The event started at noon at the Holy Cross Church in Miechów (54 Partyzantów Street). The mass was followed by the unveiling and consecration of the monument in front of the church.
During World War II in occupied Poland any form of help offered to Jewish fellow citizens was punishable by death. Like many other Polish families, the Baraneks paid for their heroism with their lives. On 15 March 1943, the Germans murdered the entire family and the four Jews that they had been hiding in their house.
"This monument is more than just a memento of those events: it is also an exceptional testimony to the spirit of the Polish nation, its sensitivity to human suffering, commitment to moral values, and willingness to offer assistance even under extreme conditions of the occupation."
"I believe that just like our forefathers, who were the first to tell the world about the Holocaust, we and our descendants will carry on the warning deriving from history. It is our responsibility to pass the memory of the Jewish tragedy and heroic defiance of Poles to the humanity, and our honorable duty today to follow in the footsteps of our brave compatriots, offering aid and rescue to the people who need them most."
A German crime in Siedliska.
In the morning of 15 March 1943, armed Germans surrounded the house of Wincenty and Łucja Baranek in Siedliska. They led the family out into the courtyard. Only Wincenty's foster mother, Katarzyna Baranek-Kopeć, managed to hide in the narrow crack between the stove and the wall.
The Germans brought people from neighboring houses to the Baranek household and forced them to search the buildings. Finally, in a hiding place between the house and the farm facilities, four men were found — Jews from the Gottfried family from Miechów. Their names could not be determined. The Baranek family had been giving them shelter and other forms of help for several months. According to the testimonies and accounts of Siedliska residents, the Baranek family had been hiding five Jews. One of them had left the hiding place at night and was away when the Germans arrived. His further fate is unknown.
The Germans murdered the four Jews as well as members of the Baranek family — Wincenty, his wife Łucja, and their sons, 12-year-old Henryk and 10-year-old Tadeusz. They knew that five people lived in the house, but they could not find Katarzyna Baranek. They announced to the assembled villagers that the she had to be brought to the gendarmerie headquarters in Miechów within 24 hours. Otherwise they would shoot several dozen inhabitants of Siedliska and burn the town down.
The terrorized people delivered Katarzyna to the place indicated by the Germans and she was murdered there. The Germans ordered the bodies of the murdered Jews to be buried near the barn. They agreed for the Baranek family to be buried in the parish cemetery in Miechów, but forbade any funeral ceremonies.
In 2012, the Baranek family were awarded “Righteous Among the Nations” title.