Narrative of Halina Szpilman

Halina Szpilman's Story

A War Torn Childhood

    Have you ever wondered what a child feels when his childhood is torn apart by war? When he does not know if he will ever see his father again? Or when he doesn’t have the freedom to learn? Halina Szpilman was a child that experienced all these troubles. She told us, a group of students from ASW, the story of her father and the struggles he had to face. Her story is extraordinary and it makes a person think twice about life. 

    Halina Szpilman’s father was the president of Radom, a city in Poland about 100 kilometers from the country’s capital, Warsaw. He was a member of the Polish socialist party (Polska Partia Socjalistyczna or PPS). During World War I, when Poland was occupied by Germany, Austria and Russia, he fought with Poland’s “inside terrorism’’ against the occupants. For these attacks, he trained in Switzerland. Unfortunately, one day the Germans caught him and sentenced him to death. Luckily, this verdict later changed to an 11-year sentence of imprisonment. The revolution and Poland’s independence released him. Between World War I (WWI) and World War II (WWII), Mrs. Szpilman’s father was a politician in the PPS. Since he was an important man, in 1939 when WWII began, the Germans arrested him for three days and held him as a hostage. They took him to a concentration camp close to Berlin. The camp was called Sachsenhausen and its purpose was to hold political prisoners. In 1943, the London press and BBC radio announced that Halina’s father had been killed in the camp. This statement was false; however many people believed it. In order to make the death true, the leaders of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp moved the man into the hospital and left him there to die. With lack of medicine and terrifying conditions, many sicknesses passed around hospitals therefore; death was very possible.

    During this time, Halina Szpilman was growing up. She told our group that she still had a childhood even though the war broke out. She was allowed to go outside and play or go swimming in a nearby lake. Before the war, Halina, her mother, father and sister lived in a beautiful countryside house just outside of the city of Radom. Soon enough after the beginning of war, the Gestapo took over their house. The leader of the Radom Gestapo, who was known for his extreme cruelty, moved in forcing Halina Szpilman, along with her mother and sister, to move into a one-room apartment that was constantly observed by the Gestapo. They had to leave everything behind. The Germans considered her family “special” because of her father’s profession and because of this treatment, Halina had it better than numerous other families during the war.

    Throughout the war, Halina had no idea what was happening to her father. She did not know whether he was still alive or not. The fact that the Germans took her father alone, rather than in a group like most people, added to the worry. During the interview, she told us that it had been an unimaginably tough time for her and her family. She, of course, received occasional letters from her father explaining where he was, but the truth was that any day a letter could arrive informing the family of her father’s death.

    One important thing to Mrs. Szpilman was education. The Germans allowed Polish children go to school until 7th grade. After, in order to learn, they would have to attend a training school that would allow them to become “useful citizens” through work. The children would be trained to be housekeepers, nurses, or to work in factories or construction. Halina had to learn in the underground education. Teachers and others met with small groups of children and taught them in secret. Such an act was illegal during the war and the punishment for it would be severe. Underground education took place in many apartments because of the constant fear that somebody was watching, the Gestapo. In fact, the Gestapo observed every move taken by Halina, her mother or sister because of her father’s high pre-war political position, and knew everything about everyone. Danger was constant “Ten lek to Gestapo mialam zakodowany. Jak widzialam ta trupia czaszke to mi sie slabo robilo.” (The fear towards the Gestapo was imprinted in me. When I saw the skull I would nearly faint.)

    Halina Szpilman had dark hair and eyes; the Germans could have easily suspected her of being a runaway Jew from the Radom ghetto. Her blond haired, blue-eyed mother would always remind her and plead with her to carry her papers. Mrs. Szpilman told us that when she would be out of the street with a few of her friends, she would pretend to have a book under her arm (books were banned) to provoke the Gestapo. As she talks about this event now, she cannot imagine what she was thinking and in how great a danger she was putting herself.

    Mrs. Szpilman told us a very interesting story- the story about a Janek. One day, the family received a letter from Father saying that a friend of his would visit- Janek. Confusion broke out because nobody knew a Janek. A few days later, the man appeared. The man told them his story. He was from the Polish region of Silesia. The German army had taken his five brothers to fight for the country. Janek did something wrong and was deported to the same concentration camp in which Halina’s father stayed- Sachsenhausen. They even lived in the same block. Janek’s mother decided to send a letter to Hitler in which she asked the man to release her last son because the other five died in the name of Germany. Janek was released.

    He visited Halina and her family to tell them about the terrors going on. The fact that all of Janek’s brothers, who thought of themselves as Poles, were forced to fight in the name of Germany, a country occupying Poland, showed German cruelty. All Silesians felt as Poles. The Nazis made them German and forced the men to fight in the army.

    In 1944, Mrs. Szpilman, her mother and her sister, received permission to move back into their house. With Germany losing the war, the Gestapo decided that the house was too far outside of town and could be easily attacked. Halina was overjoyed. The house had been looted and little remained inside. One thing that was still there was a large cupboard. The first thing Halina did was place the remaining silverware back into it. She told us this act symbolized that they were back in their house and that everything would slowly start returning to normal. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Two days after the move, the German soldiers decided to visit the house. The visit changed into a stay that lasted three months. The soldiers also occupied the street in front of the house. Halina’s mother instructed her to take all the silverware out of the cupboard again because the Germans would steal it. Halina was confused. She knew the Germans were doing all sorts of terrible things but she never accused them of being thieves.

    Sometime after the family’s move into the house, a woman appeared with a seven-year-old boy at the door, asking for a place to stay. It turned out the woman was Jewish and had run away from Warsaw. She spoke fluent German and could pass as Halina’s aunt. Because the Gestapo was observing the house, the woman did not want to cause any problems and left with her son two months after her arrival.

    During the three months when Germans were living in the house with Halina’s family, they displayed no aggression and did not cause unwanted situations. Halina wondered, “How can this be possible?” People were made to think all Germans were evil and to be hated. Living with them, Halina did not see them as bloodthirsty or cruel but the complete opposite. They were kind people being forced to do something they most likely did not want to do. She actually felt sorry for the soldiers sometimes. They started celebrating Christmas already in November because they did not know how long they would remain in Radom. The battle sounds on the other side of the Vistula River were constant. On January 17, 1945, the German army moved out. This day was also the liberation of the city of Radom.

    Halina Szpilman’s father survived the war and was 60 years old when he was released. Janek also survived the war and lived many years after.

    Mrs. Szpilman became a doctor, a hematologist. She was working at a hospital and one day met the woman she had been hiding. It was an immense joy and very hard to believe.

    Fours years ago Mrs. Szpilman traveled to Sachsenhausen. The only building left in the camp is the torture house. In it, there is a plaque with the names of those tortured. It says in Polish, “In this building, between the years 1939-45, Polish patriots were tortured.” Her father’s name is listed second.

    After the war, Halina Szpilman married a man who had also gone through terrible times. His name was Wladyslaw Szpilman who is known internationally as “the Pianist”. He published an autobiography and a movie, directed by Roman Polanski, about his autobiography was produced but what happened to him is an absolutely different story. Mrs. Szpilman also has a son who currently lives in Japan.

    Everything during the war depended on people. People start war as well as end it. Everyone has a different story to tell. For what happened, a person cannot blame a whole nation, only individuals. People are different and want different things. This story shows that if a person wants it, getting through a hard situation is possible. People just need something to hold onto. Sometimes survival is just luck. A life is based upon one moment, a step in the other direction, walking a little bit faster, having to go back. These stories help us appreciate the life we have, one much easier than those whose lives have been torn by war.