EN
The Mariavite Church is a religious movement which split some 100 years ago from the Catholic Church in Poland. The common fate (the persecution and pogroms of the Mariavites at the hands of Roman Catholics) as well as the Mariavites' tolerance of the other had a marked influence on the development of good relations with the Jews already in the early years of the 20th century and even more so during the inter-war period. During the war there were several prominent members of the Mariavite Church who became involved in saving Jews, both as members of Zegota and on an individual basis. To name but a few: Sister Makryna (Natalia Siuta), Bishop M. Franciszek Rostworowski, Rev. M. Szczepan Zasadzinski, the Mariavite nuns from Felicjanów, and others. It seems that the Jews sought Mariavites' help assuming that the latter would be more inclined to help than the rest of the local population.