10
8/17/2019 Girl: My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt) http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/girl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 1/10    Alona Frankel I pared rom Clara oo, bu maybe no or oo long. Her parens had also decided o emigrae rom Poland. Clara, who was smar and even knew arihmeic, had wo hick black braids jus like he kind I waned. Sadly, my hair was hin and ugly. Smar Clara’s aher was a judge. Tey had been in Russia during he  war. He changed his surname rom Nussbaum o Kwiaowski. My aher didn’ change his name. We were always Goldman. Salomon Goldman. Goldman is a lovely, disinguished name. You don’ change such a dis- inguished name. Nussbaum is also a disinguished name, bu Clara’s a- her changed i o a Polish name anyway. Tere were oher Jews, and no a ew, who changed heir names. Tey did i because o ani-Semiism. Te Polish ani-Semies. How srange, I hough hen. No only were he Germans ani-Semies,  bu he Poles were oo. Wha’s i like o be an ani-Semie? And i a Jew changes his name, does he sop being a Jew? Beore saying goodbye, beore my voyage o Palesine, my classmaes  wroe heir arewells in my auograph book. One o hem hoped I would remain a loyal Pole my enire lie, and all Poles would be proud o me and respec me.  We had o leave, here was no choice. I was a young girl, my parens decided or me. We didn’ wan o leave, bu he danger o ani-Semiism  was ly ing in wai or us once again. Had he Germans won afer all? Would here be no Jews lef in Po- land? .   o play hide-and-seek when I was litle, bu hen i wasn’ me hiding, i was he world. Maybe ha was when I sared o believe ha I saw  bu was invisible? I’d close my eyes, cover my ace wih my hands, and he world sopped exising. Ten, wih joyul cries o ku-ku  , I redis- covered i. Ta’s wha my moher old me. And she old me ha when she had o go ou wih me or a walk in he park when he nanny had a day off— perhaps i was when hey ound ou ha my conven-educaed counry

Girl: My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

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Page 1: Girl: My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 110

983090983090983094 Alona Frankel

I pared rom Clara oo bu maybe no or oo long Her parens had

also decided o emigrae rom Poland Clara who was smar and even

knew arihmeic had wo hick black braids jus like he kind I waned

Sadly my hair was hin and uglySmar Clararsquos aher was a judge Tey had been in Russia during he

war He changed his surname rom Nussbaum o Kwiaowski My aher

didnrsquo change his name We were always Goldman

Salomon Goldman

Goldman is a lovely disinguished name You donrsquo change such a dis-

inguished name Nussbaum is also a disinguished name bu Clararsquos a-

her changed i o a Polish name anyway Tere were oher Jews and noa ew who changed heir names Tey did i because o ani-Semiism

Te Polish ani-Semies

How srange I hough hen No only were he Germans ani-Semies

bu he Poles were oo Wharsquos i like o be an ani-Semie And i a Jew

changes his name does he sop being a Jew

Beore saying goodbye beore my voyage o Palesine my classmaes

wroe heir arewells in my auograph book One o hem hoped I would

remain a loyal Pole my enire lie and all Poles would be proud o me

and respec me

We had o leave here was no choice I was a young girl my parens

decided or me We didnrsquo wan o leave bu he danger o ani-Semiism

was ly ing in wai or us once again

Had he Germans won afer all Would here be no Jews lef in Po-

land

983113 983159983137983155 983137983148983159983137983161983155 983144983145983140983145983150983143 983117983161 983149983151983156983144983141983154 983155983137983145983140 983113 983137 983148983159983137983161983155 983148983151983158 983141983140

o play hide-and-seek when I was litle bu hen i wasnrsquo me hiding

i was he world Maybe ha was when I sared o believe ha I saw

bu was invisible Irsquod close my eyes cover my ace wih my hands and

he world sopped exising Ten wih joyul cries o ku-ku I redis-

covered i

Tarsquos wha my moher old me And she old me ha when she had

o go ou wih me or a walk in he park when he nanny had a day offmdash

perhaps i was when hey ound ou ha my conven-educaed counry

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 210

Girl 983090983090983095

nanny had syphilismdashshe would leave me in he carriage and si on a

nearby bench o read a book in he hope ha Irsquod all asleep and no need

atenion Ta was because I was an ugly baby wih an elongaed head

covered in black uzz and shersquod raher ha people didnrsquo connec us inany way

Tarsquos wha my moher old me

Ten he Germans invaded

A ew weeks beore he invasion wih very bad iming my aher filled

his warehouses wih ons o merchandise building maerials How could

he have made a misake like ha Afer all my aher knew he Germans

spoke heir language well had passed his accounancy ess in Germanyhad read Mein Kampf in German read all he German newspapers and

lisened o German radio

Bu when ha radio announced he invasion my aher was surprised

Surprised

So surprised ha he roze in ron o he radio rom he shock as i

mesmerized by he green eye

Tarsquos wha my moher old me old me and old me

All his knowledge educaion and brillian inellec all ha Lenin all

ha rosky all ha revoluion and ha Salin My aher was surprised

sunned how could i be My aher had no iniiaive my moher said

He was in shock He was passive

We had o ge away immediaely escape rom he Germans o he

eas he eas he eas Te ron was racing oward us

Everyone was geting ready

My aher didnrsquo move rom he radio Tarsquos wha my moher old meold me and old me

Tere was no cash My aher was he kind o merchan who pays

on receip o merchandise Te warehouses were bursing and we had

scarcely a penny And no valuables No jewelry no silver no diamonds

My moher a graduae o he Hashomer Hasair a pioneer a Com-

munis albei a salon Communis did no approve o adornmens orna-

mens or jewelry She scorned all hose bourgeois maniesaions

When she was young her ancies oufi was a navy blue pleaed gab-

ardine skir and a whie blouse

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 310

983090983090983096 Alona Frankel

When she became Mrs Goldman he wie o he rich merchan he

dressmaker in Krakow made her clohes ha were elegan bu modes

aseul no nouveau riche heaven orbid Proper clohes or a salon

CommunisTarsquos why here was no jewelry no gold and no diamonds

I was hen ha my moher showed her organizaional skillsmdashher

genius or survival which saved our lives As my aher sa here hyp-

noized by he radio paralyzed by he news and devoid o iniiaive my

moher arranged or a wagon a driver and a workhorse Te main hing

was o ge away and as quickly as possible

From he Germans he ron he bombing he warTe wagon was ull o sraw I was used o carry harvesed whea rom

he field o he haylof Te wagon was harnessed o a workhorse ha had

huge whie-spoted hindquarers And here was a driver a man graeul

o my aher or some help hersquod given him

Many people liked and respeced my aher during his lieime And

afer his deah oo

My moher packed some bedding and crammed clohes and coas

ino a ew suicases Tere was no ime and winer was coming Wih

a mighy effor my aher pulled himsel away rom he radio and he

hree o us my moher my aher and I a litle wo-year-old girl climbed

ono he wagon

Dr Fishler my parensrsquo riend he gynecologis who perormed so

many aborions on so many o my moherrsquos riends Communiss and

even pioneers who came back rom Palesine pregnan climbed ono

he wagon wih usDr Fishler perormed an aborion on my moher oo a ew monhs

beore he German invasion She had been carrying wins

Wha luck How much I haed hose sories abou my moher

My moher he inellecual he salon Communis he ormer pio-

neer did no believe in unconrolled reproducion In her eyes one child

was he maximum a good amily could allow isel

We werenrsquo barbarians afer all

Wha luck I he babies had been born we wouldnrsquo have survived

or even one day

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 410

Girl 983090983090983097

Tarsquos wha my moher old me old me and old me

We fled easward

Te German army was behind us Te moorcycles he anks he

inanry Above us he bombers We ran away and lef behind everyhing we hadmdashwarehouses ull

o merchandise he luxurious new house my aher buil or my moher

rom he bes maerials he mos elegan mos modern house in Boch-

nia he villa my moher called a golden cage and didnrsquo like even hough

he ile was rom Ialy he mirrors rom Venice he fine china figurines

rom Limoges and he crysal only Moser

And o coursemdashhe amous erraceTe errace on he villa roo wih is no-less-amous planers filled

wih brighly colored peunias Tose planers were my moherrsquosmdashhe

salon Communisrsquosmdashpride and joy

For seven days seven workers carried sacks o soil o ha errace o

hose seven large planers

My moher old me ha when he villa was finished she and my aher

sood a he door o heir new homemdashi was on a drowsy small-own

afernoonmdashand an old gypsy woman who was passing by wen up o

hem and said ell your orune Madam Your orune

My moher recoiled rom her a firs bu i was a lovely day and al-

hough she was an aheis and a Communis albei a salon Communis

she gave in o he enreaies o he old gypsy woman he wich Te

gypsy woman spread her cards on an upside-down barrel lef here by

he builders and wih a sweeping circular movemen o her hand ha

encompassed he enire house she said Madam you will lose all o his very quickly You will all live

I was in my moherrsquos belly hen My moher and aher chuckled ol-

eranly Tey probably gave her a large ip afer all hey were generous

people Ten hey wen ino he house o ea he lunch prepared by heir

excellen cook who didnrsquo easily give away her cooking secres

When he German invaders arrived he disric commander he gau-

leiter se up his headquarers in ha house He slep in my parensrsquo bed

covered himsel wih blankes ha had my moherrsquos monogram on hem

read on he rare rugs bahed in he sunken ub iled in Ialian ceramics

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 510

983090983091983088 Alona Frankel

and lisened o he radio wih he green eye ha had mesmerized my

aher on he day he Germans invaded Poland Sepember 983089 983089983097983091983097 when

I was wo years old

I wonder wha he ook rom my parensrsquo villa when he fled weswardaway rom our Red Army

983105983142983156983141983154 983156983144983141983161 983140983145983140983150rsquo983156 983155983157983139983139983141983141983140 983145983150 983149983157983154983140983141983154983145983150983143 983157983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141

Red Army saved us afer he bes had oally deeaed he wors afer

Berlin ell afer evil had been desroyedmdashmy moher and aher wen

back o Bochnia o see heir home heir home beore he war I didnrsquo

go wih hemMy moher old me old me and old me

Te house was sanding on is oundaions jus as i had when we

fled easward he seven amous planers on he amous errace on he

roo were sill here and he peunias he flowers my moher liked so

much were sill blooming in hem

And so we ran leaving behind us warehouses filled wih merchandise

and he errace fleeing easward on a wagon filled wih sraw harnessed

o a workhorse wih large hindquarers We rode a nigh and hid in

groves sables and barns during he day

Te bombing was heavy and exac

Tey bombed he roads on which people were running or heir lives

Many people and many horses were lying dead in he diches on he

sides o he roads

We or he ime being were alive

My moher old me old me and old me Wha an amazing litle girl I was wo years old and so quie and

happy I never cried During he long nighs I hid in he sraw and when

hey asked me ldquoIlusiu wha are you doingrdquo I would reply ldquoIka peerdquo

meaning ldquoIkarsquos sleepingrdquo one o hose swee childrenrsquos mispronuncia-

ions ha aduls love so much

Wha a good girl

Since hen Irsquove apparenly developed he amazing abiliy o sleep un-

der any condiions anywhere and in any posiion A kind o break rom

lie a miniaure deah an escape I can all asleep under any condiions

anywhere and in any posiion like soldiers like mohers

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 610

Girl 983090983091983089

Ta way I experienced deah in small doses as i i were a homeo-

pahic medicine

Laer hey hid me in he Lvov Gheto whenever here was a childrenrsquos

aktion Tey hid me in a bunker ha had been dug behind he kichensove My moher old me old me and old me

Te smell o soo he smell o coal he smell o burned wood Te

bunker a dark narrow suffocaing alcove

I wasnrsquo home when hey heard abou ha aktion he childrenrsquosaktion

and my aher was araid o go and ge me I was my moher who finally

wen ou even hough she didnrsquo have good papers like my aher Maybe

harsquos why he was always embarrassed around me because he didnrsquo goo ge me like my moher said

Laer hey hid me wih a new name a Chrisian name urned me ino

a Chrisian girl Irena Sereme and hid me in he village wih Grandpa

and Grandma Sereme I had orged papers ha cos a grea deal o money

In he village I slep in a kind o sraw-lined box ha looked like a

coffin I sood nex o a divider made o wooden boards ha separaed

he hallway rom he cowshed Tere were very ineresing shapes on

ha dividermdashsripes spirals and circles in various shades o yellow

and brown In he middle o one o he round shapes was a hole Laer I

learned he secre o ha hole I learned ha wood grows around isel

circle afer circle and he smalles circle he one in he cener is he old-

es Tarsquos he core o he ree Te core o he ree had al len ou

Ta hole in he wooden divider ha separaed me rom he cow was

so wonderul I could sick my finger hrough i or look hrough i and

see he cow sanding here swishing is ailGrandma Sereme old me ha once when here was a baby in he

house maybe Hania Sereme when she was a baby hey used o hread

a hin rope hrough ha hole and ie one end o he cowrsquos ail and

he oher o he babyrsquos cradle Ta way every ime he cow swished

is ailmdashand ha was very ofenmdashi would rock he cradle jus like

my grandmoherrsquos sewing machine rocked my aherrsquos broherrsquos cradle

when he was a baby

And maybe I grew circle afer circle around he girl I was hen and

she is my core

My core didnrsquo all ou Tere is no hole inside me

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 710

983090983091983090 Alona Frankel

When my moher and aher had no more money lef o pay Hania

Sereme and she hreaened o bring me o heir hiding place which

mean cerain deah or all o usmdashafer all Juzakowa had no agreed o

hide he girl memdashmy aher had no choice and he old Hania Seremeabou he reasure buried in heir house in Bochnia buried in he atic

an enormous reasure My aher old her ha i he and my moher didnrsquo

manage o survive and I remained alive afer he war she could go and

ake ha reasure and i would be enough o suppor her or he res

o her lie and would provide or me oo even cover he expense o my

educaion i I remained alive o course

My aher gave Hania Sereme he diagram showing where he rea-sure was hidden Ta diagram was a lie

I was David my aherrsquos younges broher who had buried he rea-

sure Hersquod happened o come o Bochnia afer wersquod run away wih a ew

bundles and a suicase on he wagon harnessed o a workhorse David

was a Communis oo and he almos wen o Spain o join he Iner-

naional Brigade ha ough Franco I hersquod gone he migh have died

a heroic deah he proud deah o a figher agains ascism and no he

miserable deah o a persecued Jew We didnrsquo know how David died

He simply wasnrsquo here afer he war

When David came o Bochnia afer wersquod run away he had a large

number o gold coins hreaded ino a belmdasha reasure He hid ha rea-

sure in he cellar o my parensrsquo house He dug ino a wall ook ou

a brick pu he suffed bel ino he hole closed he opening spread

plaser over i and camouflaged he new plaser wih scraches and dir

Te ar o orgery mus have passed hrough generaion afer generaiono my aherrsquos amily so my moher old me old me and old me

My aher learned o he buried reasure when Poland had already

been invaded when we were already in Lvov and he was working in he

slaugherhouse and anning acory beore Operaion Barbarossa Da-

vid his younges broher passed hrough Lvov maybe on his way o Rus-

sia and lef my aher he map showing where he reasure was hidden

My aher who knew who he new enan in his luxurious house in

Bochnia was never hough ha Hania Sereme would dare o search i

or he reasure He assumed ha or he ime being she would be sais-

fied wih he promise ha i exised

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 810

Girl 983090983091983091

When he war was no longer in he world when my moher and a-

her wen o see heir house in Bochniamdashwhich wasnrsquo heirs anymore

because i had been naionalized by he new regimemdashhey wen up o

he atic and ound ha he cemen floor had been cu open I mushave been Hania Sereme who hrough her connecion wih her Ge-

sapo lover had succeeded somehow in geting ino he residence o he

gauleiter he German disric commander o look or he reasure wih

he aid o he alse map my aher had drawn or her Bu despie all her

effors he reasure was saved because David had buried i in he cellar

no in he atic

David never came back and when Henryk reurned rom Russia where he was saved rom he Germans he and my aher he wo sur-

viving brohers wen o he house bribed he person who lived in he

cellar ook he reasure ou o is hiding place and divided i up

I always ound i hard o undersand ha sory abou he reasure

Why didnrsquo my aher give Hania Sereme he real reasure map Afer

all he gave her his will bequeahing her he villa Why didnrsquo he wan

o give up he reasure Irsquos rue ha he reasure was Davidrsquos no ours

bu my lie was a sake

Hania Sereme was no a paien person She was brave and resource-

ul She decided o look or he reasure immediaely and no wai or he

end o he war bu she didnrsquo find anyhing here

Wha a mysery Wersquol l never know how she managed o sneak ino he

atic o he disric commanderrsquos residence and cu open he reinorced

concree floor

983105983150 983140 983155983151 983137983142983156983141983154 983154 983141983137 983148983145983162983145983150983143 983156983144983137983156 983149983161 983142983137983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 983152983154983151983149983145983155983141983155 983159983141983154 983141

alse Hania Sereme decided o dump me a he hiding place on Pani-

enska Sree

Ta was almos cerain deah

Bu sill she didnrsquo hrow me ino he sree

She didnrsquo leave me a he gaes o he gheto he way she lef Daniel

wih he ransparen hands

Afer he war my moher and aher considered reporing Hania

Sereme o he special cour ha had been esablished o ry Poles who

collaboraed wih he Germans o ell he cour abou her and he

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 910

983090983091983092 Alona Frankel

errible crimes she commited abou he people she promised o rescue

o ake ou o he gheto and how she ook all heir money and in he

end lef hem sripped o everyhing lef hem o cerain deah a he

hands o he Germans Afer much indecision my moher and aher decided no o ell abou

Hania Seremersquos crimes agains humaniy Tey decided no o urn her

in because I remained alive I was alive And so ew children had been

saved rom he Germans

When Hania Sereme realized ha i was all gone he money he

gold rom my moherrsquos mouh even he promises she sen an absurd

elegram o Juzakowarsquos address elling my parens o come and ge meand when she didnrsquo receive an answer she dumped me a my parensrsquo

hiding place even hough hey had begged her no o I mean almos

cerain deah or everyone because Juzakowa had agreed o hide my

moher and my aher on one condiion ha hey come wihou he

girl

And so began a new chaper in my liemdashhe chaper o he hiding

place wihin he hiding place

I had o hide rom Juzakowa

Every ime my moher sensed ha Juzakowa was approaching I and

all my lice had o quickly bury ourselves under he rags he blankes

and he pillows on our makeshif bed and I wasnrsquo allowed o move or

breahe I wen on ha way or I donrsquo know how long unil my moher

decided o ell Juzakowa abou my exisence Ta was quie a specacle

I happened like his

We heard Juzakowarsquos ooseps and as usual wih he insincs o ahuned animal I quickly buried mysel under he rags he blankes and

he pillows on our makeshif bed Juzakowa came in and hen wih a

dramaic sweep o her armmdashmy moher had ha sense o he dramaic

afer al l she always believed ha she looked like Marlene Dierichmdashmy

moher whipped he rags off me revealing my presence o he sunned

Juzakowa

Ten my moher ordered me On your knees now Pray And so kneeling in ron o Juzakowa my hands ogeher in ron

o my ace I recied he Lordrsquos Prayer

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 1010

Girl 983090983091983093

Our Faher who ar in heavenHallowed be Ty nameTy kingdom come

Ty will be doneon earh as i is in heavenGive us his day our daily breadand forgive us our respassesas we forgive hose who respass agains usand lead us no ino empaion

bu deliver us from evil

Ten I mumbled all he oher prayers I knew so well by hear espe-

cially he Ave MariaMy moher kneeled nex o me in fron of Juzakowa and while I was

reciing she cried she begged she pleaded she groveled Look Pani

Juzakowa look a his girl Shersquos Chrisian a Chrisian girl Lisen Pani

Juzakowa lisen o her Tis Chrisian girl is praying swee Jezusik is

lisening o her prayer Mary Moher of God is crying for her now In

heaven heyrsquore crying crying and crying for heir litle Chrisian girl

Yoursquore a moher Pani Juzakowa yoursquore a moher oo You have your

swee Edjo and your daugher Ania died in my arms poor hing Your Ania is crying in heaven now oo for my litle Chrisian girl Ania is cry-

ing and all he angels around her are crying Donrsquo le his girl die oo

And she will die if you donrsquot let her stay here in the hiding place with us

Pani Juzakowa Pani Juzakowa please have piy please save her God

will reward you

And I kep praying

My moher didnrsquo sop alking begging sobbing She even crawledover and kissed Juzakowarsquos fee unil Juzakowa also burs ino ears and

agreed o hide me oo From hen on I and all my lice didnrsquo have o hide

from Pani Juzakowa anymore From hen on I hid wih my moher and

faher from he Germans and only he Germans I believed harsquos how i

was in he world

I was a considerable improvemen A very grea relief

Page 2: Girl: My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 210

Girl 983090983090983095

nanny had syphilismdashshe would leave me in he carriage and si on a

nearby bench o read a book in he hope ha Irsquod all asleep and no need

atenion Ta was because I was an ugly baby wih an elongaed head

covered in black uzz and shersquod raher ha people didnrsquo connec us inany way

Tarsquos wha my moher old me

Ten he Germans invaded

A ew weeks beore he invasion wih very bad iming my aher filled

his warehouses wih ons o merchandise building maerials How could

he have made a misake like ha Afer all my aher knew he Germans

spoke heir language well had passed his accounancy ess in Germanyhad read Mein Kampf in German read all he German newspapers and

lisened o German radio

Bu when ha radio announced he invasion my aher was surprised

Surprised

So surprised ha he roze in ron o he radio rom he shock as i

mesmerized by he green eye

Tarsquos wha my moher old me old me and old me

All his knowledge educaion and brillian inellec all ha Lenin all

ha rosky all ha revoluion and ha Salin My aher was surprised

sunned how could i be My aher had no iniiaive my moher said

He was in shock He was passive

We had o ge away immediaely escape rom he Germans o he

eas he eas he eas Te ron was racing oward us

Everyone was geting ready

My aher didnrsquo move rom he radio Tarsquos wha my moher old meold me and old me

Tere was no cash My aher was he kind o merchan who pays

on receip o merchandise Te warehouses were bursing and we had

scarcely a penny And no valuables No jewelry no silver no diamonds

My moher a graduae o he Hashomer Hasair a pioneer a Com-

munis albei a salon Communis did no approve o adornmens orna-

mens or jewelry She scorned all hose bourgeois maniesaions

When she was young her ancies oufi was a navy blue pleaed gab-

ardine skir and a whie blouse

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 310

983090983090983096 Alona Frankel

When she became Mrs Goldman he wie o he rich merchan he

dressmaker in Krakow made her clohes ha were elegan bu modes

aseul no nouveau riche heaven orbid Proper clohes or a salon

CommunisTarsquos why here was no jewelry no gold and no diamonds

I was hen ha my moher showed her organizaional skillsmdashher

genius or survival which saved our lives As my aher sa here hyp-

noized by he radio paralyzed by he news and devoid o iniiaive my

moher arranged or a wagon a driver and a workhorse Te main hing

was o ge away and as quickly as possible

From he Germans he ron he bombing he warTe wagon was ull o sraw I was used o carry harvesed whea rom

he field o he haylof Te wagon was harnessed o a workhorse ha had

huge whie-spoted hindquarers And here was a driver a man graeul

o my aher or some help hersquod given him

Many people liked and respeced my aher during his lieime And

afer his deah oo

My moher packed some bedding and crammed clohes and coas

ino a ew suicases Tere was no ime and winer was coming Wih

a mighy effor my aher pulled himsel away rom he radio and he

hree o us my moher my aher and I a litle wo-year-old girl climbed

ono he wagon

Dr Fishler my parensrsquo riend he gynecologis who perormed so

many aborions on so many o my moherrsquos riends Communiss and

even pioneers who came back rom Palesine pregnan climbed ono

he wagon wih usDr Fishler perormed an aborion on my moher oo a ew monhs

beore he German invasion She had been carrying wins

Wha luck How much I haed hose sories abou my moher

My moher he inellecual he salon Communis he ormer pio-

neer did no believe in unconrolled reproducion In her eyes one child

was he maximum a good amily could allow isel

We werenrsquo barbarians afer all

Wha luck I he babies had been born we wouldnrsquo have survived

or even one day

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 410

Girl 983090983090983097

Tarsquos wha my moher old me old me and old me

We fled easward

Te German army was behind us Te moorcycles he anks he

inanry Above us he bombers We ran away and lef behind everyhing we hadmdashwarehouses ull

o merchandise he luxurious new house my aher buil or my moher

rom he bes maerials he mos elegan mos modern house in Boch-

nia he villa my moher called a golden cage and didnrsquo like even hough

he ile was rom Ialy he mirrors rom Venice he fine china figurines

rom Limoges and he crysal only Moser

And o coursemdashhe amous erraceTe errace on he villa roo wih is no-less-amous planers filled

wih brighly colored peunias Tose planers were my moherrsquosmdashhe

salon Communisrsquosmdashpride and joy

For seven days seven workers carried sacks o soil o ha errace o

hose seven large planers

My moher old me ha when he villa was finished she and my aher

sood a he door o heir new homemdashi was on a drowsy small-own

afernoonmdashand an old gypsy woman who was passing by wen up o

hem and said ell your orune Madam Your orune

My moher recoiled rom her a firs bu i was a lovely day and al-

hough she was an aheis and a Communis albei a salon Communis

she gave in o he enreaies o he old gypsy woman he wich Te

gypsy woman spread her cards on an upside-down barrel lef here by

he builders and wih a sweeping circular movemen o her hand ha

encompassed he enire house she said Madam you will lose all o his very quickly You will all live

I was in my moherrsquos belly hen My moher and aher chuckled ol-

eranly Tey probably gave her a large ip afer all hey were generous

people Ten hey wen ino he house o ea he lunch prepared by heir

excellen cook who didnrsquo easily give away her cooking secres

When he German invaders arrived he disric commander he gau-

leiter se up his headquarers in ha house He slep in my parensrsquo bed

covered himsel wih blankes ha had my moherrsquos monogram on hem

read on he rare rugs bahed in he sunken ub iled in Ialian ceramics

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 510

983090983091983088 Alona Frankel

and lisened o he radio wih he green eye ha had mesmerized my

aher on he day he Germans invaded Poland Sepember 983089 983089983097983091983097 when

I was wo years old

I wonder wha he ook rom my parensrsquo villa when he fled weswardaway rom our Red Army

983105983142983156983141983154 983156983144983141983161 983140983145983140983150rsquo983156 983155983157983139983139983141983141983140 983145983150 983149983157983154983140983141983154983145983150983143 983157983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141

Red Army saved us afer he bes had oally deeaed he wors afer

Berlin ell afer evil had been desroyedmdashmy moher and aher wen

back o Bochnia o see heir home heir home beore he war I didnrsquo

go wih hemMy moher old me old me and old me

Te house was sanding on is oundaions jus as i had when we

fled easward he seven amous planers on he amous errace on he

roo were sill here and he peunias he flowers my moher liked so

much were sill blooming in hem

And so we ran leaving behind us warehouses filled wih merchandise

and he errace fleeing easward on a wagon filled wih sraw harnessed

o a workhorse wih large hindquarers We rode a nigh and hid in

groves sables and barns during he day

Te bombing was heavy and exac

Tey bombed he roads on which people were running or heir lives

Many people and many horses were lying dead in he diches on he

sides o he roads

We or he ime being were alive

My moher old me old me and old me Wha an amazing litle girl I was wo years old and so quie and

happy I never cried During he long nighs I hid in he sraw and when

hey asked me ldquoIlusiu wha are you doingrdquo I would reply ldquoIka peerdquo

meaning ldquoIkarsquos sleepingrdquo one o hose swee childrenrsquos mispronuncia-

ions ha aduls love so much

Wha a good girl

Since hen Irsquove apparenly developed he amazing abiliy o sleep un-

der any condiions anywhere and in any posiion A kind o break rom

lie a miniaure deah an escape I can all asleep under any condiions

anywhere and in any posiion like soldiers like mohers

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 610

Girl 983090983091983089

Ta way I experienced deah in small doses as i i were a homeo-

pahic medicine

Laer hey hid me in he Lvov Gheto whenever here was a childrenrsquos

aktion Tey hid me in a bunker ha had been dug behind he kichensove My moher old me old me and old me

Te smell o soo he smell o coal he smell o burned wood Te

bunker a dark narrow suffocaing alcove

I wasnrsquo home when hey heard abou ha aktion he childrenrsquosaktion

and my aher was araid o go and ge me I was my moher who finally

wen ou even hough she didnrsquo have good papers like my aher Maybe

harsquos why he was always embarrassed around me because he didnrsquo goo ge me like my moher said

Laer hey hid me wih a new name a Chrisian name urned me ino

a Chrisian girl Irena Sereme and hid me in he village wih Grandpa

and Grandma Sereme I had orged papers ha cos a grea deal o money

In he village I slep in a kind o sraw-lined box ha looked like a

coffin I sood nex o a divider made o wooden boards ha separaed

he hallway rom he cowshed Tere were very ineresing shapes on

ha dividermdashsripes spirals and circles in various shades o yellow

and brown In he middle o one o he round shapes was a hole Laer I

learned he secre o ha hole I learned ha wood grows around isel

circle afer circle and he smalles circle he one in he cener is he old-

es Tarsquos he core o he ree Te core o he ree had al len ou

Ta hole in he wooden divider ha separaed me rom he cow was

so wonderul I could sick my finger hrough i or look hrough i and

see he cow sanding here swishing is ailGrandma Sereme old me ha once when here was a baby in he

house maybe Hania Sereme when she was a baby hey used o hread

a hin rope hrough ha hole and ie one end o he cowrsquos ail and

he oher o he babyrsquos cradle Ta way every ime he cow swished

is ailmdashand ha was very ofenmdashi would rock he cradle jus like

my grandmoherrsquos sewing machine rocked my aherrsquos broherrsquos cradle

when he was a baby

And maybe I grew circle afer circle around he girl I was hen and

she is my core

My core didnrsquo all ou Tere is no hole inside me

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 710

983090983091983090 Alona Frankel

When my moher and aher had no more money lef o pay Hania

Sereme and she hreaened o bring me o heir hiding place which

mean cerain deah or all o usmdashafer all Juzakowa had no agreed o

hide he girl memdashmy aher had no choice and he old Hania Seremeabou he reasure buried in heir house in Bochnia buried in he atic

an enormous reasure My aher old her ha i he and my moher didnrsquo

manage o survive and I remained alive afer he war she could go and

ake ha reasure and i would be enough o suppor her or he res

o her lie and would provide or me oo even cover he expense o my

educaion i I remained alive o course

My aher gave Hania Sereme he diagram showing where he rea-sure was hidden Ta diagram was a lie

I was David my aherrsquos younges broher who had buried he rea-

sure Hersquod happened o come o Bochnia afer wersquod run away wih a ew

bundles and a suicase on he wagon harnessed o a workhorse David

was a Communis oo and he almos wen o Spain o join he Iner-

naional Brigade ha ough Franco I hersquod gone he migh have died

a heroic deah he proud deah o a figher agains ascism and no he

miserable deah o a persecued Jew We didnrsquo know how David died

He simply wasnrsquo here afer he war

When David came o Bochnia afer wersquod run away he had a large

number o gold coins hreaded ino a belmdasha reasure He hid ha rea-

sure in he cellar o my parensrsquo house He dug ino a wall ook ou

a brick pu he suffed bel ino he hole closed he opening spread

plaser over i and camouflaged he new plaser wih scraches and dir

Te ar o orgery mus have passed hrough generaion afer generaiono my aherrsquos amily so my moher old me old me and old me

My aher learned o he buried reasure when Poland had already

been invaded when we were already in Lvov and he was working in he

slaugherhouse and anning acory beore Operaion Barbarossa Da-

vid his younges broher passed hrough Lvov maybe on his way o Rus-

sia and lef my aher he map showing where he reasure was hidden

My aher who knew who he new enan in his luxurious house in

Bochnia was never hough ha Hania Sereme would dare o search i

or he reasure He assumed ha or he ime being she would be sais-

fied wih he promise ha i exised

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 810

Girl 983090983091983091

When he war was no longer in he world when my moher and a-

her wen o see heir house in Bochniamdashwhich wasnrsquo heirs anymore

because i had been naionalized by he new regimemdashhey wen up o

he atic and ound ha he cemen floor had been cu open I mushave been Hania Sereme who hrough her connecion wih her Ge-

sapo lover had succeeded somehow in geting ino he residence o he

gauleiter he German disric commander o look or he reasure wih

he aid o he alse map my aher had drawn or her Bu despie all her

effors he reasure was saved because David had buried i in he cellar

no in he atic

David never came back and when Henryk reurned rom Russia where he was saved rom he Germans he and my aher he wo sur-

viving brohers wen o he house bribed he person who lived in he

cellar ook he reasure ou o is hiding place and divided i up

I always ound i hard o undersand ha sory abou he reasure

Why didnrsquo my aher give Hania Sereme he real reasure map Afer

all he gave her his will bequeahing her he villa Why didnrsquo he wan

o give up he reasure Irsquos rue ha he reasure was Davidrsquos no ours

bu my lie was a sake

Hania Sereme was no a paien person She was brave and resource-

ul She decided o look or he reasure immediaely and no wai or he

end o he war bu she didnrsquo find anyhing here

Wha a mysery Wersquol l never know how she managed o sneak ino he

atic o he disric commanderrsquos residence and cu open he reinorced

concree floor

983105983150 983140 983155983151 983137983142983156983141983154 983154 983141983137 983148983145983162983145983150983143 983156983144983137983156 983149983161 983142983137983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 983152983154983151983149983145983155983141983155 983159983141983154 983141

alse Hania Sereme decided o dump me a he hiding place on Pani-

enska Sree

Ta was almos cerain deah

Bu sill she didnrsquo hrow me ino he sree

She didnrsquo leave me a he gaes o he gheto he way she lef Daniel

wih he ransparen hands

Afer he war my moher and aher considered reporing Hania

Sereme o he special cour ha had been esablished o ry Poles who

collaboraed wih he Germans o ell he cour abou her and he

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 910

983090983091983092 Alona Frankel

errible crimes she commited abou he people she promised o rescue

o ake ou o he gheto and how she ook all heir money and in he

end lef hem sripped o everyhing lef hem o cerain deah a he

hands o he Germans Afer much indecision my moher and aher decided no o ell abou

Hania Seremersquos crimes agains humaniy Tey decided no o urn her

in because I remained alive I was alive And so ew children had been

saved rom he Germans

When Hania Sereme realized ha i was all gone he money he

gold rom my moherrsquos mouh even he promises she sen an absurd

elegram o Juzakowarsquos address elling my parens o come and ge meand when she didnrsquo receive an answer she dumped me a my parensrsquo

hiding place even hough hey had begged her no o I mean almos

cerain deah or everyone because Juzakowa had agreed o hide my

moher and my aher on one condiion ha hey come wihou he

girl

And so began a new chaper in my liemdashhe chaper o he hiding

place wihin he hiding place

I had o hide rom Juzakowa

Every ime my moher sensed ha Juzakowa was approaching I and

all my lice had o quickly bury ourselves under he rags he blankes

and he pillows on our makeshif bed and I wasnrsquo allowed o move or

breahe I wen on ha way or I donrsquo know how long unil my moher

decided o ell Juzakowa abou my exisence Ta was quie a specacle

I happened like his

We heard Juzakowarsquos ooseps and as usual wih he insincs o ahuned animal I quickly buried mysel under he rags he blankes and

he pillows on our makeshif bed Juzakowa came in and hen wih a

dramaic sweep o her armmdashmy moher had ha sense o he dramaic

afer al l she always believed ha she looked like Marlene Dierichmdashmy

moher whipped he rags off me revealing my presence o he sunned

Juzakowa

Ten my moher ordered me On your knees now Pray And so kneeling in ron o Juzakowa my hands ogeher in ron

o my ace I recied he Lordrsquos Prayer

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 1010

Girl 983090983091983093

Our Faher who ar in heavenHallowed be Ty nameTy kingdom come

Ty will be doneon earh as i is in heavenGive us his day our daily breadand forgive us our respassesas we forgive hose who respass agains usand lead us no ino empaion

bu deliver us from evil

Ten I mumbled all he oher prayers I knew so well by hear espe-

cially he Ave MariaMy moher kneeled nex o me in fron of Juzakowa and while I was

reciing she cried she begged she pleaded she groveled Look Pani

Juzakowa look a his girl Shersquos Chrisian a Chrisian girl Lisen Pani

Juzakowa lisen o her Tis Chrisian girl is praying swee Jezusik is

lisening o her prayer Mary Moher of God is crying for her now In

heaven heyrsquore crying crying and crying for heir litle Chrisian girl

Yoursquore a moher Pani Juzakowa yoursquore a moher oo You have your

swee Edjo and your daugher Ania died in my arms poor hing Your Ania is crying in heaven now oo for my litle Chrisian girl Ania is cry-

ing and all he angels around her are crying Donrsquo le his girl die oo

And she will die if you donrsquot let her stay here in the hiding place with us

Pani Juzakowa Pani Juzakowa please have piy please save her God

will reward you

And I kep praying

My moher didnrsquo sop alking begging sobbing She even crawledover and kissed Juzakowarsquos fee unil Juzakowa also burs ino ears and

agreed o hide me oo From hen on I and all my lice didnrsquo have o hide

from Pani Juzakowa anymore From hen on I hid wih my moher and

faher from he Germans and only he Germans I believed harsquos how i

was in he world

I was a considerable improvemen A very grea relief

Page 3: Girl: My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 310

983090983090983096 Alona Frankel

When she became Mrs Goldman he wie o he rich merchan he

dressmaker in Krakow made her clohes ha were elegan bu modes

aseul no nouveau riche heaven orbid Proper clohes or a salon

CommunisTarsquos why here was no jewelry no gold and no diamonds

I was hen ha my moher showed her organizaional skillsmdashher

genius or survival which saved our lives As my aher sa here hyp-

noized by he radio paralyzed by he news and devoid o iniiaive my

moher arranged or a wagon a driver and a workhorse Te main hing

was o ge away and as quickly as possible

From he Germans he ron he bombing he warTe wagon was ull o sraw I was used o carry harvesed whea rom

he field o he haylof Te wagon was harnessed o a workhorse ha had

huge whie-spoted hindquarers And here was a driver a man graeul

o my aher or some help hersquod given him

Many people liked and respeced my aher during his lieime And

afer his deah oo

My moher packed some bedding and crammed clohes and coas

ino a ew suicases Tere was no ime and winer was coming Wih

a mighy effor my aher pulled himsel away rom he radio and he

hree o us my moher my aher and I a litle wo-year-old girl climbed

ono he wagon

Dr Fishler my parensrsquo riend he gynecologis who perormed so

many aborions on so many o my moherrsquos riends Communiss and

even pioneers who came back rom Palesine pregnan climbed ono

he wagon wih usDr Fishler perormed an aborion on my moher oo a ew monhs

beore he German invasion She had been carrying wins

Wha luck How much I haed hose sories abou my moher

My moher he inellecual he salon Communis he ormer pio-

neer did no believe in unconrolled reproducion In her eyes one child

was he maximum a good amily could allow isel

We werenrsquo barbarians afer all

Wha luck I he babies had been born we wouldnrsquo have survived

or even one day

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 410

Girl 983090983090983097

Tarsquos wha my moher old me old me and old me

We fled easward

Te German army was behind us Te moorcycles he anks he

inanry Above us he bombers We ran away and lef behind everyhing we hadmdashwarehouses ull

o merchandise he luxurious new house my aher buil or my moher

rom he bes maerials he mos elegan mos modern house in Boch-

nia he villa my moher called a golden cage and didnrsquo like even hough

he ile was rom Ialy he mirrors rom Venice he fine china figurines

rom Limoges and he crysal only Moser

And o coursemdashhe amous erraceTe errace on he villa roo wih is no-less-amous planers filled

wih brighly colored peunias Tose planers were my moherrsquosmdashhe

salon Communisrsquosmdashpride and joy

For seven days seven workers carried sacks o soil o ha errace o

hose seven large planers

My moher old me ha when he villa was finished she and my aher

sood a he door o heir new homemdashi was on a drowsy small-own

afernoonmdashand an old gypsy woman who was passing by wen up o

hem and said ell your orune Madam Your orune

My moher recoiled rom her a firs bu i was a lovely day and al-

hough she was an aheis and a Communis albei a salon Communis

she gave in o he enreaies o he old gypsy woman he wich Te

gypsy woman spread her cards on an upside-down barrel lef here by

he builders and wih a sweeping circular movemen o her hand ha

encompassed he enire house she said Madam you will lose all o his very quickly You will all live

I was in my moherrsquos belly hen My moher and aher chuckled ol-

eranly Tey probably gave her a large ip afer all hey were generous

people Ten hey wen ino he house o ea he lunch prepared by heir

excellen cook who didnrsquo easily give away her cooking secres

When he German invaders arrived he disric commander he gau-

leiter se up his headquarers in ha house He slep in my parensrsquo bed

covered himsel wih blankes ha had my moherrsquos monogram on hem

read on he rare rugs bahed in he sunken ub iled in Ialian ceramics

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 510

983090983091983088 Alona Frankel

and lisened o he radio wih he green eye ha had mesmerized my

aher on he day he Germans invaded Poland Sepember 983089 983089983097983091983097 when

I was wo years old

I wonder wha he ook rom my parensrsquo villa when he fled weswardaway rom our Red Army

983105983142983156983141983154 983156983144983141983161 983140983145983140983150rsquo983156 983155983157983139983139983141983141983140 983145983150 983149983157983154983140983141983154983145983150983143 983157983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141

Red Army saved us afer he bes had oally deeaed he wors afer

Berlin ell afer evil had been desroyedmdashmy moher and aher wen

back o Bochnia o see heir home heir home beore he war I didnrsquo

go wih hemMy moher old me old me and old me

Te house was sanding on is oundaions jus as i had when we

fled easward he seven amous planers on he amous errace on he

roo were sill here and he peunias he flowers my moher liked so

much were sill blooming in hem

And so we ran leaving behind us warehouses filled wih merchandise

and he errace fleeing easward on a wagon filled wih sraw harnessed

o a workhorse wih large hindquarers We rode a nigh and hid in

groves sables and barns during he day

Te bombing was heavy and exac

Tey bombed he roads on which people were running or heir lives

Many people and many horses were lying dead in he diches on he

sides o he roads

We or he ime being were alive

My moher old me old me and old me Wha an amazing litle girl I was wo years old and so quie and

happy I never cried During he long nighs I hid in he sraw and when

hey asked me ldquoIlusiu wha are you doingrdquo I would reply ldquoIka peerdquo

meaning ldquoIkarsquos sleepingrdquo one o hose swee childrenrsquos mispronuncia-

ions ha aduls love so much

Wha a good girl

Since hen Irsquove apparenly developed he amazing abiliy o sleep un-

der any condiions anywhere and in any posiion A kind o break rom

lie a miniaure deah an escape I can all asleep under any condiions

anywhere and in any posiion like soldiers like mohers

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 610

Girl 983090983091983089

Ta way I experienced deah in small doses as i i were a homeo-

pahic medicine

Laer hey hid me in he Lvov Gheto whenever here was a childrenrsquos

aktion Tey hid me in a bunker ha had been dug behind he kichensove My moher old me old me and old me

Te smell o soo he smell o coal he smell o burned wood Te

bunker a dark narrow suffocaing alcove

I wasnrsquo home when hey heard abou ha aktion he childrenrsquosaktion

and my aher was araid o go and ge me I was my moher who finally

wen ou even hough she didnrsquo have good papers like my aher Maybe

harsquos why he was always embarrassed around me because he didnrsquo goo ge me like my moher said

Laer hey hid me wih a new name a Chrisian name urned me ino

a Chrisian girl Irena Sereme and hid me in he village wih Grandpa

and Grandma Sereme I had orged papers ha cos a grea deal o money

In he village I slep in a kind o sraw-lined box ha looked like a

coffin I sood nex o a divider made o wooden boards ha separaed

he hallway rom he cowshed Tere were very ineresing shapes on

ha dividermdashsripes spirals and circles in various shades o yellow

and brown In he middle o one o he round shapes was a hole Laer I

learned he secre o ha hole I learned ha wood grows around isel

circle afer circle and he smalles circle he one in he cener is he old-

es Tarsquos he core o he ree Te core o he ree had al len ou

Ta hole in he wooden divider ha separaed me rom he cow was

so wonderul I could sick my finger hrough i or look hrough i and

see he cow sanding here swishing is ailGrandma Sereme old me ha once when here was a baby in he

house maybe Hania Sereme when she was a baby hey used o hread

a hin rope hrough ha hole and ie one end o he cowrsquos ail and

he oher o he babyrsquos cradle Ta way every ime he cow swished

is ailmdashand ha was very ofenmdashi would rock he cradle jus like

my grandmoherrsquos sewing machine rocked my aherrsquos broherrsquos cradle

when he was a baby

And maybe I grew circle afer circle around he girl I was hen and

she is my core

My core didnrsquo all ou Tere is no hole inside me

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 710

983090983091983090 Alona Frankel

When my moher and aher had no more money lef o pay Hania

Sereme and she hreaened o bring me o heir hiding place which

mean cerain deah or all o usmdashafer all Juzakowa had no agreed o

hide he girl memdashmy aher had no choice and he old Hania Seremeabou he reasure buried in heir house in Bochnia buried in he atic

an enormous reasure My aher old her ha i he and my moher didnrsquo

manage o survive and I remained alive afer he war she could go and

ake ha reasure and i would be enough o suppor her or he res

o her lie and would provide or me oo even cover he expense o my

educaion i I remained alive o course

My aher gave Hania Sereme he diagram showing where he rea-sure was hidden Ta diagram was a lie

I was David my aherrsquos younges broher who had buried he rea-

sure Hersquod happened o come o Bochnia afer wersquod run away wih a ew

bundles and a suicase on he wagon harnessed o a workhorse David

was a Communis oo and he almos wen o Spain o join he Iner-

naional Brigade ha ough Franco I hersquod gone he migh have died

a heroic deah he proud deah o a figher agains ascism and no he

miserable deah o a persecued Jew We didnrsquo know how David died

He simply wasnrsquo here afer he war

When David came o Bochnia afer wersquod run away he had a large

number o gold coins hreaded ino a belmdasha reasure He hid ha rea-

sure in he cellar o my parensrsquo house He dug ino a wall ook ou

a brick pu he suffed bel ino he hole closed he opening spread

plaser over i and camouflaged he new plaser wih scraches and dir

Te ar o orgery mus have passed hrough generaion afer generaiono my aherrsquos amily so my moher old me old me and old me

My aher learned o he buried reasure when Poland had already

been invaded when we were already in Lvov and he was working in he

slaugherhouse and anning acory beore Operaion Barbarossa Da-

vid his younges broher passed hrough Lvov maybe on his way o Rus-

sia and lef my aher he map showing where he reasure was hidden

My aher who knew who he new enan in his luxurious house in

Bochnia was never hough ha Hania Sereme would dare o search i

or he reasure He assumed ha or he ime being she would be sais-

fied wih he promise ha i exised

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 810

Girl 983090983091983091

When he war was no longer in he world when my moher and a-

her wen o see heir house in Bochniamdashwhich wasnrsquo heirs anymore

because i had been naionalized by he new regimemdashhey wen up o

he atic and ound ha he cemen floor had been cu open I mushave been Hania Sereme who hrough her connecion wih her Ge-

sapo lover had succeeded somehow in geting ino he residence o he

gauleiter he German disric commander o look or he reasure wih

he aid o he alse map my aher had drawn or her Bu despie all her

effors he reasure was saved because David had buried i in he cellar

no in he atic

David never came back and when Henryk reurned rom Russia where he was saved rom he Germans he and my aher he wo sur-

viving brohers wen o he house bribed he person who lived in he

cellar ook he reasure ou o is hiding place and divided i up

I always ound i hard o undersand ha sory abou he reasure

Why didnrsquo my aher give Hania Sereme he real reasure map Afer

all he gave her his will bequeahing her he villa Why didnrsquo he wan

o give up he reasure Irsquos rue ha he reasure was Davidrsquos no ours

bu my lie was a sake

Hania Sereme was no a paien person She was brave and resource-

ul She decided o look or he reasure immediaely and no wai or he

end o he war bu she didnrsquo find anyhing here

Wha a mysery Wersquol l never know how she managed o sneak ino he

atic o he disric commanderrsquos residence and cu open he reinorced

concree floor

983105983150 983140 983155983151 983137983142983156983141983154 983154 983141983137 983148983145983162983145983150983143 983156983144983137983156 983149983161 983142983137983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 983152983154983151983149983145983155983141983155 983159983141983154 983141

alse Hania Sereme decided o dump me a he hiding place on Pani-

enska Sree

Ta was almos cerain deah

Bu sill she didnrsquo hrow me ino he sree

She didnrsquo leave me a he gaes o he gheto he way she lef Daniel

wih he ransparen hands

Afer he war my moher and aher considered reporing Hania

Sereme o he special cour ha had been esablished o ry Poles who

collaboraed wih he Germans o ell he cour abou her and he

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 910

983090983091983092 Alona Frankel

errible crimes she commited abou he people she promised o rescue

o ake ou o he gheto and how she ook all heir money and in he

end lef hem sripped o everyhing lef hem o cerain deah a he

hands o he Germans Afer much indecision my moher and aher decided no o ell abou

Hania Seremersquos crimes agains humaniy Tey decided no o urn her

in because I remained alive I was alive And so ew children had been

saved rom he Germans

When Hania Sereme realized ha i was all gone he money he

gold rom my moherrsquos mouh even he promises she sen an absurd

elegram o Juzakowarsquos address elling my parens o come and ge meand when she didnrsquo receive an answer she dumped me a my parensrsquo

hiding place even hough hey had begged her no o I mean almos

cerain deah or everyone because Juzakowa had agreed o hide my

moher and my aher on one condiion ha hey come wihou he

girl

And so began a new chaper in my liemdashhe chaper o he hiding

place wihin he hiding place

I had o hide rom Juzakowa

Every ime my moher sensed ha Juzakowa was approaching I and

all my lice had o quickly bury ourselves under he rags he blankes

and he pillows on our makeshif bed and I wasnrsquo allowed o move or

breahe I wen on ha way or I donrsquo know how long unil my moher

decided o ell Juzakowa abou my exisence Ta was quie a specacle

I happened like his

We heard Juzakowarsquos ooseps and as usual wih he insincs o ahuned animal I quickly buried mysel under he rags he blankes and

he pillows on our makeshif bed Juzakowa came in and hen wih a

dramaic sweep o her armmdashmy moher had ha sense o he dramaic

afer al l she always believed ha she looked like Marlene Dierichmdashmy

moher whipped he rags off me revealing my presence o he sunned

Juzakowa

Ten my moher ordered me On your knees now Pray And so kneeling in ron o Juzakowa my hands ogeher in ron

o my ace I recied he Lordrsquos Prayer

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 1010

Girl 983090983091983093

Our Faher who ar in heavenHallowed be Ty nameTy kingdom come

Ty will be doneon earh as i is in heavenGive us his day our daily breadand forgive us our respassesas we forgive hose who respass agains usand lead us no ino empaion

bu deliver us from evil

Ten I mumbled all he oher prayers I knew so well by hear espe-

cially he Ave MariaMy moher kneeled nex o me in fron of Juzakowa and while I was

reciing she cried she begged she pleaded she groveled Look Pani

Juzakowa look a his girl Shersquos Chrisian a Chrisian girl Lisen Pani

Juzakowa lisen o her Tis Chrisian girl is praying swee Jezusik is

lisening o her prayer Mary Moher of God is crying for her now In

heaven heyrsquore crying crying and crying for heir litle Chrisian girl

Yoursquore a moher Pani Juzakowa yoursquore a moher oo You have your

swee Edjo and your daugher Ania died in my arms poor hing Your Ania is crying in heaven now oo for my litle Chrisian girl Ania is cry-

ing and all he angels around her are crying Donrsquo le his girl die oo

And she will die if you donrsquot let her stay here in the hiding place with us

Pani Juzakowa Pani Juzakowa please have piy please save her God

will reward you

And I kep praying

My moher didnrsquo sop alking begging sobbing She even crawledover and kissed Juzakowarsquos fee unil Juzakowa also burs ino ears and

agreed o hide me oo From hen on I and all my lice didnrsquo have o hide

from Pani Juzakowa anymore From hen on I hid wih my moher and

faher from he Germans and only he Germans I believed harsquos how i

was in he world

I was a considerable improvemen A very grea relief

Page 4: Girl: My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 410

Girl 983090983090983097

Tarsquos wha my moher old me old me and old me

We fled easward

Te German army was behind us Te moorcycles he anks he

inanry Above us he bombers We ran away and lef behind everyhing we hadmdashwarehouses ull

o merchandise he luxurious new house my aher buil or my moher

rom he bes maerials he mos elegan mos modern house in Boch-

nia he villa my moher called a golden cage and didnrsquo like even hough

he ile was rom Ialy he mirrors rom Venice he fine china figurines

rom Limoges and he crysal only Moser

And o coursemdashhe amous erraceTe errace on he villa roo wih is no-less-amous planers filled

wih brighly colored peunias Tose planers were my moherrsquosmdashhe

salon Communisrsquosmdashpride and joy

For seven days seven workers carried sacks o soil o ha errace o

hose seven large planers

My moher old me ha when he villa was finished she and my aher

sood a he door o heir new homemdashi was on a drowsy small-own

afernoonmdashand an old gypsy woman who was passing by wen up o

hem and said ell your orune Madam Your orune

My moher recoiled rom her a firs bu i was a lovely day and al-

hough she was an aheis and a Communis albei a salon Communis

she gave in o he enreaies o he old gypsy woman he wich Te

gypsy woman spread her cards on an upside-down barrel lef here by

he builders and wih a sweeping circular movemen o her hand ha

encompassed he enire house she said Madam you will lose all o his very quickly You will all live

I was in my moherrsquos belly hen My moher and aher chuckled ol-

eranly Tey probably gave her a large ip afer all hey were generous

people Ten hey wen ino he house o ea he lunch prepared by heir

excellen cook who didnrsquo easily give away her cooking secres

When he German invaders arrived he disric commander he gau-

leiter se up his headquarers in ha house He slep in my parensrsquo bed

covered himsel wih blankes ha had my moherrsquos monogram on hem

read on he rare rugs bahed in he sunken ub iled in Ialian ceramics

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 510

983090983091983088 Alona Frankel

and lisened o he radio wih he green eye ha had mesmerized my

aher on he day he Germans invaded Poland Sepember 983089 983089983097983091983097 when

I was wo years old

I wonder wha he ook rom my parensrsquo villa when he fled weswardaway rom our Red Army

983105983142983156983141983154 983156983144983141983161 983140983145983140983150rsquo983156 983155983157983139983139983141983141983140 983145983150 983149983157983154983140983141983154983145983150983143 983157983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141

Red Army saved us afer he bes had oally deeaed he wors afer

Berlin ell afer evil had been desroyedmdashmy moher and aher wen

back o Bochnia o see heir home heir home beore he war I didnrsquo

go wih hemMy moher old me old me and old me

Te house was sanding on is oundaions jus as i had when we

fled easward he seven amous planers on he amous errace on he

roo were sill here and he peunias he flowers my moher liked so

much were sill blooming in hem

And so we ran leaving behind us warehouses filled wih merchandise

and he errace fleeing easward on a wagon filled wih sraw harnessed

o a workhorse wih large hindquarers We rode a nigh and hid in

groves sables and barns during he day

Te bombing was heavy and exac

Tey bombed he roads on which people were running or heir lives

Many people and many horses were lying dead in he diches on he

sides o he roads

We or he ime being were alive

My moher old me old me and old me Wha an amazing litle girl I was wo years old and so quie and

happy I never cried During he long nighs I hid in he sraw and when

hey asked me ldquoIlusiu wha are you doingrdquo I would reply ldquoIka peerdquo

meaning ldquoIkarsquos sleepingrdquo one o hose swee childrenrsquos mispronuncia-

ions ha aduls love so much

Wha a good girl

Since hen Irsquove apparenly developed he amazing abiliy o sleep un-

der any condiions anywhere and in any posiion A kind o break rom

lie a miniaure deah an escape I can all asleep under any condiions

anywhere and in any posiion like soldiers like mohers

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 610

Girl 983090983091983089

Ta way I experienced deah in small doses as i i were a homeo-

pahic medicine

Laer hey hid me in he Lvov Gheto whenever here was a childrenrsquos

aktion Tey hid me in a bunker ha had been dug behind he kichensove My moher old me old me and old me

Te smell o soo he smell o coal he smell o burned wood Te

bunker a dark narrow suffocaing alcove

I wasnrsquo home when hey heard abou ha aktion he childrenrsquosaktion

and my aher was araid o go and ge me I was my moher who finally

wen ou even hough she didnrsquo have good papers like my aher Maybe

harsquos why he was always embarrassed around me because he didnrsquo goo ge me like my moher said

Laer hey hid me wih a new name a Chrisian name urned me ino

a Chrisian girl Irena Sereme and hid me in he village wih Grandpa

and Grandma Sereme I had orged papers ha cos a grea deal o money

In he village I slep in a kind o sraw-lined box ha looked like a

coffin I sood nex o a divider made o wooden boards ha separaed

he hallway rom he cowshed Tere were very ineresing shapes on

ha dividermdashsripes spirals and circles in various shades o yellow

and brown In he middle o one o he round shapes was a hole Laer I

learned he secre o ha hole I learned ha wood grows around isel

circle afer circle and he smalles circle he one in he cener is he old-

es Tarsquos he core o he ree Te core o he ree had al len ou

Ta hole in he wooden divider ha separaed me rom he cow was

so wonderul I could sick my finger hrough i or look hrough i and

see he cow sanding here swishing is ailGrandma Sereme old me ha once when here was a baby in he

house maybe Hania Sereme when she was a baby hey used o hread

a hin rope hrough ha hole and ie one end o he cowrsquos ail and

he oher o he babyrsquos cradle Ta way every ime he cow swished

is ailmdashand ha was very ofenmdashi would rock he cradle jus like

my grandmoherrsquos sewing machine rocked my aherrsquos broherrsquos cradle

when he was a baby

And maybe I grew circle afer circle around he girl I was hen and

she is my core

My core didnrsquo all ou Tere is no hole inside me

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 710

983090983091983090 Alona Frankel

When my moher and aher had no more money lef o pay Hania

Sereme and she hreaened o bring me o heir hiding place which

mean cerain deah or all o usmdashafer all Juzakowa had no agreed o

hide he girl memdashmy aher had no choice and he old Hania Seremeabou he reasure buried in heir house in Bochnia buried in he atic

an enormous reasure My aher old her ha i he and my moher didnrsquo

manage o survive and I remained alive afer he war she could go and

ake ha reasure and i would be enough o suppor her or he res

o her lie and would provide or me oo even cover he expense o my

educaion i I remained alive o course

My aher gave Hania Sereme he diagram showing where he rea-sure was hidden Ta diagram was a lie

I was David my aherrsquos younges broher who had buried he rea-

sure Hersquod happened o come o Bochnia afer wersquod run away wih a ew

bundles and a suicase on he wagon harnessed o a workhorse David

was a Communis oo and he almos wen o Spain o join he Iner-

naional Brigade ha ough Franco I hersquod gone he migh have died

a heroic deah he proud deah o a figher agains ascism and no he

miserable deah o a persecued Jew We didnrsquo know how David died

He simply wasnrsquo here afer he war

When David came o Bochnia afer wersquod run away he had a large

number o gold coins hreaded ino a belmdasha reasure He hid ha rea-

sure in he cellar o my parensrsquo house He dug ino a wall ook ou

a brick pu he suffed bel ino he hole closed he opening spread

plaser over i and camouflaged he new plaser wih scraches and dir

Te ar o orgery mus have passed hrough generaion afer generaiono my aherrsquos amily so my moher old me old me and old me

My aher learned o he buried reasure when Poland had already

been invaded when we were already in Lvov and he was working in he

slaugherhouse and anning acory beore Operaion Barbarossa Da-

vid his younges broher passed hrough Lvov maybe on his way o Rus-

sia and lef my aher he map showing where he reasure was hidden

My aher who knew who he new enan in his luxurious house in

Bochnia was never hough ha Hania Sereme would dare o search i

or he reasure He assumed ha or he ime being she would be sais-

fied wih he promise ha i exised

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 810

Girl 983090983091983091

When he war was no longer in he world when my moher and a-

her wen o see heir house in Bochniamdashwhich wasnrsquo heirs anymore

because i had been naionalized by he new regimemdashhey wen up o

he atic and ound ha he cemen floor had been cu open I mushave been Hania Sereme who hrough her connecion wih her Ge-

sapo lover had succeeded somehow in geting ino he residence o he

gauleiter he German disric commander o look or he reasure wih

he aid o he alse map my aher had drawn or her Bu despie all her

effors he reasure was saved because David had buried i in he cellar

no in he atic

David never came back and when Henryk reurned rom Russia where he was saved rom he Germans he and my aher he wo sur-

viving brohers wen o he house bribed he person who lived in he

cellar ook he reasure ou o is hiding place and divided i up

I always ound i hard o undersand ha sory abou he reasure

Why didnrsquo my aher give Hania Sereme he real reasure map Afer

all he gave her his will bequeahing her he villa Why didnrsquo he wan

o give up he reasure Irsquos rue ha he reasure was Davidrsquos no ours

bu my lie was a sake

Hania Sereme was no a paien person She was brave and resource-

ul She decided o look or he reasure immediaely and no wai or he

end o he war bu she didnrsquo find anyhing here

Wha a mysery Wersquol l never know how she managed o sneak ino he

atic o he disric commanderrsquos residence and cu open he reinorced

concree floor

983105983150 983140 983155983151 983137983142983156983141983154 983154 983141983137 983148983145983162983145983150983143 983156983144983137983156 983149983161 983142983137983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 983152983154983151983149983145983155983141983155 983159983141983154 983141

alse Hania Sereme decided o dump me a he hiding place on Pani-

enska Sree

Ta was almos cerain deah

Bu sill she didnrsquo hrow me ino he sree

She didnrsquo leave me a he gaes o he gheto he way she lef Daniel

wih he ransparen hands

Afer he war my moher and aher considered reporing Hania

Sereme o he special cour ha had been esablished o ry Poles who

collaboraed wih he Germans o ell he cour abou her and he

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 910

983090983091983092 Alona Frankel

errible crimes she commited abou he people she promised o rescue

o ake ou o he gheto and how she ook all heir money and in he

end lef hem sripped o everyhing lef hem o cerain deah a he

hands o he Germans Afer much indecision my moher and aher decided no o ell abou

Hania Seremersquos crimes agains humaniy Tey decided no o urn her

in because I remained alive I was alive And so ew children had been

saved rom he Germans

When Hania Sereme realized ha i was all gone he money he

gold rom my moherrsquos mouh even he promises she sen an absurd

elegram o Juzakowarsquos address elling my parens o come and ge meand when she didnrsquo receive an answer she dumped me a my parensrsquo

hiding place even hough hey had begged her no o I mean almos

cerain deah or everyone because Juzakowa had agreed o hide my

moher and my aher on one condiion ha hey come wihou he

girl

And so began a new chaper in my liemdashhe chaper o he hiding

place wihin he hiding place

I had o hide rom Juzakowa

Every ime my moher sensed ha Juzakowa was approaching I and

all my lice had o quickly bury ourselves under he rags he blankes

and he pillows on our makeshif bed and I wasnrsquo allowed o move or

breahe I wen on ha way or I donrsquo know how long unil my moher

decided o ell Juzakowa abou my exisence Ta was quie a specacle

I happened like his

We heard Juzakowarsquos ooseps and as usual wih he insincs o ahuned animal I quickly buried mysel under he rags he blankes and

he pillows on our makeshif bed Juzakowa came in and hen wih a

dramaic sweep o her armmdashmy moher had ha sense o he dramaic

afer al l she always believed ha she looked like Marlene Dierichmdashmy

moher whipped he rags off me revealing my presence o he sunned

Juzakowa

Ten my moher ordered me On your knees now Pray And so kneeling in ron o Juzakowa my hands ogeher in ron

o my ace I recied he Lordrsquos Prayer

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 1010

Girl 983090983091983093

Our Faher who ar in heavenHallowed be Ty nameTy kingdom come

Ty will be doneon earh as i is in heavenGive us his day our daily breadand forgive us our respassesas we forgive hose who respass agains usand lead us no ino empaion

bu deliver us from evil

Ten I mumbled all he oher prayers I knew so well by hear espe-

cially he Ave MariaMy moher kneeled nex o me in fron of Juzakowa and while I was

reciing she cried she begged she pleaded she groveled Look Pani

Juzakowa look a his girl Shersquos Chrisian a Chrisian girl Lisen Pani

Juzakowa lisen o her Tis Chrisian girl is praying swee Jezusik is

lisening o her prayer Mary Moher of God is crying for her now In

heaven heyrsquore crying crying and crying for heir litle Chrisian girl

Yoursquore a moher Pani Juzakowa yoursquore a moher oo You have your

swee Edjo and your daugher Ania died in my arms poor hing Your Ania is crying in heaven now oo for my litle Chrisian girl Ania is cry-

ing and all he angels around her are crying Donrsquo le his girl die oo

And she will die if you donrsquot let her stay here in the hiding place with us

Pani Juzakowa Pani Juzakowa please have piy please save her God

will reward you

And I kep praying

My moher didnrsquo sop alking begging sobbing She even crawledover and kissed Juzakowarsquos fee unil Juzakowa also burs ino ears and

agreed o hide me oo From hen on I and all my lice didnrsquo have o hide

from Pani Juzakowa anymore From hen on I hid wih my moher and

faher from he Germans and only he Germans I believed harsquos how i

was in he world

I was a considerable improvemen A very grea relief

Page 5: Girl: My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 510

983090983091983088 Alona Frankel

and lisened o he radio wih he green eye ha had mesmerized my

aher on he day he Germans invaded Poland Sepember 983089 983089983097983091983097 when

I was wo years old

I wonder wha he ook rom my parensrsquo villa when he fled weswardaway rom our Red Army

983105983142983156983141983154 983156983144983141983161 983140983145983140983150rsquo983156 983155983157983139983139983141983141983140 983145983150 983149983157983154983140983141983154983145983150983143 983157983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141

Red Army saved us afer he bes had oally deeaed he wors afer

Berlin ell afer evil had been desroyedmdashmy moher and aher wen

back o Bochnia o see heir home heir home beore he war I didnrsquo

go wih hemMy moher old me old me and old me

Te house was sanding on is oundaions jus as i had when we

fled easward he seven amous planers on he amous errace on he

roo were sill here and he peunias he flowers my moher liked so

much were sill blooming in hem

And so we ran leaving behind us warehouses filled wih merchandise

and he errace fleeing easward on a wagon filled wih sraw harnessed

o a workhorse wih large hindquarers We rode a nigh and hid in

groves sables and barns during he day

Te bombing was heavy and exac

Tey bombed he roads on which people were running or heir lives

Many people and many horses were lying dead in he diches on he

sides o he roads

We or he ime being were alive

My moher old me old me and old me Wha an amazing litle girl I was wo years old and so quie and

happy I never cried During he long nighs I hid in he sraw and when

hey asked me ldquoIlusiu wha are you doingrdquo I would reply ldquoIka peerdquo

meaning ldquoIkarsquos sleepingrdquo one o hose swee childrenrsquos mispronuncia-

ions ha aduls love so much

Wha a good girl

Since hen Irsquove apparenly developed he amazing abiliy o sleep un-

der any condiions anywhere and in any posiion A kind o break rom

lie a miniaure deah an escape I can all asleep under any condiions

anywhere and in any posiion like soldiers like mohers

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 610

Girl 983090983091983089

Ta way I experienced deah in small doses as i i were a homeo-

pahic medicine

Laer hey hid me in he Lvov Gheto whenever here was a childrenrsquos

aktion Tey hid me in a bunker ha had been dug behind he kichensove My moher old me old me and old me

Te smell o soo he smell o coal he smell o burned wood Te

bunker a dark narrow suffocaing alcove

I wasnrsquo home when hey heard abou ha aktion he childrenrsquosaktion

and my aher was araid o go and ge me I was my moher who finally

wen ou even hough she didnrsquo have good papers like my aher Maybe

harsquos why he was always embarrassed around me because he didnrsquo goo ge me like my moher said

Laer hey hid me wih a new name a Chrisian name urned me ino

a Chrisian girl Irena Sereme and hid me in he village wih Grandpa

and Grandma Sereme I had orged papers ha cos a grea deal o money

In he village I slep in a kind o sraw-lined box ha looked like a

coffin I sood nex o a divider made o wooden boards ha separaed

he hallway rom he cowshed Tere were very ineresing shapes on

ha dividermdashsripes spirals and circles in various shades o yellow

and brown In he middle o one o he round shapes was a hole Laer I

learned he secre o ha hole I learned ha wood grows around isel

circle afer circle and he smalles circle he one in he cener is he old-

es Tarsquos he core o he ree Te core o he ree had al len ou

Ta hole in he wooden divider ha separaed me rom he cow was

so wonderul I could sick my finger hrough i or look hrough i and

see he cow sanding here swishing is ailGrandma Sereme old me ha once when here was a baby in he

house maybe Hania Sereme when she was a baby hey used o hread

a hin rope hrough ha hole and ie one end o he cowrsquos ail and

he oher o he babyrsquos cradle Ta way every ime he cow swished

is ailmdashand ha was very ofenmdashi would rock he cradle jus like

my grandmoherrsquos sewing machine rocked my aherrsquos broherrsquos cradle

when he was a baby

And maybe I grew circle afer circle around he girl I was hen and

she is my core

My core didnrsquo all ou Tere is no hole inside me

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 710

983090983091983090 Alona Frankel

When my moher and aher had no more money lef o pay Hania

Sereme and she hreaened o bring me o heir hiding place which

mean cerain deah or all o usmdashafer all Juzakowa had no agreed o

hide he girl memdashmy aher had no choice and he old Hania Seremeabou he reasure buried in heir house in Bochnia buried in he atic

an enormous reasure My aher old her ha i he and my moher didnrsquo

manage o survive and I remained alive afer he war she could go and

ake ha reasure and i would be enough o suppor her or he res

o her lie and would provide or me oo even cover he expense o my

educaion i I remained alive o course

My aher gave Hania Sereme he diagram showing where he rea-sure was hidden Ta diagram was a lie

I was David my aherrsquos younges broher who had buried he rea-

sure Hersquod happened o come o Bochnia afer wersquod run away wih a ew

bundles and a suicase on he wagon harnessed o a workhorse David

was a Communis oo and he almos wen o Spain o join he Iner-

naional Brigade ha ough Franco I hersquod gone he migh have died

a heroic deah he proud deah o a figher agains ascism and no he

miserable deah o a persecued Jew We didnrsquo know how David died

He simply wasnrsquo here afer he war

When David came o Bochnia afer wersquod run away he had a large

number o gold coins hreaded ino a belmdasha reasure He hid ha rea-

sure in he cellar o my parensrsquo house He dug ino a wall ook ou

a brick pu he suffed bel ino he hole closed he opening spread

plaser over i and camouflaged he new plaser wih scraches and dir

Te ar o orgery mus have passed hrough generaion afer generaiono my aherrsquos amily so my moher old me old me and old me

My aher learned o he buried reasure when Poland had already

been invaded when we were already in Lvov and he was working in he

slaugherhouse and anning acory beore Operaion Barbarossa Da-

vid his younges broher passed hrough Lvov maybe on his way o Rus-

sia and lef my aher he map showing where he reasure was hidden

My aher who knew who he new enan in his luxurious house in

Bochnia was never hough ha Hania Sereme would dare o search i

or he reasure He assumed ha or he ime being she would be sais-

fied wih he promise ha i exised

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 810

Girl 983090983091983091

When he war was no longer in he world when my moher and a-

her wen o see heir house in Bochniamdashwhich wasnrsquo heirs anymore

because i had been naionalized by he new regimemdashhey wen up o

he atic and ound ha he cemen floor had been cu open I mushave been Hania Sereme who hrough her connecion wih her Ge-

sapo lover had succeeded somehow in geting ino he residence o he

gauleiter he German disric commander o look or he reasure wih

he aid o he alse map my aher had drawn or her Bu despie all her

effors he reasure was saved because David had buried i in he cellar

no in he atic

David never came back and when Henryk reurned rom Russia where he was saved rom he Germans he and my aher he wo sur-

viving brohers wen o he house bribed he person who lived in he

cellar ook he reasure ou o is hiding place and divided i up

I always ound i hard o undersand ha sory abou he reasure

Why didnrsquo my aher give Hania Sereme he real reasure map Afer

all he gave her his will bequeahing her he villa Why didnrsquo he wan

o give up he reasure Irsquos rue ha he reasure was Davidrsquos no ours

bu my lie was a sake

Hania Sereme was no a paien person She was brave and resource-

ul She decided o look or he reasure immediaely and no wai or he

end o he war bu she didnrsquo find anyhing here

Wha a mysery Wersquol l never know how she managed o sneak ino he

atic o he disric commanderrsquos residence and cu open he reinorced

concree floor

983105983150 983140 983155983151 983137983142983156983141983154 983154 983141983137 983148983145983162983145983150983143 983156983144983137983156 983149983161 983142983137983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 983152983154983151983149983145983155983141983155 983159983141983154 983141

alse Hania Sereme decided o dump me a he hiding place on Pani-

enska Sree

Ta was almos cerain deah

Bu sill she didnrsquo hrow me ino he sree

She didnrsquo leave me a he gaes o he gheto he way she lef Daniel

wih he ransparen hands

Afer he war my moher and aher considered reporing Hania

Sereme o he special cour ha had been esablished o ry Poles who

collaboraed wih he Germans o ell he cour abou her and he

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 910

983090983091983092 Alona Frankel

errible crimes she commited abou he people she promised o rescue

o ake ou o he gheto and how she ook all heir money and in he

end lef hem sripped o everyhing lef hem o cerain deah a he

hands o he Germans Afer much indecision my moher and aher decided no o ell abou

Hania Seremersquos crimes agains humaniy Tey decided no o urn her

in because I remained alive I was alive And so ew children had been

saved rom he Germans

When Hania Sereme realized ha i was all gone he money he

gold rom my moherrsquos mouh even he promises she sen an absurd

elegram o Juzakowarsquos address elling my parens o come and ge meand when she didnrsquo receive an answer she dumped me a my parensrsquo

hiding place even hough hey had begged her no o I mean almos

cerain deah or everyone because Juzakowa had agreed o hide my

moher and my aher on one condiion ha hey come wihou he

girl

And so began a new chaper in my liemdashhe chaper o he hiding

place wihin he hiding place

I had o hide rom Juzakowa

Every ime my moher sensed ha Juzakowa was approaching I and

all my lice had o quickly bury ourselves under he rags he blankes

and he pillows on our makeshif bed and I wasnrsquo allowed o move or

breahe I wen on ha way or I donrsquo know how long unil my moher

decided o ell Juzakowa abou my exisence Ta was quie a specacle

I happened like his

We heard Juzakowarsquos ooseps and as usual wih he insincs o ahuned animal I quickly buried mysel under he rags he blankes and

he pillows on our makeshif bed Juzakowa came in and hen wih a

dramaic sweep o her armmdashmy moher had ha sense o he dramaic

afer al l she always believed ha she looked like Marlene Dierichmdashmy

moher whipped he rags off me revealing my presence o he sunned

Juzakowa

Ten my moher ordered me On your knees now Pray And so kneeling in ron o Juzakowa my hands ogeher in ron

o my ace I recied he Lordrsquos Prayer

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 1010

Girl 983090983091983093

Our Faher who ar in heavenHallowed be Ty nameTy kingdom come

Ty will be doneon earh as i is in heavenGive us his day our daily breadand forgive us our respassesas we forgive hose who respass agains usand lead us no ino empaion

bu deliver us from evil

Ten I mumbled all he oher prayers I knew so well by hear espe-

cially he Ave MariaMy moher kneeled nex o me in fron of Juzakowa and while I was

reciing she cried she begged she pleaded she groveled Look Pani

Juzakowa look a his girl Shersquos Chrisian a Chrisian girl Lisen Pani

Juzakowa lisen o her Tis Chrisian girl is praying swee Jezusik is

lisening o her prayer Mary Moher of God is crying for her now In

heaven heyrsquore crying crying and crying for heir litle Chrisian girl

Yoursquore a moher Pani Juzakowa yoursquore a moher oo You have your

swee Edjo and your daugher Ania died in my arms poor hing Your Ania is crying in heaven now oo for my litle Chrisian girl Ania is cry-

ing and all he angels around her are crying Donrsquo le his girl die oo

And she will die if you donrsquot let her stay here in the hiding place with us

Pani Juzakowa Pani Juzakowa please have piy please save her God

will reward you

And I kep praying

My moher didnrsquo sop alking begging sobbing She even crawledover and kissed Juzakowarsquos fee unil Juzakowa also burs ino ears and

agreed o hide me oo From hen on I and all my lice didnrsquo have o hide

from Pani Juzakowa anymore From hen on I hid wih my moher and

faher from he Germans and only he Germans I believed harsquos how i

was in he world

I was a considerable improvemen A very grea relief

Page 6: Girl: My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 610

Girl 983090983091983089

Ta way I experienced deah in small doses as i i were a homeo-

pahic medicine

Laer hey hid me in he Lvov Gheto whenever here was a childrenrsquos

aktion Tey hid me in a bunker ha had been dug behind he kichensove My moher old me old me and old me

Te smell o soo he smell o coal he smell o burned wood Te

bunker a dark narrow suffocaing alcove

I wasnrsquo home when hey heard abou ha aktion he childrenrsquosaktion

and my aher was araid o go and ge me I was my moher who finally

wen ou even hough she didnrsquo have good papers like my aher Maybe

harsquos why he was always embarrassed around me because he didnrsquo goo ge me like my moher said

Laer hey hid me wih a new name a Chrisian name urned me ino

a Chrisian girl Irena Sereme and hid me in he village wih Grandpa

and Grandma Sereme I had orged papers ha cos a grea deal o money

In he village I slep in a kind o sraw-lined box ha looked like a

coffin I sood nex o a divider made o wooden boards ha separaed

he hallway rom he cowshed Tere were very ineresing shapes on

ha dividermdashsripes spirals and circles in various shades o yellow

and brown In he middle o one o he round shapes was a hole Laer I

learned he secre o ha hole I learned ha wood grows around isel

circle afer circle and he smalles circle he one in he cener is he old-

es Tarsquos he core o he ree Te core o he ree had al len ou

Ta hole in he wooden divider ha separaed me rom he cow was

so wonderul I could sick my finger hrough i or look hrough i and

see he cow sanding here swishing is ailGrandma Sereme old me ha once when here was a baby in he

house maybe Hania Sereme when she was a baby hey used o hread

a hin rope hrough ha hole and ie one end o he cowrsquos ail and

he oher o he babyrsquos cradle Ta way every ime he cow swished

is ailmdashand ha was very ofenmdashi would rock he cradle jus like

my grandmoherrsquos sewing machine rocked my aherrsquos broherrsquos cradle

when he was a baby

And maybe I grew circle afer circle around he girl I was hen and

she is my core

My core didnrsquo all ou Tere is no hole inside me

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 710

983090983091983090 Alona Frankel

When my moher and aher had no more money lef o pay Hania

Sereme and she hreaened o bring me o heir hiding place which

mean cerain deah or all o usmdashafer all Juzakowa had no agreed o

hide he girl memdashmy aher had no choice and he old Hania Seremeabou he reasure buried in heir house in Bochnia buried in he atic

an enormous reasure My aher old her ha i he and my moher didnrsquo

manage o survive and I remained alive afer he war she could go and

ake ha reasure and i would be enough o suppor her or he res

o her lie and would provide or me oo even cover he expense o my

educaion i I remained alive o course

My aher gave Hania Sereme he diagram showing where he rea-sure was hidden Ta diagram was a lie

I was David my aherrsquos younges broher who had buried he rea-

sure Hersquod happened o come o Bochnia afer wersquod run away wih a ew

bundles and a suicase on he wagon harnessed o a workhorse David

was a Communis oo and he almos wen o Spain o join he Iner-

naional Brigade ha ough Franco I hersquod gone he migh have died

a heroic deah he proud deah o a figher agains ascism and no he

miserable deah o a persecued Jew We didnrsquo know how David died

He simply wasnrsquo here afer he war

When David came o Bochnia afer wersquod run away he had a large

number o gold coins hreaded ino a belmdasha reasure He hid ha rea-

sure in he cellar o my parensrsquo house He dug ino a wall ook ou

a brick pu he suffed bel ino he hole closed he opening spread

plaser over i and camouflaged he new plaser wih scraches and dir

Te ar o orgery mus have passed hrough generaion afer generaiono my aherrsquos amily so my moher old me old me and old me

My aher learned o he buried reasure when Poland had already

been invaded when we were already in Lvov and he was working in he

slaugherhouse and anning acory beore Operaion Barbarossa Da-

vid his younges broher passed hrough Lvov maybe on his way o Rus-

sia and lef my aher he map showing where he reasure was hidden

My aher who knew who he new enan in his luxurious house in

Bochnia was never hough ha Hania Sereme would dare o search i

or he reasure He assumed ha or he ime being she would be sais-

fied wih he promise ha i exised

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 810

Girl 983090983091983091

When he war was no longer in he world when my moher and a-

her wen o see heir house in Bochniamdashwhich wasnrsquo heirs anymore

because i had been naionalized by he new regimemdashhey wen up o

he atic and ound ha he cemen floor had been cu open I mushave been Hania Sereme who hrough her connecion wih her Ge-

sapo lover had succeeded somehow in geting ino he residence o he

gauleiter he German disric commander o look or he reasure wih

he aid o he alse map my aher had drawn or her Bu despie all her

effors he reasure was saved because David had buried i in he cellar

no in he atic

David never came back and when Henryk reurned rom Russia where he was saved rom he Germans he and my aher he wo sur-

viving brohers wen o he house bribed he person who lived in he

cellar ook he reasure ou o is hiding place and divided i up

I always ound i hard o undersand ha sory abou he reasure

Why didnrsquo my aher give Hania Sereme he real reasure map Afer

all he gave her his will bequeahing her he villa Why didnrsquo he wan

o give up he reasure Irsquos rue ha he reasure was Davidrsquos no ours

bu my lie was a sake

Hania Sereme was no a paien person She was brave and resource-

ul She decided o look or he reasure immediaely and no wai or he

end o he war bu she didnrsquo find anyhing here

Wha a mysery Wersquol l never know how she managed o sneak ino he

atic o he disric commanderrsquos residence and cu open he reinorced

concree floor

983105983150 983140 983155983151 983137983142983156983141983154 983154 983141983137 983148983145983162983145983150983143 983156983144983137983156 983149983161 983142983137983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 983152983154983151983149983145983155983141983155 983159983141983154 983141

alse Hania Sereme decided o dump me a he hiding place on Pani-

enska Sree

Ta was almos cerain deah

Bu sill she didnrsquo hrow me ino he sree

She didnrsquo leave me a he gaes o he gheto he way she lef Daniel

wih he ransparen hands

Afer he war my moher and aher considered reporing Hania

Sereme o he special cour ha had been esablished o ry Poles who

collaboraed wih he Germans o ell he cour abou her and he

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 910

983090983091983092 Alona Frankel

errible crimes she commited abou he people she promised o rescue

o ake ou o he gheto and how she ook all heir money and in he

end lef hem sripped o everyhing lef hem o cerain deah a he

hands o he Germans Afer much indecision my moher and aher decided no o ell abou

Hania Seremersquos crimes agains humaniy Tey decided no o urn her

in because I remained alive I was alive And so ew children had been

saved rom he Germans

When Hania Sereme realized ha i was all gone he money he

gold rom my moherrsquos mouh even he promises she sen an absurd

elegram o Juzakowarsquos address elling my parens o come and ge meand when she didnrsquo receive an answer she dumped me a my parensrsquo

hiding place even hough hey had begged her no o I mean almos

cerain deah or everyone because Juzakowa had agreed o hide my

moher and my aher on one condiion ha hey come wihou he

girl

And so began a new chaper in my liemdashhe chaper o he hiding

place wihin he hiding place

I had o hide rom Juzakowa

Every ime my moher sensed ha Juzakowa was approaching I and

all my lice had o quickly bury ourselves under he rags he blankes

and he pillows on our makeshif bed and I wasnrsquo allowed o move or

breahe I wen on ha way or I donrsquo know how long unil my moher

decided o ell Juzakowa abou my exisence Ta was quie a specacle

I happened like his

We heard Juzakowarsquos ooseps and as usual wih he insincs o ahuned animal I quickly buried mysel under he rags he blankes and

he pillows on our makeshif bed Juzakowa came in and hen wih a

dramaic sweep o her armmdashmy moher had ha sense o he dramaic

afer al l she always believed ha she looked like Marlene Dierichmdashmy

moher whipped he rags off me revealing my presence o he sunned

Juzakowa

Ten my moher ordered me On your knees now Pray And so kneeling in ron o Juzakowa my hands ogeher in ron

o my ace I recied he Lordrsquos Prayer

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 1010

Girl 983090983091983093

Our Faher who ar in heavenHallowed be Ty nameTy kingdom come

Ty will be doneon earh as i is in heavenGive us his day our daily breadand forgive us our respassesas we forgive hose who respass agains usand lead us no ino empaion

bu deliver us from evil

Ten I mumbled all he oher prayers I knew so well by hear espe-

cially he Ave MariaMy moher kneeled nex o me in fron of Juzakowa and while I was

reciing she cried she begged she pleaded she groveled Look Pani

Juzakowa look a his girl Shersquos Chrisian a Chrisian girl Lisen Pani

Juzakowa lisen o her Tis Chrisian girl is praying swee Jezusik is

lisening o her prayer Mary Moher of God is crying for her now In

heaven heyrsquore crying crying and crying for heir litle Chrisian girl

Yoursquore a moher Pani Juzakowa yoursquore a moher oo You have your

swee Edjo and your daugher Ania died in my arms poor hing Your Ania is crying in heaven now oo for my litle Chrisian girl Ania is cry-

ing and all he angels around her are crying Donrsquo le his girl die oo

And she will die if you donrsquot let her stay here in the hiding place with us

Pani Juzakowa Pani Juzakowa please have piy please save her God

will reward you

And I kep praying

My moher didnrsquo sop alking begging sobbing She even crawledover and kissed Juzakowarsquos fee unil Juzakowa also burs ino ears and

agreed o hide me oo From hen on I and all my lice didnrsquo have o hide

from Pani Juzakowa anymore From hen on I hid wih my moher and

faher from he Germans and only he Germans I believed harsquos how i

was in he world

I was a considerable improvemen A very grea relief

Page 7: Girl: My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 710

983090983091983090 Alona Frankel

When my moher and aher had no more money lef o pay Hania

Sereme and she hreaened o bring me o heir hiding place which

mean cerain deah or all o usmdashafer all Juzakowa had no agreed o

hide he girl memdashmy aher had no choice and he old Hania Seremeabou he reasure buried in heir house in Bochnia buried in he atic

an enormous reasure My aher old her ha i he and my moher didnrsquo

manage o survive and I remained alive afer he war she could go and

ake ha reasure and i would be enough o suppor her or he res

o her lie and would provide or me oo even cover he expense o my

educaion i I remained alive o course

My aher gave Hania Sereme he diagram showing where he rea-sure was hidden Ta diagram was a lie

I was David my aherrsquos younges broher who had buried he rea-

sure Hersquod happened o come o Bochnia afer wersquod run away wih a ew

bundles and a suicase on he wagon harnessed o a workhorse David

was a Communis oo and he almos wen o Spain o join he Iner-

naional Brigade ha ough Franco I hersquod gone he migh have died

a heroic deah he proud deah o a figher agains ascism and no he

miserable deah o a persecued Jew We didnrsquo know how David died

He simply wasnrsquo here afer he war

When David came o Bochnia afer wersquod run away he had a large

number o gold coins hreaded ino a belmdasha reasure He hid ha rea-

sure in he cellar o my parensrsquo house He dug ino a wall ook ou

a brick pu he suffed bel ino he hole closed he opening spread

plaser over i and camouflaged he new plaser wih scraches and dir

Te ar o orgery mus have passed hrough generaion afer generaiono my aherrsquos amily so my moher old me old me and old me

My aher learned o he buried reasure when Poland had already

been invaded when we were already in Lvov and he was working in he

slaugherhouse and anning acory beore Operaion Barbarossa Da-

vid his younges broher passed hrough Lvov maybe on his way o Rus-

sia and lef my aher he map showing where he reasure was hidden

My aher who knew who he new enan in his luxurious house in

Bochnia was never hough ha Hania Sereme would dare o search i

or he reasure He assumed ha or he ime being she would be sais-

fied wih he promise ha i exised

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 810

Girl 983090983091983091

When he war was no longer in he world when my moher and a-

her wen o see heir house in Bochniamdashwhich wasnrsquo heirs anymore

because i had been naionalized by he new regimemdashhey wen up o

he atic and ound ha he cemen floor had been cu open I mushave been Hania Sereme who hrough her connecion wih her Ge-

sapo lover had succeeded somehow in geting ino he residence o he

gauleiter he German disric commander o look or he reasure wih

he aid o he alse map my aher had drawn or her Bu despie all her

effors he reasure was saved because David had buried i in he cellar

no in he atic

David never came back and when Henryk reurned rom Russia where he was saved rom he Germans he and my aher he wo sur-

viving brohers wen o he house bribed he person who lived in he

cellar ook he reasure ou o is hiding place and divided i up

I always ound i hard o undersand ha sory abou he reasure

Why didnrsquo my aher give Hania Sereme he real reasure map Afer

all he gave her his will bequeahing her he villa Why didnrsquo he wan

o give up he reasure Irsquos rue ha he reasure was Davidrsquos no ours

bu my lie was a sake

Hania Sereme was no a paien person She was brave and resource-

ul She decided o look or he reasure immediaely and no wai or he

end o he war bu she didnrsquo find anyhing here

Wha a mysery Wersquol l never know how she managed o sneak ino he

atic o he disric commanderrsquos residence and cu open he reinorced

concree floor

983105983150 983140 983155983151 983137983142983156983141983154 983154 983141983137 983148983145983162983145983150983143 983156983144983137983156 983149983161 983142983137983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 983152983154983151983149983145983155983141983155 983159983141983154 983141

alse Hania Sereme decided o dump me a he hiding place on Pani-

enska Sree

Ta was almos cerain deah

Bu sill she didnrsquo hrow me ino he sree

She didnrsquo leave me a he gaes o he gheto he way she lef Daniel

wih he ransparen hands

Afer he war my moher and aher considered reporing Hania

Sereme o he special cour ha had been esablished o ry Poles who

collaboraed wih he Germans o ell he cour abou her and he

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 910

983090983091983092 Alona Frankel

errible crimes she commited abou he people she promised o rescue

o ake ou o he gheto and how she ook all heir money and in he

end lef hem sripped o everyhing lef hem o cerain deah a he

hands o he Germans Afer much indecision my moher and aher decided no o ell abou

Hania Seremersquos crimes agains humaniy Tey decided no o urn her

in because I remained alive I was alive And so ew children had been

saved rom he Germans

When Hania Sereme realized ha i was all gone he money he

gold rom my moherrsquos mouh even he promises she sen an absurd

elegram o Juzakowarsquos address elling my parens o come and ge meand when she didnrsquo receive an answer she dumped me a my parensrsquo

hiding place even hough hey had begged her no o I mean almos

cerain deah or everyone because Juzakowa had agreed o hide my

moher and my aher on one condiion ha hey come wihou he

girl

And so began a new chaper in my liemdashhe chaper o he hiding

place wihin he hiding place

I had o hide rom Juzakowa

Every ime my moher sensed ha Juzakowa was approaching I and

all my lice had o quickly bury ourselves under he rags he blankes

and he pillows on our makeshif bed and I wasnrsquo allowed o move or

breahe I wen on ha way or I donrsquo know how long unil my moher

decided o ell Juzakowa abou my exisence Ta was quie a specacle

I happened like his

We heard Juzakowarsquos ooseps and as usual wih he insincs o ahuned animal I quickly buried mysel under he rags he blankes and

he pillows on our makeshif bed Juzakowa came in and hen wih a

dramaic sweep o her armmdashmy moher had ha sense o he dramaic

afer al l she always believed ha she looked like Marlene Dierichmdashmy

moher whipped he rags off me revealing my presence o he sunned

Juzakowa

Ten my moher ordered me On your knees now Pray And so kneeling in ron o Juzakowa my hands ogeher in ron

o my ace I recied he Lordrsquos Prayer

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 1010

Girl 983090983091983093

Our Faher who ar in heavenHallowed be Ty nameTy kingdom come

Ty will be doneon earh as i is in heavenGive us his day our daily breadand forgive us our respassesas we forgive hose who respass agains usand lead us no ino empaion

bu deliver us from evil

Ten I mumbled all he oher prayers I knew so well by hear espe-

cially he Ave MariaMy moher kneeled nex o me in fron of Juzakowa and while I was

reciing she cried she begged she pleaded she groveled Look Pani

Juzakowa look a his girl Shersquos Chrisian a Chrisian girl Lisen Pani

Juzakowa lisen o her Tis Chrisian girl is praying swee Jezusik is

lisening o her prayer Mary Moher of God is crying for her now In

heaven heyrsquore crying crying and crying for heir litle Chrisian girl

Yoursquore a moher Pani Juzakowa yoursquore a moher oo You have your

swee Edjo and your daugher Ania died in my arms poor hing Your Ania is crying in heaven now oo for my litle Chrisian girl Ania is cry-

ing and all he angels around her are crying Donrsquo le his girl die oo

And she will die if you donrsquot let her stay here in the hiding place with us

Pani Juzakowa Pani Juzakowa please have piy please save her God

will reward you

And I kep praying

My moher didnrsquo sop alking begging sobbing She even crawledover and kissed Juzakowarsquos fee unil Juzakowa also burs ino ears and

agreed o hide me oo From hen on I and all my lice didnrsquo have o hide

from Pani Juzakowa anymore From hen on I hid wih my moher and

faher from he Germans and only he Germans I believed harsquos how i

was in he world

I was a considerable improvemen A very grea relief

Page 8: Girl: My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 810

Girl 983090983091983091

When he war was no longer in he world when my moher and a-

her wen o see heir house in Bochniamdashwhich wasnrsquo heirs anymore

because i had been naionalized by he new regimemdashhey wen up o

he atic and ound ha he cemen floor had been cu open I mushave been Hania Sereme who hrough her connecion wih her Ge-

sapo lover had succeeded somehow in geting ino he residence o he

gauleiter he German disric commander o look or he reasure wih

he aid o he alse map my aher had drawn or her Bu despie all her

effors he reasure was saved because David had buried i in he cellar

no in he atic

David never came back and when Henryk reurned rom Russia where he was saved rom he Germans he and my aher he wo sur-

viving brohers wen o he house bribed he person who lived in he

cellar ook he reasure ou o is hiding place and divided i up

I always ound i hard o undersand ha sory abou he reasure

Why didnrsquo my aher give Hania Sereme he real reasure map Afer

all he gave her his will bequeahing her he villa Why didnrsquo he wan

o give up he reasure Irsquos rue ha he reasure was Davidrsquos no ours

bu my lie was a sake

Hania Sereme was no a paien person She was brave and resource-

ul She decided o look or he reasure immediaely and no wai or he

end o he war bu she didnrsquo find anyhing here

Wha a mysery Wersquol l never know how she managed o sneak ino he

atic o he disric commanderrsquos residence and cu open he reinorced

concree floor

983105983150 983140 983155983151 983137983142983156983141983154 983154 983141983137 983148983145983162983145983150983143 983156983144983137983156 983149983161 983142983137983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 983152983154983151983149983145983155983141983155 983159983141983154 983141

alse Hania Sereme decided o dump me a he hiding place on Pani-

enska Sree

Ta was almos cerain deah

Bu sill she didnrsquo hrow me ino he sree

She didnrsquo leave me a he gaes o he gheto he way she lef Daniel

wih he ransparen hands

Afer he war my moher and aher considered reporing Hania

Sereme o he special cour ha had been esablished o ry Poles who

collaboraed wih he Germans o ell he cour abou her and he

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 910

983090983091983092 Alona Frankel

errible crimes she commited abou he people she promised o rescue

o ake ou o he gheto and how she ook all heir money and in he

end lef hem sripped o everyhing lef hem o cerain deah a he

hands o he Germans Afer much indecision my moher and aher decided no o ell abou

Hania Seremersquos crimes agains humaniy Tey decided no o urn her

in because I remained alive I was alive And so ew children had been

saved rom he Germans

When Hania Sereme realized ha i was all gone he money he

gold rom my moherrsquos mouh even he promises she sen an absurd

elegram o Juzakowarsquos address elling my parens o come and ge meand when she didnrsquo receive an answer she dumped me a my parensrsquo

hiding place even hough hey had begged her no o I mean almos

cerain deah or everyone because Juzakowa had agreed o hide my

moher and my aher on one condiion ha hey come wihou he

girl

And so began a new chaper in my liemdashhe chaper o he hiding

place wihin he hiding place

I had o hide rom Juzakowa

Every ime my moher sensed ha Juzakowa was approaching I and

all my lice had o quickly bury ourselves under he rags he blankes

and he pillows on our makeshif bed and I wasnrsquo allowed o move or

breahe I wen on ha way or I donrsquo know how long unil my moher

decided o ell Juzakowa abou my exisence Ta was quie a specacle

I happened like his

We heard Juzakowarsquos ooseps and as usual wih he insincs o ahuned animal I quickly buried mysel under he rags he blankes and

he pillows on our makeshif bed Juzakowa came in and hen wih a

dramaic sweep o her armmdashmy moher had ha sense o he dramaic

afer al l she always believed ha she looked like Marlene Dierichmdashmy

moher whipped he rags off me revealing my presence o he sunned

Juzakowa

Ten my moher ordered me On your knees now Pray And so kneeling in ron o Juzakowa my hands ogeher in ron

o my ace I recied he Lordrsquos Prayer

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 1010

Girl 983090983091983093

Our Faher who ar in heavenHallowed be Ty nameTy kingdom come

Ty will be doneon earh as i is in heavenGive us his day our daily breadand forgive us our respassesas we forgive hose who respass agains usand lead us no ino empaion

bu deliver us from evil

Ten I mumbled all he oher prayers I knew so well by hear espe-

cially he Ave MariaMy moher kneeled nex o me in fron of Juzakowa and while I was

reciing she cried she begged she pleaded she groveled Look Pani

Juzakowa look a his girl Shersquos Chrisian a Chrisian girl Lisen Pani

Juzakowa lisen o her Tis Chrisian girl is praying swee Jezusik is

lisening o her prayer Mary Moher of God is crying for her now In

heaven heyrsquore crying crying and crying for heir litle Chrisian girl

Yoursquore a moher Pani Juzakowa yoursquore a moher oo You have your

swee Edjo and your daugher Ania died in my arms poor hing Your Ania is crying in heaven now oo for my litle Chrisian girl Ania is cry-

ing and all he angels around her are crying Donrsquo le his girl die oo

And she will die if you donrsquot let her stay here in the hiding place with us

Pani Juzakowa Pani Juzakowa please have piy please save her God

will reward you

And I kep praying

My moher didnrsquo sop alking begging sobbing She even crawledover and kissed Juzakowarsquos fee unil Juzakowa also burs ino ears and

agreed o hide me oo From hen on I and all my lice didnrsquo have o hide

from Pani Juzakowa anymore From hen on I hid wih my moher and

faher from he Germans and only he Germans I believed harsquos how i

was in he world

I was a considerable improvemen A very grea relief

Page 9: Girl: My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 910

983090983091983092 Alona Frankel

errible crimes she commited abou he people she promised o rescue

o ake ou o he gheto and how she ook all heir money and in he

end lef hem sripped o everyhing lef hem o cerain deah a he

hands o he Germans Afer much indecision my moher and aher decided no o ell abou

Hania Seremersquos crimes agains humaniy Tey decided no o urn her

in because I remained alive I was alive And so ew children had been

saved rom he Germans

When Hania Sereme realized ha i was all gone he money he

gold rom my moherrsquos mouh even he promises she sen an absurd

elegram o Juzakowarsquos address elling my parens o come and ge meand when she didnrsquo receive an answer she dumped me a my parensrsquo

hiding place even hough hey had begged her no o I mean almos

cerain deah or everyone because Juzakowa had agreed o hide my

moher and my aher on one condiion ha hey come wihou he

girl

And so began a new chaper in my liemdashhe chaper o he hiding

place wihin he hiding place

I had o hide rom Juzakowa

Every ime my moher sensed ha Juzakowa was approaching I and

all my lice had o quickly bury ourselves under he rags he blankes

and he pillows on our makeshif bed and I wasnrsquo allowed o move or

breahe I wen on ha way or I donrsquo know how long unil my moher

decided o ell Juzakowa abou my exisence Ta was quie a specacle

I happened like his

We heard Juzakowarsquos ooseps and as usual wih he insincs o ahuned animal I quickly buried mysel under he rags he blankes and

he pillows on our makeshif bed Juzakowa came in and hen wih a

dramaic sweep o her armmdashmy moher had ha sense o he dramaic

afer al l she always believed ha she looked like Marlene Dierichmdashmy

moher whipped he rags off me revealing my presence o he sunned

Juzakowa

Ten my moher ordered me On your knees now Pray And so kneeling in ron o Juzakowa my hands ogeher in ron

o my ace I recied he Lordrsquos Prayer

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 1010

Girl 983090983091983093

Our Faher who ar in heavenHallowed be Ty nameTy kingdom come

Ty will be doneon earh as i is in heavenGive us his day our daily breadand forgive us our respassesas we forgive hose who respass agains usand lead us no ino empaion

bu deliver us from evil

Ten I mumbled all he oher prayers I knew so well by hear espe-

cially he Ave MariaMy moher kneeled nex o me in fron of Juzakowa and while I was

reciing she cried she begged she pleaded she groveled Look Pani

Juzakowa look a his girl Shersquos Chrisian a Chrisian girl Lisen Pani

Juzakowa lisen o her Tis Chrisian girl is praying swee Jezusik is

lisening o her prayer Mary Moher of God is crying for her now In

heaven heyrsquore crying crying and crying for heir litle Chrisian girl

Yoursquore a moher Pani Juzakowa yoursquore a moher oo You have your

swee Edjo and your daugher Ania died in my arms poor hing Your Ania is crying in heaven now oo for my litle Chrisian girl Ania is cry-

ing and all he angels around her are crying Donrsquo le his girl die oo

And she will die if you donrsquot let her stay here in the hiding place with us

Pani Juzakowa Pani Juzakowa please have piy please save her God

will reward you

And I kep praying

My moher didnrsquo sop alking begging sobbing She even crawledover and kissed Juzakowarsquos fee unil Juzakowa also burs ino ears and

agreed o hide me oo From hen on I and all my lice didnrsquo have o hide

from Pani Juzakowa anymore From hen on I hid wih my moher and

faher from he Germans and only he Germans I believed harsquos how i

was in he world

I was a considerable improvemen A very grea relief

Page 10: Girl: My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

8172019 Girl My Childhood and the Second World War (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullgirl-my-childhood-and-the-second-world-war-excerpt 1010

Girl 983090983091983093

Our Faher who ar in heavenHallowed be Ty nameTy kingdom come

Ty will be doneon earh as i is in heavenGive us his day our daily breadand forgive us our respassesas we forgive hose who respass agains usand lead us no ino empaion

bu deliver us from evil

Ten I mumbled all he oher prayers I knew so well by hear espe-

cially he Ave MariaMy moher kneeled nex o me in fron of Juzakowa and while I was

reciing she cried she begged she pleaded she groveled Look Pani

Juzakowa look a his girl Shersquos Chrisian a Chrisian girl Lisen Pani

Juzakowa lisen o her Tis Chrisian girl is praying swee Jezusik is

lisening o her prayer Mary Moher of God is crying for her now In

heaven heyrsquore crying crying and crying for heir litle Chrisian girl

Yoursquore a moher Pani Juzakowa yoursquore a moher oo You have your

swee Edjo and your daugher Ania died in my arms poor hing Your Ania is crying in heaven now oo for my litle Chrisian girl Ania is cry-

ing and all he angels around her are crying Donrsquo le his girl die oo

And she will die if you donrsquot let her stay here in the hiding place with us

Pani Juzakowa Pani Juzakowa please have piy please save her God

will reward you

And I kep praying

My moher didnrsquo sop alking begging sobbing She even crawledover and kissed Juzakowarsquos fee unil Juzakowa also burs ino ears and

agreed o hide me oo From hen on I and all my lice didnrsquo have o hide

from Pani Juzakowa anymore From hen on I hid wih my moher and

faher from he Germans and only he Germans I believed harsquos how i

was in he world

I was a considerable improvemen A very grea relief