Kestenberg Archive

AW was born on a small farm in Dzierżązna next to Biała, on the 16th of January 1919. The pre-war years were very hard for the family. Her father died before she was born and her young mother was left to care for AW and her four siblings. In spite of having to help with the farm, AW went to school and finished seven grades. She remembers that there was a considerable number of so-called Volksdeutsche (Germans living in Poland) living in the area. She remembers going to school with the German children and that there were no conflicts between them and the Polish children. AW remembers that there weren't any Jews living in Swoboda; the closest ones were in Zgierz (Gornau) and they would come to Swoboda to trade. She comments that the Jews were able tradesmen, but that they knew how to cheat and lie, especially those involved in business. AW confesses that before the war she would hear stories about Jews using Christian blood for matzah et.al., but that she never believed these stories. She says that there weren't any conflicts with the Jews, but that people were jealous of their enterpriseness and ability to make money. She remembers that there was a Jewish boy in her school who, even at school, was able to conduct some trade on a small scale. Immediately upon their arrival, the Germans started harassing the Jews. At first they confiscated their monies and properties, especially from the rich Jews, and forced them to do menial labour. Soon the Germans started transferring the Jews from the villages surrounding Łódź to the newly created Łódź Ghetto. Initially they'd go willingly, as they were promised that they'd be taken to the east and given work. ; Those who wouldn't go willingly were eventually taken by force. Concurrently AW talks about how the local Polish population would open their homes and hearts to Polish soldiers who were in hiding; feeding them, giving them clothes, etc. When asked if the local population knew about how Jews were treated by the Germans, the extermination, etc.; AW answers in the affirmative. Just after the Germans arrived AW began working, first at a German family; then in the fields; and finally in the private kitchens of the German police commissioner, Fuge. There she met prisoner girls, who also worked in the kitchens. The prisoner girls would smuggle food from the kitchens to the other prisoners. If they were caught they would be harshly punished. After Fuge's first wife died and he remarried, the conditions for the prisoner girls improved markedly, as Fuge's second wife forbade him to use corporal punishment on the prisoner girls. She'd even go so far as take the blame when something had clearly been stolen, saying that she'd taken it herself. During the winters the girls lived in an abandoned school that was quite far from where they worked but close to the home of a Ms. Helena Biederman. The Germans forced Ms. Biederman to be the girls' “tutoress” but, to the Germans' dismay, she turned out to be very supportive of the girls. As her home was in a lonely location she could let the girls' parents come and visit them from time to time, without the Germans finding out. When Fuge eventually did find out, he brought two female inspectors from Germany. Among them was Eugenie Pohl, who in 1975 was sentenced to 25 years in prison. AW worked in the kitchens until the end of the war.