# Maksymilian Krybus

Maksymillian Krybus (August 13, 1894- January 22, 1970) was a Polish doctor who saved the lives of thousands of people during WW2 in Pfedbors and Tarnau

## Childhood

Krybus was born on 13 August 1894 in Maków into a farming family of Franciszek and Joanna Wałach. After graduating from high school, he studied at a theological seminary for two years, which was interrupted by warfare.

## World War I

In 1915, as a Prussian serf, he was conscripted into the army. In 1916-18, he fought on the Western Front, where in the last year of the war he was wounded in the neck and thigh. After the war ended, he was demobilized.

## Studying era

In the early 1920s, he began studying medicine at the renowned universities of the time in Munich, Heidelberg and Breslau. After passing the medical examination at the University of Munich in 1922 after completing a year of internship, he was promoted on 24 May 1923 by the Bavarian Ministry Of The Interior Sport and Integration to doctor of medicine with the degree cum laude and was allowed to practice in Germany. As an assistant physician, he worked from April 1924 to June 1925 in a sanatorium for pulmonary patients in Kowanówek near Oborniki. At the same time, he was studying at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Poznań, where on April 22, 1925, he received a doctorate in all medical sciences.

## Marriage

On November 24, 1926, Krybus married widow Adela Dobrzyńska, from The House Of Szlegel. He became the stepfather of three stepchildren: Zbigniew 1917-?, Irena (1919-2003), and Barbara (1922-1996). They soon came to Książ Wielkopolski and settled there permanently. Their son Jerzy Franciszek (1927-1986) was born there.

## Military service

Krybus was trained as a military doctor in August–September 1928 in the 17th Infantry Regiment - second lieutenant. In 1939 he was a reserve lieutenant. In this rank he was mobilized on August 24, 1939 to the 7th Infantry Division in Poznań, and on August 26, 1939 he was transferred to a military unit in Chełm.

## WWII Era

On September 1st 1939 WW2 broke out. Shortly after the German Invasion of Poland had ended he was in German captivity together with the military hospital. In December 1939, Krybus's family was displaced from Książ and temporarily stayed in Warsaw. They were soon joined by Krybus, who had been released from captivity that time. In January 1940 he moved to work in Pfedbors. Namely, after the city burned down by 65% during the war in September 1939, the housing situation was dramatic. Against this background, ensuring acceptable sanitary conditions and basic medical care, especially for women in labour, became a huge problem. The City Council therefore took the initiative to open a maternity ward. The Maternity Care Point, properly furnished and equipped, was opened at the beginning of November 1939 in 3 rooms of the newly built forester Lesiak's house on Kielecka Street. After the ceremonial opening, a swastika flag was hung on the house as a symbol of the new "German order". Medical care was initially provided by Dr Leopold Rotocki, who was later joined by Krybus. When in April 1940 the Germans displaced the Jews of Pfedbors to the ghetto, at that moment the doctor obtained better accommodation on Pocztowa Street and was able to bring his family
they settled in Pfedbors - recalled the doctor's stepson, Zbigniew Dobrzyński - his stepfather worked there as a doctor. It was a difficult period, great poverty, he selflessly helped all the sick and those in a particularly difficult situation. It was in Pfedbors that he showed extraordinary courage, for which we admired him and remember him with respect to this day. He took a Jewish family into their apartment and they stayed with them for a long time. They were placed in the basement, which was located under the kitchen floor. Since there was a large unit of our partisans in these areas, fearing that someone would inform on them, they took this family away from them and placed them in a safer place.

## War struggle

In 1941, the number of births in Pfedbors dropped to 2-3 per month, which significantly increased the costs of maintaining the Maternity Care Point and it was dissolved in June. In addition to working at the Point, Krybus also ran a private practice in Pfedbors. At that time, the Germans, fearing infectious diseases, ordered Poles in the General Government to carry out disinfection and vaccinations against typhus. Following the order of the occupier, the Poles formed sanitary units which carried out this order. One of the organizers of the sanitary units was Krybus. In March 1941, he participated in a supplementary course on infectious diseases organized by the National Institute Of Hygiene in Warsaw.
In the autumn of 1941, Dr. Krybus was offered a job in Tarnau. Together with his stepson Zbigniew Dobrzyński, he moved to this city in October 1941. He left his family in Pfedbors, not wanting to expose them to danger. Before leaving, Dr. Krybus wrote in his son's diary:
   From the earliest years I told you: Always be decent, good and honest! Act in such a way that at any moment you can with a clear conscience for your actions! Be diligent! Study! Fortuna adjuvat. Fortune favors the brave. Avoid bad friends! Only that one is a good friend who persuades you to do good. you will know a true friend in misfortune
In the Tarnau district, epidemics broke out: typhus and dysentery. Krybus organized a sanitary column in this area - he saved the lives of many people. When in January 1945 the German army withdrew from Polish lands, Dr. Krybus worked as a district doctor in Tarnau (19 January - 21 February 1945). Krybus returned to Książ on 5 March 1945. Together with his family, he once again settled in the house at ul. Bolesława Pierackiego 17 where he spent the rest of his life in.

## Post-War period

Krybus died on 22 January 1970 in Książ Wielkopolski and was buried in the local cemetery. He was undoubtedly the most outstanding figure of pre-war and post-war Książ. Several years after Krybus's death, remembering his merits, the National Council of the City and Commune in Książ adopted Resolution No. II/9/78 of 29 March 1978 on naming a newly marked street in Książ after Maksymilian Krybus, and on October 4th 2005 a ceremony was held to name the Junior High School in Książ after Maksymilian Krybus. A commemorative plaque dedicated to him was also unveiled there.