Timeline
The Steyer family moves to the town of Kielce to be closer to Salomea's family. Jews constitute over a third of the Kielce population, just like in the largest cities of Poland (Vilna, Lvov, Warsaw, Lodz).
Stanley is in his second year at a private Jewish secondary school in Kielce. (Stanley standing on top row, second from right.) Stanley would soon transfer to a different school, but later in life he reconnected with the handful of boys who also survived the Holocaust.
Stanley begins to study business and economics in Poznan, a city in western Poland. As a university student, he experiences virulent antisemitism (hatred and violence against Jews) for the first time in his life.
Stanley moves to Warsaw, the Polish capital. He works at an accounting firm and serves as an instructor at the Business Institute for Women. In this picture from 1938, Stanley (far left) is on a trip to Kielce, but one can easily imagine him striding down the streets of Warsaw, on his way to work.
The Nazis force all Jews in Warsaw to wear a white armband with a Star of David. Stanley Steyer would have worn such an armband.
The Nazis establish a ghetto in Warsaw for exclusively Jewish residence. Jews constituted over 30% of the Warsaw population before the war, and their numbers soon swell with refugees from surrounding towns. The Nazis force all these people into a tiny area of the city--the area highlighted in orange on this map.
Stanley acquires a false identity, with the first name of "Stanisław." This allows him the freedom to move between the ghetto and the rest of the city. (Stanley would maintain the name of Stanisław in Polish identity documents, such as the one to the left, even after the war.)
To escape deportation, Stanley leaves the ghetto and takes up permanent residence under a false identity on the "Aryan side" of Warsaw. He now remains outside the ghetto walls (like the Polish individuals in the image to the left).
Using his false identity, Stanley organizes a company that packages and distributes ersatz (false) coffee from chicory root, among other products. It is a staple in wartime Poland.
The Nazis "liquidate" the Kielce ghetto, deporting its inhabitants to the death camp of Treblinka. Stanley's parents and his grandmother are murdered.
Diana (Danuta) Kintzel, a young Polish Catholic woman, meets Stanley Steyer on the "Aryan" side of Warsaw and falls in love with him. Diana begins to support Stanley in his clandestine activities. They use his chicory business as a front to place Stanley's family and friends in hiding.
Diana's brother, Tadeusz, begins to assist Diana and Stanley in their clandestine operations to hide and save Jews.
Jewish fighters in Warsaw revolt against Nazi troops. They hold out for a full month. Stanley, using profits from his business, supports the uprising in the ghetto by smuggling in weapons and ammunition.
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ends. The remaining Jewish population in Warsaw is sent to labor and death camps. The Nazis have destroyed the ghetto, burning it to the ground.
Stanley Steyer and Diana Kintzel get married, a private act of defiance in the midst of the Nazi genocide. The couple celebrates with Diana's brother, Tadeusz, and her sister, Krystyna.
Stanley's sister Helena, whom he had placed in hiding together with her husband and daughter, is denounced to the Gestapo by a Jewish informant. Helena, her husband David, and her three-year-old daughter Nina are arrested and shot.
Stanley and Diana make a business trip to the city of Tarnów, in southern Poland, to deliver coffee products. As usual, they are hiding under false identities. (The Jews of Tarnów have already been sent to death camps.)
Stanley and Diana are arrested in Tarnów and imprisoned for a month. Diana, who is pregnant with her first child, is beaten, and loses the baby by miscarriage.
Upon release from prison, Stanley and Diana find shelter with Diana's relatives in the nearby city of Kraków. Kraków is liberated by Soviet troops on January 18, 1945.
A terrible pogrom (violent attack against Jews) breaks out in Kielce, Poland, the town where Stanley grew up. Poles in Kielce kill 42 Holocaust survivors and injure 40 more.
Stanley decides he can no longer live in Poland. He begins to gather documents (like his birth certificate, to the left) in preparation for immigration.
Diana joins Stanley in immigrating to the United States, and then Venezuela. She would always long for her beloved parents and older siblings, who remained in Poland during the communist regime.
Helen Steyer, Stanley and Diana's daughter, donates their collection of papers to the JFCS Holocaust Center and generously funds this digital exhibit. Diana Steyer and her brother, Tadeusz Kintzel, have yet to be designated as Righteous Among the Nations.
The Steyer family moves to the town of Kielce to be closer to Salomea's family. Jews constitute over a third of the Kielce population, just like in the largest cities of Poland (Vilna, Lvov, Warsaw, Lodz).
Stanley is in his second year at a private Jewish secondary school in Kielce. (Stanley standing on top row, second from right.) Stanley would soon transfer to a different school, but later in life he reconnected with the handful of boys who also survived the Holocaust.
Stanley begins to study business and economics in Poznan, a city in western Poland. As a university student, he experiences virulent antisemitism (hatred and violence against Jews) for the first time in his life.
Stanley moves to Warsaw, the Polish capital. He works at an accounting firm and serves as an instructor at the Business Institute for Women. In this picture from 1938, Stanley (far left) is on a trip to Kielce, but one can easily imagine him striding down the streets of Warsaw, on his way to work.
The Nazis force all Jews in Warsaw to wear a white armband with a Star of David. Stanley Steyer would have worn such an armband.
The Nazis establish a ghetto in Warsaw for exclusively Jewish residence. Jews constituted over 30% of the Warsaw population before the war, and their numbers soon swell with refugees from surrounding towns. The Nazis force all these people into a tiny area of the city--the area highlighted in orange on this map.
Stanley acquires a false identity, with the first name of "Stanisław." This allows him the freedom to move between the ghetto and the rest of the city. (Stanley would maintain the name of Stanisław in Polish identity documents, such as the one to the left, even after the war.)
To escape deportation, Stanley leaves the ghetto and takes up permanent residence under a false identity on the "Aryan side" of Warsaw. He now remains outside the ghetto walls (like the Polish individuals in the image to the left).
Using his false identity, Stanley organizes a company that packages and distributes ersatz (false) coffee from chicory root, among other products. It is a staple in wartime Poland.
The Nazis "liquidate" the Kielce ghetto, deporting its inhabitants to the death camp of Treblinka. Stanley's parents and his grandmother are murdered.
Diana (Danuta) Kintzel, a young Polish Catholic woman, meets Stanley Steyer on the "Aryan" side of Warsaw and falls in love with him. Diana begins to support Stanley in his clandestine activities. They use his chicory business as a front to place Stanley's family and friends in hiding.
Diana's brother, Tadeusz, begins to assist Diana and Stanley in their clandestine operations to hide and save Jews.
Jewish fighters in Warsaw revolt against Nazi troops. They hold out for a full month. Stanley, using profits from his business, supports the uprising in the ghetto by smuggling in weapons and ammunition.
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ends. The remaining Jewish population in Warsaw is sent to labor and death camps. The Nazis have destroyed the ghetto, burning it to the ground.
Stanley Steyer and Diana Kintzel get married, a private act of defiance in the midst of the Nazi genocide. The couple celebrates with Diana's brother, Tadeusz, and her sister, Krystyna.
Stanley's sister Helena, whom he had placed in hiding together with her husband and daughter, is denounced to the Gestapo by a Jewish informant. Helena, her husband David, and her three-year-old daughter Nina are arrested and shot.
Stanley and Diana make a business trip to the city of Tarnów, in southern Poland, to deliver coffee products. As usual, they are hiding under false identities. (The Jews of Tarnów have already been sent to death camps.)
Stanley and Diana are arrested in Tarnów and imprisoned for a month. Diana, who is pregnant with her first child, is beaten, and loses the baby by miscarriage.
Upon release from prison, Stanley and Diana find shelter with Diana's relatives in the nearby city of Kraków. Kraków is liberated by Soviet troops on January 18, 1945.
A terrible pogrom (violent attack against Jews) breaks out in Kielce, Poland, the town where Stanley grew up. Poles in Kielce kill 42 Holocaust survivors and injure 40 more.
Stanley decides he can no longer live in Poland. He begins to gather documents (like his birth certificate, to the left) in preparation for immigration.
Diana joins Stanley in immigrating to the United States, and then Venezuela. She would always long for her beloved parents and older siblings, who remained in Poland during the communist regime.
Helen Steyer, Stanley and Diana's daughter, donates their collection of papers to the JFCS Holocaust Center and generously funds this digital exhibit. Diana Steyer and her brother, Tadeusz Kintzel, have yet to be designated as Righteous Among the Nations.