An extraordinary history lesson in the field – a memorial hike for the Righteous of Mszana Dolna

On 12th  November 2025, a group of 21 people set off on a hike organised by the Sztetl Mszana Dolna Foundation, following in the footsteps of the still little-known Righteous Among the Nations from Mszana Dolna, Stefania and Józef Wacławik, and Mosze Jered, whom they saved.

The hike started in the Mszana Dolna Market Square, at a plaque commemorating these local heroes. There, the participants were presented with the history and circumstances of their heroic deed. The group then went to the nearby cemetery to light a candle at the modest grave of the Righteous and pay tribute to them.
We then headed to the site of the former synagogue in Mszana to follow the last journey of the town's Jewish community to the site of the mass murder at Pańskie. 

On the way, we stopped at the execution assembly point, where the Nazis separated a group of the strongest men for work in nearby quarries, among other places. Moshe, who had been saved, was among them. Unfortunately, his wife and daughter Ilka were murdered at Pańskie. The grave where they were laid to rest were the next stage of our journey.

After paying tribute to our murdered former neighbours, we headed towards the barracks camp, where forced labourers, including Jered, were quartered. On the way, we noticed the Jewish cemetery, where several dozen victims of the Holocaust are also buried. One of the pleasant, though surprising, moments of the trip was an encounter with a startled deer. Fortunately, there was no collision.

We walked along Stawowa Street, the daily route of the quarry workers, to its remains, and then climbed forest roads to a place near Mała Góra, where, on a cold, rainy night, Jered, wandering after his escape, saw a small light in the Wacławik family's house.

A beautiful panorama of the city and the surrounding mountains stretched out before the travellers. However, we were primarily following in the footsteps of the beautiful human kindness shown by the Wacławik family to a Jew they had never met before, inviting him under their humble roof. He survived with them – through good times and bad, in constant danger to his life – for almost three years of occupation. They remained close to each other forever.

At each stage of the hike, Moshe's memoirs were read, his testimony for the Yad Vashem Institute, documenting the events that the participants were following.
Tired and full of impressions, we ended the hike with a bonfire at a hospitable shelter in Zarabie. The participants of the hike enjoyed roasted sausage and received mugs from our Foundation.

The main part of the group consisted of pupils from Primary School No. 2 in Mszana Górna – we would like to express our sincere thanks to the Headmistress, Ewelina Płachczyńska-Struś, the teachers and all the participants for this joint, difficult but important history lesson.
We would also like to thank the Potaczek family from Stawowa Street for providing a shelter for this last part of the programme.
We have planned a summary of the project dedicated to the Righteous of Mszana for 21 November 2025. At that time, we will also summarise the competition about the Righteous and present the awards to the winners.

The project was implemented with the financial support of the Małopolska Voivodeship.