Living in Warsaw during World War II, Roslan was well aware of the desperate situation of the Jews. Rather than turn a blind eye as did so many others, he willingly took it upon himself to put his own life and those of his young family at risk for many years to save the lives of three Jewish children, the Gilat brothers.
The children were to be smuggled out of the Warsaw ghetto early in 1943 just before the Jewish Uprising, an epic struggle which resulted in the utter destruction of the ghetto and its remaining inhabitants. The children's aunt, who passed as a Gentile, had arranged for them to be rescued by an acquaintance of the family. This man, however, had just been arrested and shot for dealing in contraband. His landlord was Alexander Roslan who without hesitation accepted David, Shalom, and Ya'akov Gilat, age five, seven, and ten, into his household.
From that point until the end of the war Roslan used every resource available to him to protect and nourish the three brothers. When Shalom and Ya'akov contracted scarlet fever and required hospitalizaton, Roslan, at tremendous personal risk, discovered who were the doctors that could be relied upon to keep his secret. He transported the sick children to the hospital hidden in a compartment of a couch specially drilled with air holes. Shalom died from complications of surgery and was buried by Roslan under Roslan's kitchen floor. The existence of the boys, even in death, had to be completely hidden from neighbors and acquaintances. Discovery meant arrest and likely execution of everyone involved.
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