Sunday 27 July 2008

Touching story

I have already mentioned my love of Wikipedia in a previous blog post, It is the first place I turn to nowadays to find out more about...well, just about anything. And while it is very, very good, being that it is open for anyone to edit, and that there is no rigorous peer-review procedure, it is not unfallible. (Then again, neither is the gold standard amongst encylopaedias, Encyclopædia Britannica.)

BBC Radio personality and comedian, Martin Kelner, sometimes prefaces his references to Wikipedia as "that unimpeachable source", while I refer to it as "The Source of All Knowledge", or TSOAK. As a rebuttal to that, my blogger friend, Charlottalove, calls it TSOaAK (the small 'a' standing for 'almost').

I visit Wikipedia almost every day, and I particularly enjoy the featured articles and the "Did you know..." sections. I've even been known to while away slow hours (and even not-so-slow hours) browsing some of the 2.4+ million articles. In fact, all my knowledge of Israel's military history was acquired at the feet of TSOAK.

Earlier this month, the "Did you know..." section had a link to the entry for the Podgórski sisters, The blurb read:
Did you know...that the Podgórski sisters—six-year-old Helena and her teenage sister Stefania—harbored thirteen Jews for over two years in the attic of their house during the Holocaust?

"No, I did not know that. A teenager and a six-year-old did that? For two years? Tell me more."

So Wikipedia told me more. And I am...humbled by these two amazing siblings. The world is a better place because of people like the Podgórski sisters.

Here is their entry in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's website.

I have chosen to publish this post today as it was on 27 July, 1944, that Przemysl was liberated by the Soviet army, and the war ended for the Podgórski sisters and their 13 Jewish friends.

1 Comment:

Charlotta-love said...

Did you know... The Hiding Place is one of my favorite books. My respect for Holocaust victims and those that helped stems from that book. ...and that is something you WON'T find on Wiki.

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