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24.02.2020

The 150th anniversary of the birth of Mother Matylda Getter - 25 February 2020

Mother Matylda Getter from the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary, risking her own life, saved several hundred Jewish children sentenced to extermination by the German occupiers. On 25 February at 8.00 a.m. the President of the IPN Dr. Jarosław Szarek will pay tribute to Matylda Getter at her resting place in the Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw (plot F / G, row 2, places 26–31, entrance from Powązkowska Street - IV).

 

 

"We must speak out loudly today about the extraordinary achievements of Mother Matylda Getter. Next to Irena Sendler and the Ulma Family, she stands as a symbol of rescuing Jews from the Holocaust."- President of the Institute of National Remembrance, Dr Jarosław Szarek

 

Matylda Getter (1870-1968), superior of the Warsaw Province of the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary, together with the sisters, saved several hundred Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto and other places in German-occupied Poland. In the provincial house at 53 Hoża Street in Warsaw and in over 60 monasteries and care facilities belonging to the congregation, they received shelter, care and food as well as new documents.

During World War II, sister Matylda Getter declared to accept every child from the Warsaw Ghetto. "Whoever comes to our yard and asks for help, in the name of Christ, we must not refuse," said Sister Matylda. The entire congregation and hundreds of other people were involved in saving Jewish children, despite the threat of the death penalty. In recognition of her work, Mother Matylda Getter was awarded the “Righteous Among the Nations" medal by the Yad Vashem Institute. In March 2019, the IPN financed a plaque dedicated to Mother Matylda Getter.

 

 


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