Przemysław Ogrodziński

Przemysław Antoni Ogrodziński (4 May 1918 – 11 May 1980), also known by his pseudonyms 'Stanisław', 'Dyplomata', and 'Agapit' was a Polish diplomat and activist.

Przemysław "Przemek" Ogrodziński was born to a Polish family in Lemberg (modern Lviv, Ukraine) in the Austrian Empire.

Lemberg was the capital of the Austrian province of Galicia, a region that spanned modern southeastern Poland and western Ukraine.

Galicia was populated by a mixture of Poles, Ukrainians, and Yiddish-speaking Ashkenazi Jews.

Shortly after Ogrodziński's birth, Galicia became part of the newly re-established Poland and Lemberg became the Polish city of Lwów.

Ogrodziński graduated in law from Jagiellonian University in Kraków, before returning to his hometown of Lwów, where he became active in the Związek Niezależnej Młodzieży Socjalistycznej (Union of Independent Socialist Youth).

As an young socialist activist in Lwów, Ogrodziński had many Jewish friends who were active in the Socialist movement.

In September 1939, the Soviet Union joined Germany in invading Poland.

Polish Galicia was annexed to the Soviet Ukraine and Lwów was again renamed, now as Lvov.

Under Soviet rule, Ogrodziński together with his father were imprisoned under charges of falsifying documents.

In June 1941, Germany invaded the USSR and captured the Soviet half of Poland on the way.

The Germans restored the Galician capital's Austrian name: Lemberg.

Under the German occupation, Ogrodziński became involved in resistance activities, as a member of the Polish Socialist Party – Freedom, Equality, Independence and as the editor of the underground socialist newspaper O wolność i niezależność (For Freedom and Independence).

Under the German occupation, the entire Jewish population of the city was forced to live in a ghetto, in dismal conditions.

In August 1941, Ogrodziński assisted with the publication of an underground newspaper in the ghetto: Lwowski Tygodnik,.

In May 1943, Ogrodziński was a founding member of the Lwów branch of Żegota, the Council to Aid Jews.

He served as the treasurer to the local branch of Żegota that sought to hide Jews outside the ghetto and smuggle food to those still inside the ghetto.

Working closely with the local chairwoman of Żegota, Władysława Choms, later known as the "Angel of Lvov", Ogrodziński worked to obtain the money that bought the extra food for the ghetto and which bought materials to make the false papers for Jews to escape the ghetto.

During his dangerous work for Żegota, Ogrodziński adopted the alias 'Stanisław'.

Many Ukrainians in Lemberg believed the Reich would establish an independent Ukrainian state after its expected "final victory" and the city became a dangerous place in which to operate.

The Polish historian Teresa Prekerowa wrote the sheer number of Ukrainian collaborators in the city made Lemberg a particularly dangerous city for Polish resistance work.

On 3 June 1943, the Germans liquidated the Lemberg ghetto, sending in Ukrainian police units to round up most of the Jews.

They were sent to the Belzec death camp, where almost all of them were exterminated immediately on arrival.

A few thousand "work Jews" (skilled laborers) were retained at a camp on Janowska street until October 1943, when they were killed in turn.

Żegota's work was limited to helping the few hundred Jews who had escaped from either the ghetto or the Janowska street camp.

It cost about 500 złotys to support one Jew in hiding per month.

Despite the difficulties, it is estimated that Ogrodziński as the treasurer of the Lwów branch of Żegota was able to extend financial assistance to between 100–200 Jews living in hiding in the city.

During this time, Ogrodziński married a fellow Żegota worker, Halina Jacuńska-Ogrodzińska.

She later recalled: "Żegota had its headquarters in Warsaw, under the auspices of the underground government which represented several political groupings. In Lvov there was a parallel union of political parties. Przemek acted on behalf of the PPS. The PPS played an important role because, among other things, it had a lot of Jewish members...we sent as many people as possible away from Lvov. We needed documents [fake identity cards, called ‘Aryan papers’] for this."

On 27 July 1944, Lemberg was recaptured by the Red Army and its name reverted to Lvov; the region was incorporated into the Soviet Union.

In October 1944, Ogrodziński became a member of OMTUR (Oganizacja Mlodziezowa Towarzystwa Uniwersytetu Robotniczego-Youth Organization of the Workers' University Society).

On 31 December 1944, Ogrodziński became a member of the State National Council.

He served as a member of the National Council's Foreign Affairs Committee.

In 1945, Ogrodziński joined the Polish diplomatic corps and served as a counselor in the Polish embassy in Rome.

The Polish 2nd Corps had served as part of the British 8th Army in Italy, and Ogrodziński's main duty in Rome was to persuade members of the 2nd Corps to return to Poland instead of staying in exile in the West.

In 1948, he returned to Poland to take part in the congress that united the Polish Workers' Party and the Polish Socialist Party into the Polish United Workers' Party, which was the official name of the Communist Party.

In 1951, he was awarded 2nd Class Knight's Officer in the Order of the Banner of Labour.

On 10 July 1952, he became the chargé d'affaires at the Polish embassy in Paris, serving as the de facto head of the Polish embassy until the spring of 1954, as the Polish ambassador to France was absent.

In Paris, Ogrodziński was keen to capitalise on the weakening relations between France and the United States.

At considerable risk to her life, Halina Jacuńska-Ogrodzińska hid two Jewish women, Maria Glass and Olga Lilien, for she which was recognized by the Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem as one of Righteous Among the Nations on 28 June 1979.