Polish pharmacist Thadeusz Pankiewicz saved countless lives by running the only pharmacy within the Krakow ghetto.
Polish pharmacist Thadeusz Pankiewicz saved countless lives by running the only pharmacy within the Krakow ghetto. When the ghetto was established #OnThisDay in 1941, the Nazis offered to relocate Pankiewicz, as his pharmacy happened to be within the ghetto walls. He refused, choosing to stay in the ghetto until its destruction in March 1943. Pankiewicz’s pharmacy aided Jews in multiple ways, such as by distributing hair dye to make the elderly look younger. This was helpful because Jews deemed unfit for labor—such as the elderly and the very young—were often the first deported “to the East,” the Nazi euphemism for killing centers in German-occupied Poland. Pankiewicz and his assistants also gave parents tranquilizers to quiet babies when being hidden or smuggled out of the ghetto. The pharmacy handed out bandages and medications, and Pankiewicz served as a liaison between Jews living in the ghetto and those outside its walls. Due to its location, the pharmacy was often the last s...
