United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Cypora Cypa Zonszajn (née Jabłoń, 1915-1942) was born in 1915 in Poland and had an older brother, Szymon (later Simon). While in school, Cypora befriended two non-Jewish girls, Zofia Olszakowska (later Glazer, 1915-2007) and Irena Zawadzka and they stayed close friends. Upon graduating from high school, Cypora attended the Institute of Agriculture in Warsaw in preparation for joining Szymon in Palestine. Around August 1941 Cypora, her husband, Jakub Zonszajn, and their daughter, Rachel (born Rachela, 1941-2002), were forced into the Siedlce ghetto. In October 1942, Cypora fled the ghetto with a friend, Dorota Monczyk, taking Rachel with her. They hid with the Zawadzka family until Cypora decided to return to the ghetto to be with her husband and parents, but Rachel stayed with the family. In fall 1942, Cypora wrote about the liquidation of the Siedlce ghetto in her diary and gave it to the Zawadzka family along with a letter to Sabina Zawadzka entrusting Rachel to her. Rachel’s name was changed to Maria Jozafa and she continued to live with the family. After two months, Irena Zawadzka obtained false documentation for Rachel and arranged for her to stay at a local convent. Irena visited Rachel frequently and took her back home after she became ill. Rachel remained with the Zawadzka family until the summer of 1943 when Zofia Olszakowska took her to a village near Lublin where she lived with Irena Olszakowska, Zofia’s sister. Zofia arranged for a birth certificate under the name “Maria Tymińska” and Rachel lived with Irena for six months. In winter 1944, Zofia took Rachel to Sobieszyn, near Pulawy. After the Soviet Army liberated the area in July 1944, Zofia and Rachel remained in Sobieszyn until June 1945 when they returned to Siedlce and Rachel went back to live with Irena Zawadzka. Irena contacted Szymon in Palestine and he requested that Rachel be placed in a Jewish orphanage in Warsaw in order for them to be reunited in Palestine as soon as possible. In December 1945 Zofia took Rachel to Warsaw and a short time later she was transferred to an orphanage in France. Two years later she was reunited with her uncle in Palestine. According to witnesses, Cypora committed suicide by taking a pill containing poison before deportation and Jakub was deported to Treblinka where he perished. In 1988 Zofia Olszakowska, Irena Zawadzka and her mother, and Sabina Zawadzka were honored as Righteous Among the Nations. Cypora Cypa Zonszajn (née Jabłoń, 1915-1942) was born in 1915 in Poland and had an older brother, Szymon (later Simon). While in school, Cypora befriended two non-Jewish girls, Zofia Olszakowska (later Glazer, 1915-2007) and Irena Zawadzka and they stayed close friends. Upon graduating from high school, Cypora attended the Institute of Agriculture in Warsaw in preparation for joining Szymon in Palestine. Around August 1941 Cypora, her husband, Jakub Zonszajn, and their daughter, Rachel (born Rachela, 1941-2002), were forced into the Siedlce ghetto. In October 1942, Cypora fled the ghetto with a friend, Dorota Monczyk, taking Rachel with her. They hid with the Zawadzka family until Cypora decided to return to the ghetto to be with her husband and parents, but Rachel stayed with the family. In fall 1942, Cypora wrote about the liquidation of the Siedlce ghetto in her diary and gave it to the Zawadzka family along with a letter to Sabina Zawadzka entrusting Rachel to her. Rachel’s name was changed to Maria Jozafa and she continued to live with the family. After two months, Irena Zawadzka obtained false documentation for Rachel and arranged for her to stay at a local convent. Irena visited Rachel frequently and took her back home after she became ill. Rachel remained with the Zawadzka family until the summer of 1943 when Zofia Olszakowska took her to a village near Lublin where she lived with Irena Olszakowska, Zofia’s sister. Zofia arranged for a birth certificate under the name “Maria Tymińska” and Rachel lived with Irena for six months. In winter 1944, Zofia took Rachel to Sobieszyn, near Pulawy. After the Soviet Army liberated the area in July 1944, Zofia and Rachel remained in Sobieszyn until June 1945 when they returned to Siedlce and Rachel went back to live with Irena Zawadzka. Irena contacted Szymon in Palestine and he requested that Rachel be placed in a Jewish orphanage in Warsaw in order for them to be reunited in Palestine as soon as possible. In December 1945 Zofia took Rachel to Warsaw and a short time later she was transferred to an orphanage in France. Two years later she was reunited with her uncle in Palestine. According to witnesses, Cypora committed suicide by taking a pill containing poison before deportation and Jakub was deported to Treblinka where he perished. In 1988 Zofia Olszakowska, Irena Zawadzka and her mother, and Sabina Zawadzka were honored as Righteous Among the Nations.
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The collection documents the Holocaust-era experiences of Rachel Zonszajn (later Rachel Benshaul) and her mother Cypora Zonszajn, originally of Siedlce, Poland, including Rachel’s survival as a hidden child with the efforts of Cypora’s childhood friends Zofia Glazer and Irena Zawadzka. The collection consists of three photographs of Rachel Zonszajn with her mother, father and her maternal grandmother in the Siedlce ghetto, dated Spring 1942; a photograph of Rachel with her rescuers, Zofia Glazer, Sabina Zawadzka, and Krystyna Zawadzka with her son, Stefanek, dated 1945, location, Siedlce, Poland; a photographic portrait of Dosia, a Jewish woman rescued by Irena, dated 1948, location, Paris, France; a thank you letter written by Szymon Jablon, Rachel's maternal uncle in Palestine, to Zofia and Irena, circa 1949; one letter written by Rachel in Israel to Zofia and Irena, circa 1957; a manuscript copy of an account of the liquidation of the Siedlce ghetto, written by Cypora Jablon Zonszajn, Rachel's mother, circa August 1942; and one printed invitation, dated 1960, to Rachel Zonszajn and Shraga Blum’s wedding, together with a handwritten entry by Szymon Jablon, Kibbutz Ma’abarot, Israel.
Zofia Glazer and Irena Zawadzka collection