Narrative of Jadwiga Hofmokl

“There are no bad nations”

“There are no bad nations. There are only good and bad people. And there is also only evil ideology.” That is what Mrs. Hofmokl wanted our group to know before she started her story. She continued looking seriously into our eyes, “I was not afraid during the war because I was stupid.” She was born in Łódź, Poland. Her father was a Polish financial director and her mother was Jewish. Everyday Jadwiga was showered with presents and adoration. She lived the perfect life of a six year old during the outbreak of the war. Her story isn’t as dramatic as some of the other survivors’ but she still has a story that should not be forgotten.

Jadwiga wasn’t affected by the war at first, even when a German economist took over the factory that her father worked in. He met her father and became friends with him. Jadwiga felt like a Polish child rather than the Jewish children that already had to experience tragic things. Her room was still full of toys and her closet still bursting with charming clothes. Eventually, an event occurred that affected Jadwiga’s life. There was a ghetto being built in Łódź and Jadwiga and her parents had to be evacuated. The German economist smuggled them out of Łódź to Warsaw. Jadwiga was terrified, because she had to go alone since the German economist could only take one person at a time. Since she never had to worry about any dangers and didn’t take the war as seriously as she should have, she never learned German. Therefore, Jadwiga was forced to pretend she was a mute so that she wouldn’t have to speak in a language she didn’t know. She played innocent and luckily enough, she was not caught.

            Her parents joined her in Warsaw shortly afterwards. The family went to the new home that the German found of them. While Jadwiga played with toys and enjoyed each day, her father went to work. While the family home was beyond the ghetto walls, his work building was in the ghetto so her father had a special pass to go in and out. Jadwiga watched as each day her father left with not only his briefcase full of papers but a hidden bag, full of food, money and fake documents. Only a few years later, did she find out that he was helping the Jews inside the ghetto. One of the families to whom he gave fake documents to, he found dead were later shot in the head; the fake documents did not help. Jadwiga’s father was devastated and he started to understand how cruel war is. Jadwiga was treated like a Polish child. She did not wear the Star of David and her family still had money to give her presents. She admits she was a bit spoiled and her friends always envied her clothes and dolls.

            Until January 1943, everything was perfect. Her life was so perfect that no one suspected that a young Polish woman would eventually turn her mother in. Even to this day, Jadwiga remembers the arrival of the Gestapo. She was sitting on the floor, playing with her toys when a group of men barged into the house. They had uniforms and shiny, black boots. They went straight to her mother and shouted “Jude.” They dragged her away, pushing her every step of the way. Jadwiga’s self-preservation skills kept her mouth shut and she didn’t move. Somehow the soldiers left the little girl alone. She heard the door bang shut and her eyes flooded with tears. When her father came home, she flung herself upon his neck and tearfully told him the tragic event.

            Her father acted immediately. He found out that his wife was sent to Pawiak, a jail from which there were only two ways of escape: immediate death or concentration camp. Her father was frightened for his daughter’s safety so he sent her to his sister’s family which was located next to Łódź. Jadwiga stayed there for the rest of the war. While she was playing with her cousin in her new home, Jadwiga’s father started figuring out ways to help his wife. He called the German economist, his past boss who helped them escape from Łódź, and he was willing to help. It turned out that her mother was sent to Treblinka, a very cruel death camp. The German gathered money and Jadwiga’s mother was smuggled out by train under a load of coal. Her husband gave her fake documents and she hid with a Polish couple for a year.

            Meanwhile, the Warsaw Uprising broke out. Jadwiga’s father came to her to be with his daughter during this awful time. She describes it as something that she hopes no one shall ever experience again. People were killing each other and thousands of innocent people died. “People shot at each other as if they were shooting at ducks. It was like hunting.” Mrs. Hofmokl shuddered slightly as she described that awful event. Soon afterwards, the war ended. Although it was supposed to be a joyful moment, it was not as ecstatic as it should have been. Jadwiga was sitting with her aunt and uncle when a man burst into their home. “It’s over! The war ended! The Germans are gone!” Everyone poured out of their homes, onto the street. They marched about a hundred meters and passed a park. What Jadwiga saw will never leave her mind. There were frozen dead bodies lying on the ground. People,  struggling with their poverty, were taking coats off of the stiff bodies because there was poverty and they were freezing. Terrified by what she saw, Jadwiga decided to go home.

            Jadwiga’s mother came to her from her hiding place and they started living together. Unfortunately, her father was taken away and sent to Gross-Rosen, a concentration camp, just before the war ended. Jadwiga received one final letter from him just before he was murdered. His handwriting was shaking and Jadwiga knew that it was the end. After the war ended, Jadwiga experienced terrible moments. Her mother was a typical housewife, she stayed at home and the only thing she knew how to do was to order around servants. Jadwiga was only in fourth grade and she could not work. They gave a room to two Russian soldiers. They helped them by giving them food and items to trade.

Shortly after they left, Jadwiga and her mother started receiving anonymous packages. Inside, there was food, items that they could sell (spoons, silverware etc.) and clothes for Jadwiga. The clothes “grew” as Jadwiga grew and, as she claimed, started to become more elegant. The packages came every two months. They wrote to the mailing company to find out who was sending them the packages but they replied that the sender did not want to reveal his name.

Jadwiga found herself a husband very early. At the age of 19, she was getting married. Just before her wedding, she got her last package. It was full of silk pyjamas, golden slippers and other various items that she would need during her marriage.

Her husband did not stop her from learning. She majored in sociology, faculty and financials. Unfortunately, a young marriage like that did not last. She remarried and her daughter was born. Later on, she married again. Her husband was Polish and he brought her to Warsaw. She got a job at the university and she worked with students.

Mrs. Hofmokl retired just five years ago and now she is involved with the modern society and works with “The Children of the Holocaust” program. She tells us how she doesn’t know what hardships her mother faced in Pawiak and Treblinka, because her mother never talked about it. She never wanted to tell about her story nor she refused to remember what happened. She forbid her daughter to tell anyone of their story and to tell anyone she’s Jewish, because her mother was panicking that the same thing that happened to her will happen to her beloved daughter. When Mrs. Hofmokl’s mother died at the age of 90, Mrs. Hofmokl was able to tell everyone her story and that she is half-Jewish. Today, when asked if she would want to forget what happened she replies after a moment of thought. “No, I don’t think so. It’s part of me and I think people should know.”