Barbara Lipska Narrative

 Messenger of Peace

Imagine a thirteen-year-old girl, peacefully attending school as well as helping her father with work in the yard. And then, one day, a disturbance the peace, a horror awaiting in the secrecy of the darkest hour. World War II: The thief of many lives, grasping at the innocence of the world. People have the same number of experiences in a lifetime as Barbara had in the six years of war. During the six years of war, Mrs. Lipska risked her life to help her nation. As a survivor of World War II, she lives life to the fullest and often comes back to her hometown, the place of her childhood horrors.

Barbara Lipska experienced the beginning of World War II firsthand at age thirteen. She was ignorant towards the war and didn't agonize about her life. She witnessed many bloodcurdling events, including the first use of crematoriums in the Treblinka camp from which she lived 30 km away. She lived in a village on the countryside with her grandparents and parents. Her grandfather owned a mill and grew crops from which he and Barbara's father fed his family and any other Jews who would come for assistance. Her mother, on the other hand, stayed home and took care of the cooking, cleaning, and the other daily chores there were around their home. 

Mrs. Lipska was born in the humble town of Dlugosiodlo. She was schooled only until age 13, when the war broke out. After that, she had to take secret schooling until the end of the armed conflict. Her family’s house was isolated from the town because her family owned a mill and a little farm. 50% of the Dlugosiodlo population was Jewish and one autumn day Germans removed all the Jews to the Russian border 30 km away. Neither Germans nor the Russians wanted the Jews so they stayed in the woods separating Barbara's house from the rest of the town.  The German soldiers burned down all the Jewish houses to make sure that the Jews wouldn’t try to come back to their old lives in their family homes. During the Jews' struggle Barbara's family would invite the homeless into their house for a bath and some food. Mrs. Lipska's family house wasn't burned down because her family wasn't Jewish.

As stated before, Mrs. Lipska's hometown was located 30 km from Treblinka, one of the major concentration camps in Poland. Mrs. Lipska told us that she has had many nightmares regarding the trains passing by her village, going to the camps. Babies were thrown rapidly out in the air because the mothers would hope that the infants had more chance of surviving outside than inside the camp. There was always that inch of hope, that people passing by would encounter the infant, and then they would take them into their home. These dreadful images still linger in Mrs. Lipska's memories and she remembers it as if it were yesterday.

When Barbara was 15 years old, she enrolled herself in the Armia Krajowa (AK). She served as a messenger between Warsaw and Krakow, carrying important messages, materials, money and documents. Also, Mrs. Lipska was a part-time nurse, disinfecting areas beset with typhus. As a mid-teen girl, she looked very guiltless so Germans didn't expect anything dangerous or potentially threatening from her. However, there was one incident when a German spy was shot by an AK member and everyone on the passing tram was asked to come out and line up. Barbara knew that there was an immense possibility that she would be shot and perish although, in her mind, she was only concerned whether the bullet would hurt or not. As the machine guns were about to fire their bullets at the victims, a German officer arrived, barked an order, and the other soldiers began packing up the guns. Barbara has wondered what has saved her life; was it the need for the machine guns somewhere else? Or was it simply the admirable heart of the officer to spare the morally innocent tram passengers? Her frowned face revealed her confusion and doubt, even after all these years.

Even though we cannot compare our lives to the life of a war survivor, Barbara Lipska is still strong and lives for the future not for the past. She honored us with her presence and passed on her memories and knowledge. For this we are thankful, though these thanks don’t compare to the ones we owe to her for being a part of saving our country. Everyone should follow in Barbara’s footsteps and stand behind what they believe in. Barbara Lipska is a true inspiration and a fountain of energy. After all she’s lived through, we can only admire the hope and faith she has now. For her, the sky is just the limit.