underground shelter (which its occupants would come to call “the tomb”) beneath his small workshop, located at the rear of his property. In this "tomb", which measured 5 feet by 3.5 feet and was about 3 feet deep (1.54x1.07x92m), the four Jews survived on nothing but water, potatoes, scraps from Zwonarz’s meals, and occasionally some barley for over two years. Zwonarz even went to the trouble of installing an electricity wire, connected to the main city circuit (so it would not show any extra kilowatts on his meter), to run some cooking appliances and a light-bulb in the pit. Noticing all his additional comings and goings, as well as missing food and cotton, Zwonarz's wife, Franciszka Zwonarz (née Jodłowska), concluded he was having an affair. Unfortunately for Zwonarz, he could not contradict any of what his wife had said for fear of incriminating himself, his family and the Jews he was sheltering. It was only in 1944, when the advancing Russian Army drew nearer to Lesko and he had to move the Jews into the cellar beneath his house after they were nearly killed in the pit by Russian shelling, that he was forced to tell his wife the truth. They stayed in the cellar for six weeks until the Russians had liberated the town. After the liberation of Lesko, and when the Jews had regained enough strength to leave, they left and excused themselves for not being able to pay him for his trouble and expenses. Zwonarz responded by giving them his last items of worth, a wristwatch and a $10 bill, saying: "Take this, it's all I have. You'll need it to start a new life." In 1967, Zwonarz and his wife Franciszka Zwonarz were honoured with the medal Righteous Among the Nations. In 2006, Franciszka and Józef Zwonarz were included in survivor Jafa Wallach memoirs Bitter Freedom. Memoirs of a Holocaust Survivor. References External links Bitter Freedom: Memoirs of a Holocaust Survivor The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation; Polish Righteous (2005) (Accessed 23 August 2005) WGBH Education Foundation; Jozef Zwonarz (1995), (Accessed 23 August 2005) 1899 births 1984 deaths Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I People from Lesko County Polish footballers Polish military personnel of World War II Polish people of Hungarian descent Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War Polish resistance members of World War II Polish Righteous Among the Nations Association footballers not categorized by position