Narrative

Title

    “Before I go into my memories of the war, I would like to say some words beforehand,”

    Tomasz Prot told us a story, unlike many stories lacking in massive amounts of dramatic elements, almost leading it to have an unreal and eerie approach. He was fortunate to have the majority of his family spared, yet his story enunciated the amount of betrayal he encountered, from Polish aids to the German Nazi party to ignorant childhood friends who would reveal his “true Jewish identity”. Prot then spoke sternly whispering his entire story, telling us of such inhumane actions, in an almost inhuman way; no hesitation to add emotion though he was shaken by his memories sharing his encounters and many close calls. In the end, Prot’s story had one truly unique and different feature based on his conversion to Catholicism prior to the war, yet he still was a carrier of the stereotypical “Jewish traits”; the cause of his complex life and the basis of his entire story.

    Tomasz was a mere age of 9 during the war his family consisting of a sister, a graying mother and his Polish officer father. During the beginning, the entire family hid together, hiding in his relative’s houses at first then slowly progressing to living in a church for the blind, yet slowly progressing into homes, businesses and various structures, all accessed with the use of his father’s and mother’s contacts. Two to three years after the outbreak of war they realized that they were safer alone as opposed to sticking together. His father then left to the UK in an attempt to aid the Polish underground government from there; unfortunately he could not take the rest of his family with him. Their mother didn’t have a significant problem due to her graying hair that threw off her Jewish appearance, yet appearance remained an obstacle for Tomasz and his sister. His mother and sister became a nanny for a Polish house, leaving Prot to be sent to various boarding schools around the country.

    During Tomasz’s encounters at his boarding schools he was betrayed by multiple parties because of his Jewish appearance (black curly hair, “crooked” enose, brown eyes) alongside Jewish mannerisms (loud speaking, hand gestures). Tomasz had one particular friend that introduced him to the true cruelty of war. That experienced involved him and his friend on a tram in Warsaw. Tomasz was attending a boarding school, and was out in the city with a different friend of his, travelling in a tram. All of a sudden, Tomasz spots his “particular” friend who looks at Tomasz, grabs him, and yells out, “I know this Jew!” Tomasz panicked, abandoned the tram, and was gratefully not pursued. Reflecting on this experience in present day angered Tomasz, and taught him how cruel life was turning; specifically, that no one could be trusted.

    Prior to that encounter with his childhood friend, he was given up by a random pedestrian. Tomasz was walking with his mother to a store when after a while his mother noticed they were being followed. First, they took measures to ensure that this Pole was actually following them. After it seemed obvious they were, they started walking faster, eventually running, until they made it into a nearby hospital. His mother told the hospital staff that her son was deathly ill and demanded treatment. In the meantime, the Pole couldn’t enter the hospital room that Tomasz and his mother were in. He waited for a short while before eventually scurrying off, bored and convinced he lost them. Polish “offenders” of Nazi law (such as Polish officers, or Jews) had special, unflattering, terms for these Poles that aided the Germans against “fugitives”, and this one Pole was certainly sided with the Nazi cause. Some might ask “why” someone would do such a thing. Betray their citizens. The answer is simple; personal gain. Tomasz told us of how these people would give up their friends or others for bribes, or reputation among the occupying Nazis.

    Tomasz during the course of the interview enunciated with a demand for comprehension, that it wasn’t just Jews that were endangered, everyone around them was. This was war, after all. None of his immediate family and few to none of his distant family was killed for their Jewish heritage (to Prot’s knowledge) though, when hiding with his uncle, a bomb barrage broke down half his house and unfortunately killed his uncle’s daughter. Shortly after that loss, his family abandoned the house’s remnants. Actions such as these devoted Tomasz to have a yearning for service in the Warsaw Uprising. When Tomasz was 14, he was devoted to aiding the Uprising in any way possible, yet due to a lack of arms and his youth, he was confined to volunteering in a kitchen. Much to his dismay, the kitchen itself provided minimal aid to the Uprising’s men. He found the work rather unsatisfying but did all that he could to aid the Polish cause.

    Prot eventually was reunited with his family after the war, and was relieved to know that none of his immediate family members had died. Tomasz and his family finally managed to survive through their constant hiding and varying of locations.  His family believed that even though his family endured pain and loss, as did other Jews in camps such as Auschwitz, and to higher limits. These are his original words;

“Something that I have to turn my attention to is that the people who lived in the ghetto or in concentration camps had it a lot worse, yet they had a sense of security as a group... We didn’t have that.”

Tomasz’s desire to aid the Uprising whilst still being in hiding showed true bravery and honor. He was fortunate because of his parent’s conversion to Catholicism, increasing his family’s chance of survival. I think in the end, Prot said it best; “They threatened us with death as Jews, yet besides [all] that, this was war!”