Narrative of Krystyna Budnicka

Against All Odds

Nobody can describe how painful it is to lose someone close. Imagine having eleven close family members and losing them all. Luckily, Krystyna Budnicka survived. Being alone in this world is terrifying but being alone in this world while there is war is indescribable. When World War II began, Krystyna Budnicka was merely seven years old. Convinced that being Jewish was a crime, she changed her name from Hena Keuscher to Krystyna Budnicka. From strong Jewish roots, Mrs. Budnicka believes it was a miracle that she survived the war. “I had no chance of surviving. I had dark hair, dark eyes, was poor, youngest of all my siblings, and yet, I’m here today. Maybe God sent me to pass on my message;  maybe I’m here for a reason.

Behind the ghetto walls, Mrs Budnicka’s story begins. Fortunately, Mrs. Budnicka’s father was a carpenter who could create hiding spaces for the family in case the Nazis came for them. The family would hide in a chimney, where they would have to crouch on top of each other with no room to move. Even the smallest peep would expose their position. Gripped by fear, her entire family lingered in deafening silence for hours. Soon the Nazis discovered other Jews incorporating the same method. Dreading capture, the family took to the underground and built a bunker near the sewers. When the Ghetto Uprising started, the bunker became intolerably blazing as the buildings all around were burned from the bombings. Their home was a human oven.

As the heat in the bunker cranked up, the Keushcer family went into the sewers to cool off. While the family frantically sought safety, the Nazis began to suspect that Jews were hiding in the sewers so they threw gas bombs into the sewers. During the gassings, the family had to dart between the sewage pipes and a boiling bunker. Inside the bunker, Mrs. Budnicka would hold her mother’s hand at all times. Finally, after three gruelling months, the Jewish Uprising ended and the bunkers cooled off. Destroyed by the Uprising, the ghetto could no longer house the Keushcer family they had to find another refuge. For that reason they left the ghetto.

Since two of Mrs. Budnicka’s brothers participated in the ghetto uprising they were familiar with some Poles on the ‘white side’ (non-Jewish Warsaw). They got to know these people while they were coming in and out of the ghetto. Through these contacts, the family joined an organization dedicated to saving Jews. Meanwhile, the Keushcer family was struggling to hide as people were sifting through the rubble of Warsaw, looking for valuables. Some of these people sifting for valuables found the Keushcer family. Warily, two of her brothers went back to the bunker to converse with, while the remainder of the family stayed in the sewers. Promised food and water, the two brothers waited above the sewers for the valuable sifters to return. Betraying their promise, the sifters came back with the Gestapo police and her two brothers were murdered. 

            Once silence fell once again, from within the sewers the family slipped a note requesting help from the ‘white side’. From the surface they received a reply, asking the family to meet at a nearby manhole at night. However, escaping at night was nearly as dangerous as the day as guards patrolled the streets. Since this was the only option, the Keuscher family had no choice but to take it. When the time came people from above the sewer came to the manhole only to find that it was bolted shut. Hurriedly, the rescue team told the Keuschers to rendezvous at the next drain. However, Krystyna’s parents were weak, old and starving. They had been trudging through a sewer for days and they were devoid of any hope. Wishing to save their daughter, her parents told Mrs. Budnicka that the only way they could survive was if she continued to the next manhole to get help. Compelled by her parents’ words, Mrs. Budnicka and the remainder of her family continued, leaving her parents and her sister behind. Mrs. Budnicka described this as “the most miserable moment of my life”.

Tragically, Mrs. Budnicka’s parents and sister died of starvation in the sewers. Now Mrs. Budnicka lives every moment of her life regretting that one moment, one moment that changed her life forever. Restraining tears, Mrs. Budnicka continued her story. Since her brother was familiar with the sewer system, her remaining family members followed him. Reaching the next manhole was no easy task and the family had to wade against an extremely forceful current. Exhausted by the current, Mrs. Budnicka’s brother was swept away. Miraculously, he survived, and even more amazingly, his little flashlight turned on, indicating that he survived to the rest of his family. From there her brother found the nearest manhole and acquired some assistance in order to help his family.

After a breathtaking ordeal in the sewers that may have seemed to take days, Mrs. Budnicka and her family were split up because it would be impossible for someone to hide so many people at one hiding spot. Grievously, Mrs. Budnicka’s brother became extraordinarily sick and later died of blood poisoning. Despite her loss, Mrs. Budnicka was ecstatic to be on the ‘white side’. Outside of the ghetto, Mrs. Budnicka still had to live in secrecy, which prevented her from interacting with other people. During this time the Warsaw Uprising began. Beckoned by duty, her only remaining brother fought in the Uprising, only to be revealed to the Gestapo and murdered. For safety’s sake, Mrs. Budnicka had to move from family to family anyone could conceal her; the Budnicka family with whom she hid. They gave her a Christian name with their own surname to disguise her roots. No longer was she Hena Keuscher; her name was Krystyna Budnicka.

Although everybody knew that the Nazis were defeated; the Germans were not ready to give up yet. Throwing everything they had into one last effort to exterminate the Jews, the Nazis ordered everybody in Warsaw to attend a selection. Near a church, the people gathered. A group of nuns who ran an orphanage decided to protect Mrs. Budnicka. “It was the funniest thing. They died my jet black hair bright orange!” recounted Mrs. Budnicka. Helped by her hair, Mrs. Budnicka passed inspection and stayed in the orphanage for the remainder of the war. However, her sister in law was not so fortunate and was sent to an extermination camp in Germany. While in the camp, she was murdered by the Nazis.

Constantly hearing something can make you believe in even the greatest of lies. When the war ended, Mrs. Budnicka was thoroughly convinced that being Jewish was a horrendous crime and hid from her past for years, something that she deeply resents now. Living in the orphanage until she graduated from high school, Mrs. Budnicka went on to study psychology and worked in a special needs school, feeling the need to give back to society. Blessed with a strong spirit, energy and joy Mrs. Budnicka still grasps every moment of life, despite her tragic losses. During our interview we were touched and forever changed as human beings. We will never be able to express our immense gratitude towards Mrs. Krystyna Budnicka for sharing her amazing story with us. We will never forget her.