Krystyna Budnicka, born “Hena Kuczer” on 8th May 1932, in Warsaw, was the youngest daughter of Josef Lejzor Kuczer, a carpenter, and Cyrla (née Bzura). She had several siblings - Izaak (owner of the "Parnas" reading room), Baruch, Szaja, Rafał, Perla, Chaim and Jehuda. The family lived on ul. Muranowska in Warsaw. In the autumn of 1940, they were forced into the Warsaw Ghetto.
In January 1943, the family began hiding in a bunker in the basement of a building on ul. Miła. During that period, members of her family were killed by the Nazis. After the bunker was discovered, Hena Kuczer went into hiding in various places, including on ul. Mokotowska and ul Podwale. Following the fall of the Warsaw Uprising, she was placed in an orphanage run by the Sisters of Charity. Krystyna Budnicka was the only member of her family to survive the war.
After 1945, Krystyna Budnicka worked at the Gymnasium of the Sisters of Nazareth. She studied pedagogy at the Catholic University of Lublin and the Institute of Special Pedagogy. She became an active member of the Children of the Holocaust Association. In 2018, Krystyna Budnicka was honoured as an Honorary Citizen of the Capital City of Warsaw for her contributions and work.
