Konstanty Rokicki (16 June 1899 in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

– 18 July 1958 in Lucerne) was a Polish consular officer, vice consul of the Republic of Poland in Riga and Bern, and a

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

rescuer. Between 1941 and 1943 he was a member of the Ładoś Group also called the Bernese Group. Rokicki used his diplomatic position of

vice consul A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

to produce false

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

n passports and had them smuggled to the

German-occupied Poland German-occupied Poland during World War II consisted of two major parts with different types of administration. The Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany following the invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II—nearly a quarter of the ...

and

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

where they saved lives of their

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

bearers. For his efforts Rokicki was named

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sa ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in 2019.

Childhood and early career

Rokicki was born to Józef and Konstancja née Pawełkiewicz. Being a cavalry

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

, he got two awards for bravery, probably during Poland's war of independence, or the Polish-Soviet war, 1919–1920. In 1934, he was qualified as reserve officer for the 1st Regiment of Riflemen. On August 17, 1936, Rokicki married Maria, née Goldman (Goldmanis). The couple had a daughter, Wanda Rokicka (1938–2008), who would become a UN employee in

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

. In 1931, he joined the consular service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Between 1932 and 1933, he was a contractual employee of the Polish Consulate in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

, at that time capital of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1934–1936 he was vice-consul in Riga, and in the years 1936–1938 a contract employee of the Polish Legation in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

. From 1939 to 1945, he was the vice-consul of the Republic of Poland in Bern. He was working also for the

Polish intelligence This article covers the history of Polish Intelligence services dating back to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Commonwealth Though the first official Polish government service entrusted with espionage, intelligence and counter-intelligence ...

Holocaust rescue action and "passport affair"

It is estimated that between 1941 and 1943, Rokicki and his subordinate,

diplomat Juliusz Kühl produced several thousands of illegal

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

an passports which served as protection documents for

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

stranded in the

Nazi ghettos Beginning with the invasion of Poland during World War II, the Nazi regime set up ghettos across German-occupied Eastern Europe in order to segregate and confine Jews, and sometimes Romani people, into small sections of towns and cities further ...

in German-occupied

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

and who were threatened with deportation from German-occupied

. Rokicki and Kühl personally bribed the Paraguayan

honorary consul A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

, Bernese notary Rudolf Hügli to obtain blank passes which Rokicki filled out with the names of the Polish Jews. The lists of beneficiaries and their photos were smuggled between Bern and occupied Poland thanks to the network of Jewish organizations, in particular

Agudat Yisrael Agudat Yisrael ( he, אֲגוּדָּת יִשְׂרָאֵל, lit., ''Union of Israel'', also transliterated ''Agudath Israel'', or, in Yiddish, ''Agudas Yisroel'') is a Haredi Jewish political party in Israel. It began as a political party re ...

and RELICO, headed by

Chaim Eiss Chaim Yisroel Eiss (1876–1943, he, חיים ישראל אייז) was an Agudath Israel activist and writer. He also was among the founders of the Agudath Israel in 1912. During the First World War, Rebbe Eiss set up an aid system that locate ...

and Abraham Silberschein respectively. The passports of

– unlike the passports of other

Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...

countries – had a special value, because this country – under the pressure of

and the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

– temporarily recognized (1944) their validity.

Later life and legacy

Consul Rokicki left the diplomatic service in 1945, after the establishment of the pro-Soviet

Provisional Government of National Unity The Provisional Government of National Unity ( pl, Tymczasowy Rząd Jedności Narodowej - TRJN) was a puppet government formed by the decree of the State National Council () on 28 June 1945 as a result of reshuffling the Soviet-backed Provisio ...

and settled permanently in Switzerland. He died in Lucerne in July 1958, after several years of illness. Rokicki's name was never mentioned by historians, despite the fact that

mentioned him in its thank you letter to the Polish government alongside Aleksander Ładoś, Juliusz Kühl and

Stefan Ryniewicz Stefan Jan Ryniewicz (26 December 1903 – 9 March 1988) was a Polish diplomat and counselor of the Legation of Poland in Bern between 1940 and 1945. He was a member of the Ładoś Group also called as Ładoś Group and played a crucial role ...

. The organization claimed in it that, without their activities, it would not be possible to save "many hundreds of people". Only in August 2017, Canadian journalist

Mark MacKinnon Mark MacKinnon (born 1974) is a Canadian journalist, currently senior international correspondent for one of Canada's national newspapers, ''The Globe and Mail''. A graduate of Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, he is a seven-time winner of ...

and Polish journalists Zbigniew Parafianowicz and Michał Potocki wrote about the role of Rokicki in the rescue operation.

Yad Vashem controversy

In April 2019 the Yad Vashem's Righteous Among the Nations granted the title to Konstanty Rokicki and offered "appreciation" to Aleksander Ładoś and Stefan Ryniewicz arguing that Rokicki headed the Ładoś Group. The document erroneously called Ładoś and Ryniewicz "consuls". The decision sparked outrage and frustration among the family members of the two other late Polish diplomats, and among survivors. Thirty one of them signed an open letter to Yad Vashem. Rokicki's cousin refused to accept the medal until two other Polish diplomats, Rokicki's superior are recognized as Righteous Among The Nations, too. Polish Ambassador to Switzerland Jakub Kumoch who contributed to the discovery of Rokicki also refuted the Yad Vashem's interpretation stating that Rokicki worked under Ładoś and Ryniewicz.

Literature

* Mark Mackinnon: He should be as well known as Schindler': Documents reveal Canadian citizen Julius Kuhl as Holocaust hero, The Globe and Mail

* Zbigniew Parafianowicz, Michał Potocki: Forgotten righteous. How Aleksander Ładoś saved lives of hundreds of Jews

* Rachel Grünberger-Elbaz, Die bewegenden Enthüllungen des Eiss-Archivs: Über eine bisher unbekannte Schweizer-Rettungsaktion für Juden im 2. Weltkrieg Die bewegenden Enthüllungen des Eiss-Archivs: Über eine bisher unbekannte Schweizer-Rettungsaktion für Juden im 2. Weltkrieg

*

References