Alicja Schnepf (maiden name Szczepaniak) was born on 30 August 1930 in Warsaw in the borough of Muranów (parents: father Antoni Szczepaniak, mother Natalia Szczepaniak maiden name Kuźniewska). The house was mostly inhabited by Jewish families – the Szczepaniaks and the Kowalskis were the only Christian families. Through the eyes of a child, the interviewee would observe how her neighbours celebrated Jewish holidays and traditions. In 1935, the interviewee’s family moved to the Praga borough. In 1937, Alicja Schnepf went to primary school no. 48 at Kowelska street.
Antoni Szczepaniak perished during the defence of Warsaw on 26 September 1939; he is initially buried in a mass grave at Krakowskie Przedmieście, only to be moved to the Bródno cemetery at a later date. Alicja Schnepf attended a clandestine middle school. Due to the dramatic living conditions and lack of food, the interviewee’s mother started to make risky journeys “to the other side of the Bug River,” where she traded objects of daily use for food.
In 1942, encouraged by acquaintances and in order to make the money to pay the rent, the interviewee’s mother started to let a bed in her flat. The tenants usually stayed for several to a dozen weeks. In 1943, Natalia Szczepaniak found a job in the kitchen of the Chamber of Crafts at Targowa Street.
In August 1943, Alicja Schnepf and her mother visit the Salonek family in the nearby Targówek borough. It turns out that a Jewish girl (Nina Sandel) and her aunt (Anna Albert) are hiding in the flat. A little later, in connection with the danger of the Saloneks’ flat being searched, the Jewish women are taken in by the Szczepaniaks. Despite days going by, Nina Sandel and Anna Albert cannot return to their previous hiding place and they stay in the flat of the Szczepaniaks, who hide their presence from the closest neighbours as well. It also turns out that Anna Albert has two daughters (Marysia and Krysia), who are hiding in the capital city under fake names.
In 1981, Natalia Szczepaniak is awarded the “Righteous Among the Nations” title, and ten years later so is her daughter – Alicja Schnepf. Alicja Schnepf is currently the chairman of the Association of Righteous Among the Nations.
