Jan Jantoń

Jan Jantoń was born on 11th April 1911. He lived in the village of Wola Brzostecka with his wife Bronisława and their four children and worked as a farmer. From summer 1942 on, the Jantoń family were helping their Jewish friends, the Fisch family. After escaping from the Brzostek Ghetto, the family of six – Sara Hena, Mojżesz and their children Róża, Rachel, Feige and Mojżesz – were hiding on the Jantońs’ farm. Later on, as things got risky, Jan Jantoń arranged a hideout for the family in the nearby woods. There, the Jantońs would provide their friends with food and other necessary items.

However, on 8th December 1942, the Fischs were denounced and found by German constables and the Polish so-called “blue police.” All six members of the family were murdered. Unfortunately, just at the same time Jan Jantoń arrived at the hideout in order to bring them food. He was shot on the spot for helping Jews. Jan Jantoń and the Fisch family were buried together in a grave near the hideout. In 1992, Bronisława and Jan Jantoń were posthumously awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations.

AUTHOR: Larysa Michalska

Extermination

Mass murder, or genocide, occurs at this stage. The perpetrators avoid using this and similar terms because they do not consider their victims to be human beings. If the state is behind the genocide, the armed forces are complicit in the killing. Sometimes, as a consequence of genocide, retaliatory killing occurs and the cycle repeats itself. The victims are once again dehumanized – the corpses are often desecrated, buried in mass graves. Genocide is accompanied by the destruction of the cultural and religious heritage of the victims.
When genocide occurs, only rapid and effective military intervention can stop the crimes. The establishment of security zones or humanitarian corridors under the effective protection of international forces can save many lives. Under the concept of the international responsibility to protect, since 2005, the international community can and should respond by defending people’s lives.

How does this person’s story illustrate response to the particular stage of genocide in Dr. Stanton’s theory?

Jan Jantoń was a witness and a victim of the unspeakable evil of WWII. He saw with his own eyes how his Jewish neighbours and friends were harassed, humiliated, persecuted and finally killed. Although it was known that the occupational authorities sentenced anyone who would help Jewish people to death, Jan and his wife still decided to help those in need, well aware that they would bring themselves and their families in danger by doing so.