On the night of 9 August 1943, the Germans arrested Gabriela and Jan Nosal in Brzeszcze. Together with them, Stanisława Mazur was taken into custody. Shortly afterwards, they were all killed for rendering aid to KL Auschwitz prisoners.
Jan Nosal was a well-known Polish Socialist Party activist. From 1920 he lived in Brzeszcze and worked in the mine. After the elections to the Polish Sejm in 1928, he became an MP. From March to September 1939, he served as mayor of Jaworzno. During the German occupation, he used the aliases “Boruta”, “Stary”. He participated in underground activities with great commitment. He and his wife supplied food and medicines to Auschwitz prisoners and also acted as intermediaries in the transmission of correspondence.
Also active in the Polish Socialist Party was Franciszek Mazur who organised strikes as part of his political activities in the 1920s and 1930s. He was one of the co-founders of the pre-war Workers’ University Society in Jaworzno.
Between 1940 and 1941, the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) underground organizations in Brzeszcze and in the Jaworzno-Chrzanów district, led by Franciszek Mazur, pseudonym “Marcin”, worked closely together to help the prisoners of Auschwitz. Among other things, Franciszek participated in the preparation of the escape from Auschwitz of Józef Cyrankiewicz – after the war, a communist activist, Prime Minister and Chairman of the State Council. However, it did not come to fruition.
Franciszek’s wife Stanisława, pseudonym “Marcinowa”, was a courier in the Underground. In August 1943, she went to Brzeszcze to warn the Nosal couple of an upcoming arrest. She fell into an ambush set by the Germans in the Nosal home.
This is how this story is described in her memoirs in the book entitled “In the shadow of Auschwitz” by Edward Hałoń alias “Boruta”.
“The undisputed leader, endowed with the authority of an old pre-war socialist activist and MP, Jan Nosal, together with his wife and the liaison officer “Marcinowa”, Stanisława Mazur from Jaworzno, who was staying in the flat at the time, were arrested. “Marcinowa” came by accident, she was in the flat at the time, but we did not know why Nosal had been arrested and for what exactly. After a short investigation, they were imprisoned in Auschwitz, where they all died”. Stanisława Mazur was the youngest of them. She was only 35 on the day of her death, Gabriela Nosal was 56 and Jan Nosal was 60.
Franciszek Mazur, who was wanted by the Germans, had to go into hiding.
The story of his ancestors was taken up by his grandson Mieczysław Mazur, who lives in Warsaw. This is how he described his grandfather’s post-war fate.
“In February 1945, he was appointed deputy director of the Jaworzno Mine and chairman of the Municipal Committee of the Polish Socialist Party (PPS). He remained in this position until the merger of the PPS (Polish Socialist Party) and PPR (Polish Workers’ Party), i.e., until 15th December 1948. After the merger of the two parties, he became a member of the [Polish United Workers’ Party]. He held seats in the Presidium of the Municipal National Council, the Central Union of Miners, the Union of Fighters for Freedom and Democracy, and the judiciary as a juror. In 1952, he was granted a disability pension”.
In the same year, following a denunciation, Francis was arrested and sentenced to six months in a labour camp for insulting Joseph Stalin. The court eventually acquitted him in 1957. He died on 6 May 1967 in Jaworzno.
One of the streets in Jaworzno was named S.F. Mazur after the couple.
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The Remembrance Museum of Land of Oświęcim Residents thanks Mieczysław Mazur for his donation of documents and photographs related to the history of his family.
The Museum continuously collects objects, photographs and materials related to local history. It also records witness accounts. All those who would like to share their family history are encouraged to contact us by phone – 33/447-40-84 or by e-mail: biuro@muzeumpamieci.pl.
