Intelligent. Educated. Courageous. These words describe one of the heroines in our archive. Meet Ada Nadel-Hecht – a woman who never held a gun, but whose heroic actions saved many lives.
Ada Nadel-Hecht (born 1909) was a philologist and a teacher. Before the war she taught at the Hebrew Gymnasium in Krakow. Among other things, she ran practical classes for girls, teaching them sewing and ornamentation.
During the occupation she stayed in Dobczyce with her husband Leon Hecht, a lawyer. The Hecht family lived in a house on the market square, number 11. Ada Nadel-Hecht was active in the delegation of Jewish Social Self-Help. She was one of the people who transported medicines from Kraków to the sanitary post in Dobczyce. This is evidenced by passes issued in her name.
Ada Nadel-Hecht was a co-organiser of a day-care centre for Jewish children located in the Kaufer tenement house in Dobczyce at 34 Rynek Street. She ran classes for children up to the age of 14 and as an experienced teacher passed on her knowledge to children who had no access to education. She was not paid for her work. After the arrest of those involved in secret education in Gdów, the kindergarten ceased to operate on April 21, 1942. A few months later, on August 22, all the Jews from Dobczyce were deported to Wieliczka and from there, to the extermination camp in Bełżec. Ada was probably among them.
The photograph shows the Kaufer tenement house in Dobczyce, Rynek 34, where Ada Nadel-Hecht taught Jewish children who were denied access to education.
We invite you to explore all of the Ada’s archives HERE.