In
World War II, during the
Nazi occupation of Poland Wyrzykowska saved
Jews by hiding several individuals for over two years, using gasoline to mask their scent from German tracker dogs. In 2001 Wyrzykowska was unable to attend the unveiling of a
new monument to the victims of the Jedwabne Pogrom out of fear of her Home Army attackers, three of whom still resided in the area. Her case has been highlighted by the historian
Jan Grabowski as an example of the post-war retribution meted out by the Polish nationalist movement to Poles who had helped Jews during the Holocaust.
Recognition President
Lech Kaczyński awarded Antonina the Commander's Cross of
the Order of Polonia Restituta, and she and her husband
Aleksander Wyrzykowski received
Yad Vashem's Righteous Among the Nations title in 1976, and in 2007, == References ==