Jadwiga Dudziec

Jadwiga Dudziec (born 19 March 1912 in Jawory Stare, died 17 July 1944 in Vilnius) was a Polish educator, scout activists, member of the Polish Resistance during World War II, engaged in rescue of Jews during the Holocaust. For her efforts she was awarded a title of the Righteous Among the Nations in 1999 by Yad Vashem.

Biography Before World War II She was born in Jawory Stare in the Goworowo commune, Ostrołęka County into the family of farmer Stanisław Dudziec and Józefa née Osowiecka, as the youngest, tenth child. Her father died when she was two and a half years old. During World War I, the family fled to Ukraine, from where they returned after three years. In the Polish–Soviet War, one of her brothers was killed. In 1937 she attended a camp in Bujaków near Bielsko with a Jewish scout troop she was leading. and was connected with the Home Army.

Legacy Jadwiga Dudziec is buried at New Rasos Cemetery in Vilnius (sector 10, no. 429).

After the war, her elder sister Zofia searched for her through the Polish Red Cross, but without success. Only in the summer of 1948 was it confirmed that she had died.

On 17 June 1999, the Yad Vashem Institute honored her with the title of Righteous Among the Nations. In 2016, the Goworowo commune erected a memorial plaque in her honor, and in the same year, the restored tombstone at New Rossa Cemetery was rededicated thanks to the efforts of the Embassy of Poland in Vilnius.

In 2021, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda posthumously awarded Jadwiga Dudziec the Life Saving Cross.