Narrative

“DEPRIVATION OF THE PAST”

World War II deprived many people of families, childhoods, dignity and a past. Evidence of that tragedy is derived from books, movies, museums and people who witnessed it - often adults. However the story could be totally different when told from a child’s point of view. This is a tale of a young girl during the Second World War who was completely unaware of her family background and the events going on around her. It was only by accident that she retrieved the truth about her closest ones.

Being only 2 years old when World War II started, Aleksandra Kapustyńska believed that the conditions and lifestyle they held were standard - such as everyone lived in. Because war was the only memory she had at that age, making her oblivious to life in peace, Aleksandra enjoyed her early youth. With Ola’s mother being a Catholic and her father being a Pole, nothing unfortunate was ever predicted to happen as was happening to Jewish citizens. Consequently, it was very unexpected that German officers ordered the family to resettle into the Warsaw Ghetto. Ola’s father refused to follow orders. Quickly, he arranged false identity documents for the entire family and changed their names. Incognito, the family escaped by train to a small village approximately 100 kilometers away from the capital of Poland. In the little village, Ola’s family announced themselves to be the distant family of a wealthy individual who owned the nearby forest and land. Clearly, it was a lie. Aleksandra’s family inhabited a tiny hut that was neither luxurious nor large so the story being related to the landowner may have seemed suspicious to some villagers. The family settled easily in their new community. Ola’s father worked in the windmill. Sometime later, a young Polish man, a stranger, began blackmailing him. (It was many years after the war ended, that Ms. Kapustyńska discovered the real reason for the blackmail.) The threats didn’t last much longer than a few months. On a frosty evening, February 24th, 1942, when Ola’s father stayed late at work, the young Pole appeared at the windmill. He galloped up the stairs and pushed Ola’s father into the windmill’s machinery. The crime resulted in an immediate and lamentable death of Ola’s father.

Following this tragedy, Aleksandra’s mother put her into a convent, since she believed that it was the best way to keep her daughter safe and unaware of the reality she lived in. Ola did not stay in the convent for long. One of Aleksandra’s aunts rescued her from the convent and brought Ola back to a house where her mother awaited her. Not long after, Aleksandra and her mother travelled to another village which was already under the German and Soviet occupation. “It was always Germans, NOT Nazis!” Mrs.Kapustyńska emphasized. The officers ordered all villagers to get on a train that would instantly transport them to “Deutschland”. Her mother refused to follow orders and hid in their recent home. Her plan wasn’t very efficient since within the first couple of hours one of the Wehrmacht soldiers found them undercover. Luckily, Ola’s mother was very well educated. In German, she explained to the officer that they had come to the village on holiday; therefore they shall not be transported. The German hesitated. After a while of pondering he left without a word.

Shortly after the announcement, the Soviets came galloping on horseback. Everyone was caught by surprise. The men managed to escape to the forest and all remaining villagers were ordered to head towards the railway station where, predictably, everyone would be deported to Germany.

They arrived at the train station. Suddenly a beautiful woman rushed towards Ola and her mother as the Soviets were loading them into the wagon. “It’s okay sir. They are my servants and they will come with me,” she declared. They waited a while until all soldiers were gone and parted with the Jewish woman. It was only after the strife ended that Ola and her mother learned that her origin was Jewish.

Many years after the bloodshed, Ola’s mother recovered countless photographs of their family taken before the harrowing war. As it turns out, these pictures belonged once to Aleksandra’s grandmother. As Ola examined the photos she discovered red spots on them. Blood. Her grandmother’s blood. A lady who visited the ghetto after Ola’s grandmother was murdered gave the photographs to her mother. The SS and other German officers usually shot Jews who could not work. Ola’s grandmother’s leg was badly injured; ergo she was unable to walk on her own. A soldier had entered her grandmother’s apartment and inquired why she wasn’t traveling with her group. She explained. BOOM. Grandmother dropped dead. Ola tried finding out as much as possible about the war and this murder but she could not. “My mother’s trauma was so strong she could not speak about the war,” Ola confessed.

With the war end life went on. Mrs. Kapustyńska studied at university and later married. She became very successful in her work and studies as a physicist and was employed as a physicist when she learned that she had an uncle who was one too. After her mother accidentally told her about the uncle, Ola was immediately eager to find him. It took her a while to locate his current work place but she accomplished the challenge. Upon learning about him, something struck her. His name was Jewish. He was Jewish. Maybe so was she.

Aleksandra recoiled to her mother for information but unfortunately she found her on her deathbed. “Are we Jewish? Are you Jewish? Am I Jewish?” Ola demanded with desperation. Silence. “I cannot live without a background! You need to tell me the truth! At least tell me your real name!” she continued, strongly gesticulating. Finally her mother responded, “Yes, we are Jewish.” Mrs. Kapustyńska was shocked. She wanted to tell everyone about it, her entire family. Ola returned home to her son and husband unable to hold in the information. She announced the news to them. To her surprise, they were unaffected by the discovery. Promptly, Ola returned to the hospital to reassure her mother that her grandson still loved her. That day, and ever, the last words that her mother managed to breathe out were, “Do NOT tell a soul.”

Mrs. Kapustyńska is a very amiable individual. Even though she went through the bloodiest war that ever took place in history, and a time of Jewish persecution, she remained profoundly optimistic. The fact that she was Jewish didn’t matter to her as much as it did to her mother. She came from a different generation. And, as she stated herself, “IT IS HISTORY, no matter if it is on its good or bad page. IT IS HISTORY, just live with it.”