 1943. On January eighteenth, Wieliczanski was taken from Warsaw's Pawiak prison to the Majdanek camp. He spent four months there working as a camp doctor. In secret messages written to his wife and Antonina Grygowa, he described his efforts to help fellow prisoners.
Having survived a typhoid infection as a result of a Nazi experiments, he helped the sick. After the “Erntefest” operation, he was sent to several other concentration camps; during one of the transports, he escaped and joined the uprising in the Czech Republic. After the war, he returned to his family and his medical practice. In February 1981 he was awarded the medal “Righteous Among the Nations.” He died on March 06, 1996 in Copenhagen.