Signora Sheila

I don’t know about you, but finances can get pretty tight around here. Our outings usually mean a Saturday night stroll for wonderful hot pizzas from our favorite pizzeria, The Red Wolf. Eating out (unless you go elegant or eat a lot) is really quite inexpensive here. We can get two round pizzas, water and wine for about $10! And I’m talking about GOOD pizza! :)

My husband knows that I have a serious pizza addiction, and that I don’t get out of the house much during the week. So he spoils me that way. I am a blessed woman. But wait, I have to get to the point…

We’re always looking for inexpensive ways to do something fun or educational. So I love it when I find a good documentary or movie to watch, especially if they’re old or little-known. And since I’m sure you’d like to know about them too, I’ll try to post on them from time to time!

Hidden in Silence Movie

This inspiring 1996 TV movie tells the true and heartwarming story of Stefania Podgórski, born in 1926, and her courageous hiding of 13 Jews in her attic during World War II.

At the age of 20, Stefania worked in a grocery stored owned by the Jewish Diamant family in the city of Przemyśl, in south-eastern Poland.

Stefania lived with her 7-year-old sister Helena in their own apartment. Their father had died a few years earlier, and their mother and brother were sent off to Germany for forced labor.

After the war broke out and the Diamant family was interned in the ghetto, Stefania found work as a machine tool operator. But remained friends with the family, communicating through smuggled letters.

The Diamant brothers, Max and Henek, escaped from the ghetto prior to its liquidation, and went into hiding with Stefania and Helena.

The story continues with their move to the suburbs into a single-family home that has an attic. Together, the two sisters hid and protected 13 Jewish men, women, and children in the attic.

Stefania bought food for all 15 of them with her factory earnings from the factory and what she made by knitting and selling clothing. But even Helena, young as she was, did her part by removing refuse, hauling water, and washing their clothes.

Despite the danger, both sisters continued to bravely care for their “family,” using great caution and ingenuity to avoid detection.

After the war, when people praised Stefania for her bravery and compassion, she replied that it was nothing special, and that she only did what had to be done. To me, that’s the stuff of a true heroine!

Check out the trailer for this amazing story. And then I’m sure you’ll want to find the movie and watch the whole thing!

Reference: The Righteous Among the Nations Database.

📷 Image credit: attic