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{{Infobox person |
{{Infobox person |
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| name = |
| name = Bilal Saeed |
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| image = |
| image = [[File:Bilal saeed.jpg|thumb|Add caption here]] |
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| image_size = 175px |
| image_size = 175px |
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| birth_date = 28 August 1909 |
| birth_date = 28 August 1909 |
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| birth_place = [[Lwów]], [[Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria]] |
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| death_date = 12 May 1946 (aged 36) |
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| religion = [[Islam]] |
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| religion = [[Roman Catholic]] |
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Revision as of 10:16, 12 January 2013
Bilal Saeed | |
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Born | 28 August 1909 |
Occupation | Singer |
Leopold Socha (Lwów, 28 August 1909 – 12 May 1946, Gliwice, Poland) was a Polish sewer inspector in the formerly Polish city of Lwów (now Lviv, Ukraine) who during World War II used his knowledge of the city's sewer system to shelter Jews from the Nazi Germans and the Germans' Ukrainian collaborators. In 1978, Socha was recognized by the State of Israel as a Righteous among the Nations.
Biography
Leopold Socha lived in a poor neighbourhood of Lwow and worked as a labourer for the municipal sanitation department in maintaining the sewage system. He had spent time in jail for petty thievery prior to the German occupation of Lwow.
In 1943, Socha began using his knowledge of the sewer system to help hide a group of 20 Jews who had fled their ghetto through the floorboards after it was liquidated.[1]
He was aided in his efforts by Stefan Wroblewski, a Pole who worked with him. The sewage canals became the Jewish refugees' hideout, and Socha, his wife, and the Wroblewskis met their needs from that day on. At the beginning, the hiding Jews paid their benefactors, but eventually the money ran out, and Socha and his wife continued to care for the fugitives and, together with the Wroblewskis, paid for the food out of their own pockets.
Socha aided the group of refugees for the duration of the war, of whom 10 of the original 20 survived.
In 1946, Socha and his daughter were riding their bicycles when a Soviet military truck came careering towards his daughter. Socha steered his bicycle in her direction to knock her out of the way, saving her in the process but killing himself. After Socha died, the Jews he had saved during the war returned to pay their last respects.[2]
Legacy
On May 23, 1978, Yad Vashem in Israel recognized Leopold and Magdalena Socha as Righteous Among the Nations. In 1981, Stefan Wroblewski, the other sewer maintenance worker, and his wife were also recognized as Righteous Among the Nations.[3]
Socha was portrayed in the 2011 Agnieszka Holland film, In Darkness. It was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards.
See also
References
- ^ "Rescue in the Sewers: Leopold & Magdalena Socha". Yad Vashem. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
- ^ "The amazing story of survival in the sewers of Lvov". Aish. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
- ^ "Socha Leopold - Polscy Sprawiedliwi - Przywracanie Pamięci". Sprawiedliwi.org.pl. Retrieved 2012-02-26.