Yad Vashem awards medals for Polański rescuers

A south-Polish couple who sheltered renowned Polish-Jewish-French film director Roman Polański from the Nazis during his World War Two childhood in Poland have been posthumously awarded Righteous Among the Nations medals by Israel's Yad Vashem Institute.

The awarding ceremony took place at the Jewish Memorial House in Gliwice, southern Poland. Present was Polański himself, who originally moved for the awarding of the distinctions to Yad Vashem. Recalling his time with the couple, Stefania and Jan Buchała, Polański said that they had saved his life.

"It's thanks to them that I'm here today," he said.

Polański was nine when he was taken in by the Buchałas after being separated from his Jewish parents. He spent the next two years with the family.

The medals were collected by the Buchałas' grandson, Stanisław Buchała.

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