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Last Updated: Tuesday, 27 February 2007, 16:12 GMT

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Poles reunited with Jews they hid

Mrs Schmetterling (left) had not seen Mrs Czekaj-Tracz for 60 years
About 60 Jewish survivors of the Holocaust have been reunited in Warsaw with the Polish families who hid them from the Nazis during World War II.
It is the largest such reunion in Poland for decades.

Miriam Schmetterling, 82, was among them. She met Jozefa Czekaj-Tracz, who was 15 when her family hid Miriam and five other relatives from the Nazis.

They hid in the attic of the Czekaj family's house near Lviv, now in Ukraine, for 10 months in 1941.

Food for the Schmetterlings was winched up on pulleys hidden in the chimney, and Jozefa played the piano whenever visitors arrived, to mask any sounds from the attic.

"I nearly cried. It is very, very emotional for me to be here because they saved my life," said Mrs Schmetterling.

"We got our food and everything through the chimney. They even sent us books to read. They are an example for humanity. There's always hope if there are people like that."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6401351.stm