Narrative

"There Are Only Good and Bad People in Our World”

"There are only good and bad people in our world. There are no bad nations.” This is what Ms. Hofmokl wanted us to know before she began her story. Clearly and confidently, she told us the rest of her tale, re-emphasizing the point she was trying to make in the beginning. Ms. Jadwiga was a just a young child when the war broke out. Her parents were wise, so she was well-protected and did not experience events as traumatic as other survivors. Her story however, contains an important moral and should be shared. She helped us examine World War II in a new light, that people should not be judged based on their nation, rather on their ideology.

Being a Jewish Pole, Ms. Jadwiga’s mother converted to Catholicism in order to marry Jadwiga’s father, Mr. Hofmokl. Later, their family moved to Lodz, where Ms. Jadwiga was born. Ms. Jadwiga claims she was extremely close to her father and at a young age, often joked that she would grow up and marry him. Her father worked as a Polish accountant in a Jewish textile factory. When the war broke out, Jadwiga’s life had not changed at all; most Jewish children were already being moved to ghettos. As far as she was concerned, nothing was any different than before. Her wardrobe was still full of elegant clothing, and she was still able to attend school. Then, larger changes began to occur. The company her father worked for was overtaken by a German economist. Though the man was German, he became well- acquainted with Mr.Hofmokl. As harsher changes in Poland began to occur, the war began to affect Jadwiga’s family when Jews were forced to move into Ghettos. This, the German economist was aware of; he risked his family and life to help Jadwiga’s family escape to Warsaw, and helped her father attain a new job. In Warsaw, Mr. Hofmokl discovered that the former Jewish owner of the textile business was struggling in the Warsaw Ghetto. He risked everything to help him; leaving each morning with false papers and fresh food, clandestine inside his briefcase.  

Nearly a year later, when Jadwiga was home sick with the flu, the Gestapo police stormed into their household unannounced, snatched Jadwiga’s mother and sent her to Pawiak, a Polish prison. From there, she was forced to go to the Treblinka death camp. Jadwiga, a young girl at the time, was shocked, unable to move. Three hours after her mother was kidnapped, her father returned home and brought Jadwiga to his relatives- she would be safer with them. He then contacted the German economist who saved him in the beginning; together they bribed the Treblinka camp officers and smuggled Jadwiga’s mother out of the camp using the coal compartment of a train. When Jadwiga’s mother surreptitiously arrived in Warsaw,  She contacted one of her friends for help. She was concealed in her friend’s cellar until the war was over, unable to inhale fresh air at anytime. If she was seen by anyone, she would be killed. Meanwhile, Jadwiga continued her daily activities with her father’s relatives, completely unaware of her surroundings. In the meantime, the Warsaw uprising broke out, and Jadwiga’s father began writing letters to her. When the Uprising ended, her father was captured and taken to Gross Rosen, another concentration camp. His last letter was brief and his writing was shaky. It was dated in January 1945, just before the camp was liquidated. Ms. Jadwiga recalls it to be the last time she heard from her father.

When the war finally reached an end,  Jadwiga’s mother stepped out of hiding, and was reunited with Jadwiga. Because of the effects the war had on Poland, the economic condition was a disaster. The two of them moved back to Lodz, where they struggled to live, saving every morsel of food they could grasp. One day a surprise package addressed to them from the United States arrived. Ms. Jadwiga’s eyes lit up like Christmas lights wrapped around a tree. They glimmered even brighter when the contents were revealed. Inside the package was food and small dresses and blouses made especially for a young girl. By selling some of the goods in the package, Ms. Jadwiga’s mother scraped together some money for the two to survive. These packages continued to come until Jadwiga was 19, ready to marry. The final package contained graceful silks and charming heels; luxurious clothing fit for a bride. Though Ms. Jadwiga persisted in trying to find out who the anonymous sender of the packages was, she was not successful. She believes, and is almost sure now, that the sender was the Jewish family whom her father risked his life for in the beginning. Marriage at such a young age is not likely to last. Ms. Jadwiga has since then gotten remarried, and has a daughter and a granddaughter. Her story taught us to never judge a person based on his/her nationality, rather by their personality, just like the German economist risked his life to save his family, and how Mr. Hofmokl also risked his own life to save the former Jewish owner.