pass. At various points along the journey, Cyla wanted to give up, but Bielecki coaxed and supported her through it, and promised that they both would survive the ordeal. Jerzy and Cyla walked through the fields for ten days. Cybulska was initially hidden at Bielecki's uncle's house at Przemęczany, where Bielecki's mother also lived, and later by his friends, the Czernik family, in a nearby Gruszów village. They treated her like their own daughter. Bielecki himself joined the Home Army. Towards the end of the war he and Cyla separated; Bielecki went into hiding in Krakow, hoping to improve their chances against being recaptured, and they planned to reunite after the war. As Monika Ścisłowska reported, for the Associated Press: Cyla was informed that he had been killed during Operation Tempest, while he was told she had left the country and died in Sweden. Post-war It was not until May 1983, in New York, that Cybulska accidentally learned that Bielecki was alive and well when a Polish woman cleaning her family's apartment mentioned a documentary in which she had seen them recount his story. Cyla acquired his phone number, and the couple met the following month in Poland, on 8 June 1983, for the first time since the war ended. As Monika Ścisłowska reported for the Associated Press: After the war, Bielecki co-founded and became the honorary chairman of the Christian Association of the Auschwitz Families. He was also inscribed on the list of the Righteous Among the Nations (in 1985), and became an honorary citizen of Israel. Cyla died in 2005. He died in Nowy Targ on 20 October 2011. His escape from the camp with Cybulska was described in a number of documentaries and books, including Bielecki's own autobiography, Kto ratuje jedno życie... (He who saves one life...) (1990). See also The Holocaust in Poland Remembrance (2011 film) References External links Jerzy Bielecki.com 1921 births 2011 deaths Escapees from Auschwitz Polish Righteous Among the Nations People from Miechów County Home Army members