When German troops occupied Warsaw in September 1939, Irena Kucharzak was working as a teacher at a Jewish school. Her friend Gena Troman was now persecuted as a Jew. Troman had to move into the Warsaw ghetto in 1940, and Kucharzak supported her and her family in many different ways. In the spring of 1943, Troman planned to escape from the ghetto. She asked Kucharzak to find a place for her and others to hide. Kucharzak was able to rent a four-room apartment not far from the ghetto. Janina Pawlicka was registered there for official purposes. Up to 12 Jews hid in the apartment at times.
In the fall of 1943, two Germans searched the apartment. The Jewish people hiding there escaped arrest by bribing them. With the help of a Jewish organization, Kucharzak found another apartment for them. There too, Janina Pawlicka took care of them. Some stayed in the apartment until the fall of 1944, while others like Marek Edelman only sheltered there occasionally. Kucharzak hid three Jewish women in her own home.
The Israeli Holocaust memorial center Yad Vashem honored Irena Kucharzak as Righteous Among the Nations in 1969.
