Notmaya at 21:48, 29 October 2026

2026-10-29T21:48:00Z

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	{{Infobox person		{{Infobox person
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	{{Righteous Among the Nations}}'''Anna Neklaws''' (c. 1891– c. 1985) was a Polish woman who sheltered Aviva Landau, a Jewish child, during the [[Holocaust]]. In 1943, Neklaws took Landau into her home in [[Warsaw]], where the girl lived under the name Zosia Borkowska and was presented as her niece. Neklaws was posthumously recognized as a [[Righteous Among the Nations]] in 2026.<ref name="Kozienice243">{{cite web \|date=2 December 2021 \|title=[WIDEO] Ocalona z Holokaustu odnalazła rodzinę kozieniczanki, która uratowała ją z obozu zagłady \|url=https://kozienice24.pl/wideo-ocalona-z-holokaustu-odnalazla-rodzine-kozieniczanki-ktora-uratowala-ja-z-obozu-zaglady/ \|website=Kozienice24 \|language=pl}}</ref><ref name="EJC">{{cite web \|date=9 September 2026 \|title=Polish woman who hid a Jewish child during the Holocaust honoured as Righteous Among the Nations \|url=https://eurojewcong.org/news/communities-news/poland/polish-woman-who-hid-a-jewish-child-during-the-holocaust-honoured-as-righteous-among-the-nations/ \|website=European Jewish Congress}}</ref>		{{Righteous Among the Nations}}

			'''Anna Neklaws''' (c. 1891– c. 1985) was a Polish woman who sheltered Aviva Landau, a Jewish child, during the [[Holocaust]]. In 1943, Neklaws took Landau into her home in [[Warsaw]], where the girl lived under the name Zosia Borkowska and was presented as her niece. Neklaws was posthumously recognized as a [[Righteous Among the Nations]] in 2026.<ref name="Kozienice243">{{cite web \|date=2 December 2021 \|title=[WIDEO] Ocalona z Holokaustu odnalazła rodzinę kozieniczanki, która uratowała ją z obozu zagłady \|url=https://kozienice24.pl/wideo-ocalona-z-holokaustu-odnalazla-rodzine-kozieniczanki-ktora-uratowala-ja-z-obozu-zaglady/ \|website=Kozienice24 \|language=pl}}</ref><ref name="EJC">{{cite web \|date=9 September 2026 \|title=Polish woman who hid a Jewish child during the Holocaust honoured as Righteous Among the Nations \|url=https://eurojewcong.org/news/communities-news/poland/polish-woman-who-hid-a-jewish-child-during-the-holocaust-honoured-as-righteous-among-the-nations/ \|website=European Jewish Congress}}</ref>

	== Biography ==		== Biography ==

Notmaya: Created page with "{{Short description|Polish rescuer of Jews during the Holocaust}} {{Infobox person | name = Anna Neklaws | birth_date = c. 1890–1900 | birth_place = Kozienice | death_date = c. 1980–1990 | known_for = Sheltering Aviva Landau during the Holocaust | honours = Righteous Among the Nations }} {{Righteous Among the Nations}}'''Anna Neklaws''' (c. 1891– c. 1985) was a Polish woman who sheltered Aviva La..."

2026-10-29T21:47:13Z

Created page with "{{Short description|Polish rescuer of Jews during the Holocaust}} {{Infobox person | name = Anna Neklaws | birth_date = c. 1890–1900 | birth_place = Kozienice | death_date = c. 1980–1990 | known_for = Sheltering Aviva Landau during the Holocaust | honours = Righteous Among the Nations }} {{Righteous Among the Nations}}'''Anna Neklaws''' (c. 1891– c. 1985) was a Polish woman who sheltered Aviva La..."

New page

{{Short description|Polish rescuer of Jews during the Holocaust}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Anna Neklaws
| birth_date = c. 1890–1900
| birth_place = [[Kozienice]]
| death_date = c. 1980–1990
| known_for = Sheltering [[Aviva Landau]] during the Holocaust
| honours = [[Righteous Among the Nations]]
}}

{{Righteous Among the Nations}}'''Anna Neklaws''' (c. 1891– c. 1985) was a Polish woman who sheltered Aviva Landau, a Jewish child, during the [[Holocaust]]. In 1943, Neklaws took Landau into her home in [[Warsaw]], where the girl lived under the name Zosia Borkowska and was presented as her niece. Neklaws was posthumously recognized as a [[Righteous Among the Nations]] in 2026.<ref name="Kozienice243">{{cite web |date=2 December 2021 |title=[WIDEO] Ocalona z Holokaustu odnalazła rodzinę kozieniczanki, która uratowała ją z obozu zagłady |url=https://kozienice24.pl/wideo-ocalona-z-holokaustu-odnalazla-rodzine-kozieniczanki-ktora-uratowala-ja-z-obozu-zaglady/ |website=Kozienice24 |language=pl}}</ref><ref name="EJC">{{cite web |date=9 September 2026 |title=Polish woman who hid a Jewish child during the Holocaust honoured as Righteous Among the Nations |url=https://eurojewcong.org/news/communities-news/poland/polish-woman-who-hid-a-jewish-child-during-the-holocaust-honoured-as-righteous-among-the-nations/ |website=European Jewish Congress}}</ref>

== Biography ==
Neklaws was from [[Kozienice]] and later lived in Warsaw, where she resided on Francuska Street in the [[Saska Kępa]] district. She was born around 1890–1900 and died around 1980–1990.<ref name="Kozienice243" />

In 1943, Landau's parents sought to hide their daughters after the family was confined to the [[Warsaw Ghetto]]. Aviva was taken to Neklaws's home on Francuska Street. Neklaws gave her the name Zosia and presented her as her niece. Landau remained with Neklaws for about two years.<ref name="Kozienice243" /><ref name="EJC" />

Neklaws initially received money from Landau's father to support her. When the money ran out, she continued to care for the child, earning money by selling her jewellery and baking cakes for sale.<ref name="Kozienice243" /><ref name="EJC" /><ref name="Embassy3">{{cite web |date=3 September 2026 |title=Anna Neklaws i Modesta Tabor uhonorowane pośmiertnie tytułem Sprawiedliwych wśród Narodów Świata |url=https://www.govserv.org/PL/Warsaw/143437515696376/Ambasada-Izraela-w-Polsce |website=Ambasada Izraela w Polsce |language=pl}}</ref> During a German search of the house, Neklaws told the soldiers that Aviva was her niece and was ill.<ref name="Kozienice243" />

Neklaws had a son, Bohdan, known in the family as 'Daneczek'. When he was 14-year-old, he was arrested after taking a bayonet from a German soldier on a tram. He was imprisoned at [[Pawiak]], and Neklaws made efforts to secure his release. Bohdan was among the prisoners killed by the Germans in the ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto on 18 February 1944. Following her son's death, Neklaws travelled by bicycle to [[Lublin]] in an attempt to enlist in the Polish military.<ref name="Kozienice243" />

As German searches became more frequent, Neklaws arranged for Aviva to leave Warsaw and stay with acquaintances outside the city. Aviva continued to live under her assumed Polish identity and learned Christian prayers.<ref name="Kozienice243" /><ref name="EJC" />

After the war, Aviva and Neklaws re-established contact with the assistance of Aviva's older sister, who spoke Polish better than Aviva. Aviva received five letters from Neklaws between 1968 and 1982. Aviva recalled that Neklaws addressed her in the letters as "my little Zosia" and told her that she would become her mother if she did not find her own parents.<ref name="Kozienice243" /><ref name="Ynet">{{cite web |last=Lifshitz-Klieger |first=Iris |date=9 September 2026 |title=Holocaust rescuer who hid Aviva in her home honored as Righteous Among the Nations |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/jewish-world/article/r1tinvruzx |website=Ynetnews}}</ref> Neklaws also wrote about her own life and the garden beside her home, which Aviva remembered from before the war. When conditions in Poland were difficult, Aviva sent Neklaws packages containing food, oranges and money.<ref name="Ynet" />

A photograph in the collections of [[Yad Vashem]] shows Aviva Brachfeld with Anna Neklaws. The record identifies Neklaws as the Christian woman who hid Brachfeld in 1943.<ref name="YadVashem2">{{cite web |title=Aviva Brachfeld with Anna Neklaws |url=https://collections.yadvashem.org/en/photos/14286461 |website=Yad Vashem Collections}}</ref>

For years, Aviva and her family sought to have Neklaws recognized by [[Yad Vashem]] as a [[Righteous Among the Nations]], but had no information regarding the whereabouts of Neklaws's family.<ref name="Ynet" /> In 2021, Aviva's granddaughter, Gal Stern, searched for Neklaws's relatives through social media while looking for her grave. Agnieszka Janeczek responded, and identified Neklaws as her aunt. The two families later met in [[Kozienice]], where Aviva visited Neklaws's grave.<ref name="Kozienice243" /><ref name="Ynet" /> Janeczek's testimony helped to successfully complete the recognition process.<ref name="Ynet" />

As an adult, Aviva recalled Neklaws as a fair-haired woman who lived in a modest but warm house and baked cookies.<ref name="Kozienice243" /><ref name="Ynet" /> One of Aviva's great-granddaughters was named Alex-Anna in honour of Neklaws.<ref name="Ynet" />

Neklaws was posthumously recognized as a [[Righteous Among the Nations]] in 2026. A ceremony was held in Warsaw on 3 September 2026, where Israel's ambassador to Poland, Yaakov Finkelstein, presented the medal and certificate to members of Neklaws's family. Aviva, 89-year-old at the time, attended the ceremony with members of her immediate family and Neklaws's relatives.<ref name="Embassy3" /><ref name="Ynet" /><ref name="Kronika2">{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke-B-J5CD4o |title=Kozieniczanka Anna Neklaws – Sprawiedliwą wśród Narodów Świata! |date=2026 |language=pl |publisher=Kronika Kozienicka |via=YouTube}}</ref> The recognition and Neklaws's wartime story were also featured by ''Kronika Kozienicka''.<ref name="Kronika2" />

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://collections.yadvashem.org/en/photos/14286461 Aviva Brachfeld with Anna Neklaws] at [[Yad Vashem]]

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Polish Righteous Among the Nations]]
[[Category:People from Kozienice]]
[[Category:Polish women in World War II]]
[[Category:20th-century Polish women]]
[[Category:1890s births]]
[[Category:1980s deaths]]

Anna Neklaws - Revision history

Notmaya at 21:48, 29 October 2026