Anna Neklaws

Anna Neklaws (c. 1891– c. 1985) was a Polish woman who sheltered Aviva Landau, a Jewish child, during the Holocaust. In 1943, Neklaws took Landau into her home in Warsaw, where the girl lived under the name Zosia Borkowska and was presented as her niece. Neklaws was posthumously recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations in 2026.

Biography

Neklaws was from Kozienice and later lived in Warsaw, where she resided on Francuska Street in the Saska Kępa district. She was born around 1890–1900 and died around 1980–1990.

In 1943, Landau's parents sought to hide their daughters after the family was confined to the Warsaw Ghetto. Aviva was taken to Neklaws's home on Francuska Street. Neklaws gave her the name Zosia and presented her as her niece. Landau remained with Neklaws for about two years.

Neklaws initially received money from Landau's father to support her. When the money ran out, she continued to care for the child, earning money by selling her jewellery and baking cakes for sale. During a German search of the house, Neklaws told the soldiers that Aviva was her niece and was ill.

Neklaws had a son, Bohdan, known in the family as 'Daneczek'. When he was 14-year-old, he was arrested after taking a bayonet from a German soldier on a tram. He was imprisoned at Pawiak, and Neklaws made efforts to secure his release. Bohdan was among the prisoners killed by the Germans in the ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto on 18 February 1944. Following her son's death, Neklaws travelled by bicycle to Lublin in an attempt to enlist in the Polish military.

As German searches became more frequent, Neklaws arranged for Aviva to leave Warsaw and stay with acquaintances outside the city. Aviva continued to live under her assumed Polish identity and learned Christian prayers.

After the war, Aviva and Neklaws re-established contact with the assistance of Aviva's older sister, who spoke Polish better than Aviva. Aviva received five letters from Neklaws between 1968 and 1982. Aviva recalled that Neklaws addressed her in the letters as "my little Zosia" and told her that she would become her mother if she did not find her own parents. Neklaws also wrote about her own life and the garden beside her home, which Aviva remembered from before the war. When conditions in Poland were difficult, Aviva sent Neklaws packages containing food, oranges and money.

A photograph in the collections of Yad Vashem shows Aviva Brachfeld with Anna Neklaws. The record identifies Neklaws as the Christian woman who hid Brachfeld in 1943.

For years, Aviva and her family sought to have Neklaws recognized by Yad Vashem as a Righteous Among the Nations, but had no information regarding the whereabouts of Neklaws's family. In 2021, Aviva's granddaughter, Gal Stern, searched for Neklaws's relatives through social media while looking for her grave. Agnieszka Janeczek responded, and identified Neklaws as her aunt. The two families later met in Kozienice, where Aviva visited Neklaws's grave. Janeczek's testimony helped to successfully complete the recognition process.

As an adult, Aviva recalled Neklaws as a fair-haired woman who lived in a modest but warm house and baked cookies. One of Aviva's great-granddaughters was named Alex-Anna in honour of Neklaws.

Neklaws was posthumously recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations in 2026. A ceremony was held in Warsaw on 3 September 2026, where Israel's ambassador to Poland, Yaakov Finkelstein, presented the medal and certificate to members of Neklaws's family. Aviva, 89-year-old at the time, attended the ceremony with members of her immediate family and Neklaws's relatives. The recognition and Neklaws's wartime story were also featured by Kronika Kozienicka.