Irena Droździkowska, Krakow, ”Pod Orłem” (”Eagle”) Pharmacy, 1941—43. Property of the Historical Museum of the City of Krakow.

Although some things can be said about Tadeusz Pankiewicz, little is known about his three employees who assisted him in the ”Pod Orłem” (”Eagle”) Pharmacy. We know them from occupational photographs in which they were shown accompanying their manager. Smiling, amiable, young. But what do we actually know about them? Do we at least know their names? The most serious of them seems to be Irena, Helena always smiles, and Aurelia has slightly absent-minded eyes. On the day of the war outbreak they were 26, 21 and 23 years of age, respectively. But for their engagement it would not have been possible to create around the Pharmacy the whole system of aid for the Jews imprisoned in the ghetto. And yet the world seems to have forgotten them. None of them was honoured with the ”Righteous Among the Nations” medal…

People said that ”the soul of the pharmacy were Tadeusz and Irka.” Irka commented on this opinion: ”We saw what was going on in the ghetto, we had to help.” Unlike the two remaining employees, Irena Droździkowska (1913−1994) managed to finish pharmacy at the Jagiellonian University, hence she was a certified master of pharmacy and worked in her profession since 1936. Until 1 September 1939 she worked in the Mariańska Pharmacy in Rybnik. On this day she resolved to terminate the contract, seeing the extremely enthusiastic reaction of its staff to the entry of the Germans to Poland; the staff had even begun to speak only German. She returned to Kraków. At that time she did not know Tadeusz Pankiewicz, who–just like most of the Kraków population–decided to escape to the East after the occupant had entered the city. He reached Lviv, but in November 1939 he was back in Kraków. Then, Irena, who later was to become a close friend of Pankiewicz, was already working in the ”Pod Orłem” (”Eagle”) Pharmacy. On 10 September, upon the request of the Pankiewicz family, who knew Droździkowska from the circle of Kraków pharmacists, she re-opened the pharmacy, which had been closed from the onset of the war, and ran it until the return of Tadeusz. She continued working there until 1951 (the date of nationalisation of all pharmacies in Poland).

When the pharmacy became enclosed within the ghetto and the workload increased, two pharmacy students joined the staff in 1941: in May – Aurelia Danek (1916−1995), and in December – the youngest of them, Helena Krywaniuk (1918−1994). The outbreak of war had stopped their education and now, recommended by Irena Droździkowska as trustworthy persons, they were accepted to the ”Pod Orłem” (”Eagle”) Pharmacy for apprenticeship. They already knew that the role of the facility at Zgoda Square went far beyond the function of mere provision of medicines. They soon became engaged in helping the ghetto residents. It was Aurelia who transported one of the Torahs stored by Pankiewicz outside the ghetto. She did it on a children's scooter, carrying the precious scroll in a travel bag through one of the ghetto gates, while Helena and Irka distracted the attention of the guards, engaging them in a conversation.

Helena Krywaniuk. Kraków, ”Pod Orłem” (”Eagle”) Pharmacy, 1941—43. Property of the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków.	Aurelia Danek. Kraków,  ”Pod Orłem” (”Eagle”) Pharmacy,  1941—43. Property of the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków.

Even after the tragic liquidation of the ghetto, all three women did not stop their work in the pharmacy, providing their assistance to those who survived the massacre, now imprisoned in Płaszów camp. Irena and Helena remained in the pharmacy until the end of its operation as Pankiewicz's private company, i.e. until 1951, when the pharmacy became the property of the state by the decision on nationalisation; Aurelia stayed until 1945. Later, all three worked in different pharmacies in Kraków and outside the city. In 1947 Aurelia and Helena finished their studies, discontinued by the outbreak of war.

While reading the dates of their deaths as well as the death of Tadeusz Pankiewicz, one cannot avoid the impression that they remained a team to the very end. Tadeusz died in 1993, Irena (buried in the Pankiewicz family tomb in the Rakowicki Cemetery) and Helena – in 1994, Aurelia – in 1995.

Elaborated by Kinga Kołodziejska (Editorial team of Małopolska's Virtual Museums),

 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Poland License.

You say that this pharmacy,
The “Eagle Pharmacy“,  once in the ghetto area,
Is unusual and there is
No such other in the world.

Ignacy Nikorowicz, Apteka „Pod Orłem” w getcie krakowskim (The “Eagle Pharmacy“ in the Kraków Ghetto), Kraków 1950.

An inconspicuous place. From 1967 to 1981, it was simply known as the “Vistula Bar“ (“Bar Nadwiślański“). But even then people arranged to meet to have a beer “at the pharmacy.“ Today it is a branch of the Historical Museum with an elegant interior, pharmacy shelves in the Biedermeier style, photographs, maps and documents on the walls. Somewhere there is a deeply hidden rear exit. This back door was a rescue exit during the years of the holocaust 1941–1943, even if the escape was only temporary, until the next manhunt. Pankiewicz and his three workers, who returned to the Aryan side every night, tried to help the residents of the ghetto by any means. The pharmacy became a contact point between people of the isolated district and their relatives who were still free but had to hide, as well as members of the underground movement. Information, underground press publications, forged documents and essential medicines were passed there and food was smuggled. Soon, it also provided products which could help people avoid deportation: hair dyes used to make oneself look younger or Luminal used to keep children quiet when they were hiding or were being carried in a piece of luggage. During deportation actions, which were completed at Zgody (Concorde) Square, right in front of the windows of the ghetto, free medicines and dressings were distributed. At that time, many people found a hiding place there, as well.
In less extreme circumstances, the pharmacy was, above all, a place where time seemed to have stopped, especially in the evenings, and the terrible reality remained outside the door for a while. Discussions were conducted here, both political ones and those unrelated to the situation completely. Artists, scientists, and eminent figures who had been forced by their fate to cluster in the streets of the ghetto could meet in the pharmacy to seek any job which could prevent their deportation, but which had absolutely nothing to do with their talent and education. After a day of relentless struggle for basic human needs, they tried to forget for a brief moment about the absurdity and tragedy of the situation in which they had found themselves. In the privacy of Pankiewicz's duty room, they behaved as before, they decided their fate on their own.
“According to descriptions of most people, the pharmacy was like an embassy – a diplomatic outpost representing a world which was somehow free in this walled and barred city. It became a daily rallying point for many nice and very interesting people. All sorts of people of different ages and status came here regularly; here, from the early hours of the morning, they read German newspapers and the underground press; they commented on the latest news of war, assessed the political situation, and finally discussed everyday troubles and worries until late at night; they carried on discussions, deliberations and predictions.“

T. Pankiewicz, Apteka w getcie krakowskim, Kraków 1992 (I wyd. 1947).

Elaborated by Kinga Kołodziejska (Editorial team of Małopolska's Virtual Museums),

 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Poland License.

See also:
Photograph “The staff of Tadeusz Pankiewicz’s The Eagle Pharmacy”
Photograph “Tadeusz Pankiewicz in the Company of Four People in the Duty Room”
“Righteous Among the Nations” medal for Tadeusz Pankiewicz

Zegar zwieńczony figurą orła w aptece „Pod Orłem”. Kraków 1942. Ze zbiorów MHK, © wszystkie prawa zastrzeżone.

Na budynku oddziału Muzeum Historycznego Miasta Krakowa przy Placu Bohaterów Getta 18 nie znajdziemy uzasadnienia nazwy Apteki pod Orłem. Ani teraz, ani nigdy wcześniej żaden element architektoniczny na fasadzie tego historycznego budynku nie wskazywał na sens takiej właśnie nazwy. W czasach okupacji niemieckiej, które uczyniły aptekę Tadeusza Pankiewicza sławną, nad wejściem widniał po prostu napis „Apteka J. Pankiewicza” (aptekę założył ojciec Tadeusza — Józef Pankiewicz i to jego imię pojawia się w nazwie placówki na wszystkich dokumentach). Dodatek „Pod Orłem” stosowano natomiast w drukach recepturowych i korespondencji formalnej. Dopiero w 1983 roku, kiedy utworzono tu Muzeum Pamięci Narodowej, na szyldzie wejściowym pojawiła się pełna nazwa najsłynniejszej okupacyjnej apteki.
Skąd jednak ów dodatek „Pod Orłem”? Genezę pełnej nazwy, pod którą miejsce to funkcjonuje w powszechnej świadomości, odnajdziemy we wnętrzu placówki. Na aptecznym kredensie odtworzonym na wzór tego, który stał w głównej sali aptecznej podczas okupacji, i umieszczonym tak, jak na zachowanych zdjęciach z tego okresu, na przeciwko frontowych drzwi, znajduje się figura orła o rozpostartych skrzydłach. Jest ona wierną kopią oryginału, który przechowuje obecnie Muzeum Farmacji Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego w Krakowie. Pierwotnie jednak orzeł, który dał nazwę aptece, wieńczył drewniany zegar, który możemy zobaczyć na zdjęciu powyżej, pochodzącym z 1942 roku.

Opracowanie: Kinga Kołodziejska (Redakcja WMM),

 Ten utwór jest dostępny na licencji Creative Commons Uznanie autorstwa 3.0 Polska.

Zobacz:
Fotografia „Personel apteki »Pod Orłem« Tadeusza Pankiewicza”
Fotografia „Tadeusz Pankiewicz w towarzystwie czterech osób w pokoju dyżurnym”
Medal „Sprawiedliwy wśród Narodów Świata” dla Tadeusza Pankiewicza