Narrative

                                             Sixteen Lost Years

            When a child is born, the parents are usually ecstatic. Eager to take their new-born home they would do anything to keep their child safe. But what happens when a baby is born into an earthly hell? What happens when a child is born into a place where murder, disease, and starvation are rampant? Jadwiga Galazka was born in the Warsaw Ghetto on September 17, 1940. Instead of celebrating the life of their newborn, her parents planned to smuggle her out of the ghetto. Seeing her for the last time, Jadwiga’s parents handed their baby to an orphanage, hoping she would survive the war, and they would reconcile in the future.

Soon after her removal from the ghetto, Jadwiga was adopted, and moved with her new family to the countryside.  Unfortunately, Jadwiga’s adoptive father had to flee to London to fight in war, leaving her with his abusive and alcoholic wife. Her father was hesitant to depart, knowing how Jadwiga might be treated. His reluctance was not unfounded for Jadwiga was emotionally abused. She would regularly receive a plethora of malicious comments including insults about her heritage, like “You’re a nasty Jew”. Every time Jadwiga asked her adoptive mother about how they found her, mixed versions were told. One time, she was told she was found in the forest.

More importantly, as a child, Jadwiga wanted to cuddle up to the only mother-figure she had. However, every time an attempt was made Jadwiga’s adoptive mother would snark, “Don’t hug me, I’m not your mother”. Looking back at her childhood, she recalled how her name was changed multiple times for her safety, and how she moved around a lot. Finally, at age 16 she escaped the grip of her evil caretaker, and ran away to Warsaw where a hard life awaited the young Jadwiga.

Eager to explore the world that awaited her, Jadwiga moved to Warsaw. On a road trip through the countryside, Jadwiga suddenly had the desire to visit her childhood home. Upon visiting, she met her adoptive father’s brother. He invited her into his house, and shared with her how much Jadwiga’s father regretted leaving her with his alcoholic wife. In fact, he even sent documents to the Red Cross, searching for her. Jadwiga discovered her real name from the documents which her father sent. She was Klara Gross, and her biological parents were Sigberd Gross and Regina Gross. Also, she learnt that during her whole childhood, both of her adoptive caretakers knew her real name, her biological parents’ names, and where she was from. She felt betrayed.

Until the age of 55, Jadwiga knew nothing of her heritage other than the fact that she was Jewish. When asked to compare her experience to other stories, she replied that it is impossible because all the survivors had different lives. Jadwiga, during the interview, also refused to call her caretaker “her mother”.

After starting her search for her biological family, Jadwiga received a letter from Israel with a return address on it. The sender was her cousin. Overjoyed, she immediately contacted her cousin, thrilled to have discovered a relative living in Israel. After a childhood of abuse and misery, Jadwiga considers herself lucky to have found what was left of her family. Just to“...be able to touch” her cousin was chilling to Jadwiga. Jadwiga’s cousin is still alive; however, her aunt passed away recently. For the first time, Jadwiga was proud of her family and proud to have someone searching for her. During Jadwiga’s visit to Israel to meet her relative, her cousin shared information with her regarding Jadwiga’s mother and father. She learnt that her father was a lawyer and her mother, a painter.

Thanks to her loving cousin, an Israeli newspaper interviewed Jadwiga. After reading the interview, someone had contacted the newspaper asking for Jadwiga’s contact information. The unknown individual met with Jadwiga and told her that he knew her mother. This person informed Jadwiga that her mother was a petite blonde, and showed Jadwiga a faded picture of her mother and uncle. Whilst recalling the phone conversation with the unfamiliar person who contacted her, Jadwiga’s smile grew larger and larger as a content sigh escaped her lips.

Afterwards, Jadwiga contacted a historian hoping to discover a photo of her father. However, no photo was found. Instead, the historian obtained several dozen documents which belonged to her father. His law cases, birth certificate, and even his school grades were all included in the documents. Still hopeful, Jadwiga contacted the Heidelberg University in Berlin which her father attended. They found his library card which was 83 years old. Jadwiga received it by mail, and noted that “…it still looked new.”

Without an identity, people cannot say that they actually exist. Without knowing their name, who they are, or where they are from, they don’t know much about themselves. Throughout her childhood, Jadwiga was not only abused, but also didn’t know anything about her heritage besides the fact that she was Jewish. However, she rose above the pain to become the magnificent woman she is now. She is filled with love towards her children and biological family. Jadwiga Galazka, born during the war and smuggled out of the ghetto, living for over a dozen years with an abusive family, left a mark on our history pages as well as in our hearts and showed us that through hardship, pain and confusion, a bit of effort can reveal who you truly are.