Vanda Skuratovich ( be, Ванда Скуратовіч, 1925, Raubichy – 12 January 2010,

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

) was a

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

ian Roman Catholic

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

Life

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

she served as a partisan in Piotr Masherau's unit. She reportedly rescued a

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 ...

family from being deported to a concentration camp.Notice of Vanda Skuratovich's death
/ref> After the war, Skuratovich was a staunch activist, organizing religious ceremonies, largely forbidden by

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

authorities at that time, at her home. She actively participated in the campaign by Belarusian Roman Catholics demanding return of the Kalvaryja Church in Minsk, which was returned to the Catholic Church in 1980. Vanda Skuratovich died in

on 12 January 2010, aged 84.

References

External links

Vanda Skuratovich
– her activity to save Jews' lives during the

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; ...

, at

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

website 1925 births 2010 deaths Belarusian anti-communists Belarusian Roman Catholics Belarusian partisans People from Minsk Catholic Righteous Among the Nations Soviet female resistance members {{RC-bio-stub