Narrative

The Journey of Courage

Stark sunrays glistened down through the cloudless sky down to the people below. It was September 1st, 1939. Alicja, a typical Polish girl who just celebrated her, was excited and enthusiastic about the first day of school. But a monster already stirred, and it was on the path of destroying her innocent reality. World War II(WWII) started; Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Shrouded by the upcoming war, the schools were closed, and consequently Alicja did not attend school. She remained at her home in Praga, on the eastern bank of Warsaw.

The Nazis attacked Warsaw on September 9th. A subsequent bombardment of Warsaw was initiated which damaged large portions of the city. Warsaw was put under siege, which commenced the systematic terrorization of occupied territory by the Nazis, and would later continue throughout the whole of the war. Alicja’s father participated in the defense of Warsaw, being part of a voluntary battalion, even though he was short-sighted. On September 26th, an unfortunate event occurred that turned Alicja’s world upside down; her dad was killed in a bombardment in front of the St. Anna church in the Old Town. A terrible sorrow overwhelmed Alicja’s face when she mentioned her loss, clearly showing how terrible of a tragedy it was for her and her mother. Only a day later, on September 27th, Poland officially capitulated. The days of war were over, but the horrors of occupation were looming in sight.

        During the occupation, it was very difficult to live in Warsaw. Her father, recently deceased, was the one who had previously supported the family. He was no longer there, both financially and emotionally. Alicja remembers,“Mamusia wyprzedawała cenne żeczy.”[“My mommy sold out all our valuables.”] Many shortages began to affect Alicja’s life. Ration cards were put in place for all types of food. Essentials for a child’s growth, such as milk, were often impossible to obtain. Many, including Alicja, were malnourished. To obtain extra money, Natalia Sczepaniak, her mother, was forced to go to work in a kitchen. It wasn’t a pleasant job, nor did it pay well. Shortages didn’t come only in the form of lack of food. Electricity also became a rarity. Often the light came in the form of kerosene or oil lamps, and candles. A permanent atmosphere of darkness prevailed, promoting perpetual uncertainty and fear. On top of that, a mandatory curfew was put in place. The only vaguely reliable information about the war and ongoing events came from occasional brochures distributed by the Polish underground, the Armia Krajowa (AK). Alicja was also forced to live in a tiny apartment, in a minute brick house that held 2 people on the ground floor, her family and two others on the first floor, and three more in the attic. There was no comfort for Alicja in the cramped corridors filled with misery and worry. There was also no way for the young girl to escape from the confinement of their apartment; all schools and universities were closed when the Nazis commenced their demoralizing campaign to control the Polish population. Only some vocational schools were permitted to exist. All members of the intelligence, professors, army and government officials were sent to concentration and death camps where they faced imminent death. Alicja referred to them as “factories of death” which brought death at a terrifying, industrial scale. Poland was to be converted into a disposable workforce.

        While the Nazis regarded the Poles as a cheap workforce, the Jews were treated with deadly repression fuelled by prejudice. During the occupation, life for the Jewish population was unbearable, and then impossible. Right away, new laws and repressions were put into place. On top of that, the law did not way in any way protect the Jewish people. They could be assaulted, mugged, and even killed; no one would be held accountable, neither the Nazis nor the Polish. Alicja admits that not many people would help the Jews, yet explains, “Każdy był dotknięty wojną, I chronił włąsnąl rodzine.” [“Everybody was affected by the war, and protected his own family.”] Many considered the fact that they had it difficult a justification to be only concerned about themselves. The Nazis conducted a campaign of systematic terror which was at the center of Nazi propaganda. The terror broke down the population, and turned people against themselves when they most needed each other. People would be shot and hanged at random; arbitrary massacres on innocent people would serve as fear-inducing examples. The fear of punishment and/or death for aiding others was enough to keep people from doing so.

However, about this unthinkable darkness, in the most unusual yet crucial circumstances, there would always be people who would risk their own lives to do the good, the charitable, and the admirable. Alicja, together with her mother, would become exactly that. One day, Anna Albert (secretly a Jewish woman who was hiding several other Jews) came to Alicja’s house. She was a friend of the family, and Alicja knew about her ethnicity and live-saving deeds. The woman was from Lwów, and an elderly 50 years of age at the time. Together with her, Anna brought her 5-year-old Jewish niece. Her name was Nina. Alicja, 12 years old, was alone at the house at the time. Anna told Alicja how she needed her to take care of the young girl for several days. “Miała być rewizja jej częsci miasta,” [“There was supposed to be a search in her sector of town,”] Alicja remembers. She accepted the poor child and through that move of courage and benevolence saved the innocent girl’s life. Both Alicja and her mother agreed it was the right thing to do. As was Anna’s true intention, it soon turned out that the vulnerable girl was meant to live with them, permanently. Anna Albert was simply unable to take care of Nina. From that point on, the Szczepaniak family began welcoming more and more people into their protective arms. Anna Albert’s two daughters, Krysia (19) and Marysia (23), commenced living at the house during the weekends. Luckily, the Jewish girls had typical Caucasian features, and when they colored their hair blonde, they could easily blend into the crowd. They also spoke German fluently and had false identity cards, called Aus Weiss, which allowed them to move about freely and even work. Following the girls came a Jewish couple (Mr. Wacław and his wife), another Jewish woman, and a Polish officer (Mr. Feliks) from Krakow. They were all cramped into one minuscule apartment. Conditions already were tough for Alicja prior to taking the people, but they became even more dire with the new locators. Before, their house would always open and they could enter and exit freely. When they started hiding the Jewish people, they were forced to turn their apartment into a tightly shut safe which closed the walls around Alicja.

        Foremost, the Jewish people were, understandably, a security risk, which forced the family to change its way of life. However, they were also an unfortunate burden in terms of basic needs. The people weren’t registered, so lacked their own ration cards. This meant that Alicja and her mother had to share what little food they already had. With a broad smile of love and gratitude, Alicja remembered her mother’s courage, resourcefulness and kind-heartedness. Working at a kitchen allowed Mrs. Sczepaniak to steal vital food. She managed to find a 5-liter, metal can with a handle. She would pour soup, raw potatoes, and fat into the can. Seemingly a repulsive mix, at home she would separate all the ingredients; the fat would be scooped up from the top of the can and placed into jars for later use, raw potatoes to be mashed, etc. and soup to be eaten right away. Thanks to this illegal, yet life-saving food transport, Alicja’s mother was able to feed the group of Jewish people. Of course, it wasn’t without a risk. Stealing was obviously illegal, and carrying a huge can for several kilometers every day wasn’t exactly inconspicuous, nor was it easy. Food acquisition wasn’t the only difficulty the family experienced. There was always the question, in case of an emergency, where would the Jewish people hide? The family lacked a basement, so Alicja’s mom invented several ingenious ways of hiding the people. For example, Mr. Feliks would hide inside a bed. It was a large king-size bed, with springs inside. Half of the springs were removed, and the man would crawl inside and sleep inside it during the day. It’s unimaginable how someone could virtually live inside a bed for several years, in a tiny, sultry space. While all this was happening at home, Alicja was finally able to succeed in finding a place to spend time outside of her home. A secret high school was opened, disguised a crafts school, on ul. Miodowa 14 which she would attend. Alicja was able to restore some of the vitalities of a teenager’s life.

        Despite the fact that Alicja managed to sometimes escape the confinement of her home, when 1944 came, many shocking experiences happened to Alicja that truly show what substantial courage it took to protect the Jewish people and survive during the occupation- the traits of a true hero. Occasionally, Alicja’s neighbors on the floor below would tell her that they heard sounds above, in Alicja’s apartment, even though nobody was supposed to be home. Most clearly, Alicja knew they must have heard the Jewish people. And so, effectively maneuvering out of the sticky situations was necessary, blaming it on their imaginations. These were minor incidents, but one day, all was about to change. Alicja was sick so she remained at home while her mother went to work. Suddenly, she heard engines revving outside: the fear-inducing sound of military trucks. She peered out and caught sight of groups of heavily armed Nazi soldiers exit their trucks and march into her building. Below her, she heard screams of panic and terror, the stomping of military boots, and incomprehensible orders orated in harsh German. In an act of terminal defiance, Alicja bolted the doors, ordered the Jewish people to remain hidden, and stood, insubordinately, in the apartment’s hallway. With still perceivable fear, Alicja told us, “Myslałam, ‘Jeżeli melismy zginąć, niech ja będe pierwsza.’” [“I thought, ‘If we were to die, let me be first.’”] In a matter of seconds, the Germans were banging on the latched door with their rifles, demanding her to open. Alicja remained stationary, petrified by fear. She accepted her wretched fate. “We would be discovered, it was all over…” Alicja thought to herself. At the last moment, when the doors to Alicja’s apartment were about to be kicked down, the building’s housekeeper rushed out of her own apartment. She squealed that there was simply nobody home. The lady was unaware that Alicja was in the apartment at the moment. After persuading the soldiers intently, in German, they left the door and continued on their search. Alicja and the Jewish people were saved from the search patrol. A simple decision, a fraction of a second saved them from imminent death. Unable to keep in her emotions, Alicja went to the housekeeper and told her that she was at home at the time of the search. To calm the woman’s justified fury, she made up the story that she lately received an AK brochure but didn’t know where she left it. “If the German’s would have seen it, they would have killed us all!”, she told the woman, who ,thankfully, believed the story. Later that day, when Alicja was confessing the whole story, her mother promptly fainted in shock.

        1944 brought many more incidents that would have surely brought Alicja’s mom nearly unconscious. Not long before the Warsaw Uprising, all men from Praga were rallied to dig trenches in preparation for the incoming Russian army. Unaware of their purpose, the Officer together with Mr. Wacław went to the gathering at a certain street. After some time in captivity in German barracks, the Jewish man was able to escape by bribing a German guard. The officer stayed behind, explaining that it was too dangerous to escape. When Mr. Wacław returned to Alicja’s home, he was welcomed with enthusiasm; however his return meant that they were not only hiding a Jew, but also a fugitive. When the Uprising began, times got even harder for everybody. Alicja’s family was lucky enough because their home was located on the side of the Vistula river which was largely unaffected by the fighting. Having some ties to the Girl Scouts who participated in the war effort, Alicja also served as help. In a terrifying accident that Alicja still refrains from mentioning today, Alicja was shot in the chest when attempting to cross to the other side of Warsaw. With immense luck, the bullet slid on her clavicle and didn’t damage any vital organs. She was centimeters away from her death; a twitch of the hand of the shooter could have been lethal. Mercifully, Alicja was capable of recovering from the terrifying incident, and hence able to tell her story today.

        On January 12th, 1945 the Soviet army finally arrived at the Eastern bank of Vistula River. It was 4AM when Mr. Wacław, awake during the night as usual, awoke the whole family to announce that the Russians had finally arrived. Even though they bluntly refused to aid Polish insurgents during the Uprising, the Soviets were still considered to be liberators and saviors at the time. The crowds received them with open arms. At least for the Jewish people, their terrors were finally over. Being one of the few who survived the massive, hateful racism that brought the Holocaust onto this planet. Together with the oncoming forces returned Mr. Feliks, the Polish officer. Everybody who was taken in by the Szczepaniak family survived the war. Mr. Wacław was a film producer, so after the war officially ended, the Jewish couple left for Germany. There he continued his film career. He recorded a few movies, including one about Janusz Korczak, a famous martyr who sacrificed himself together with hundreds of children who were taken to gas chambers in Treblinka. Many years after the war, Alicja recognized the couple in a photo in magazine. He had just received the ‘Golden Duck’ award for one of his movies. Shortly after, Mr. Wacław’s wife came to Warsaw to meet with her saviors once again. At that time Alicja and her mother had already moved from their old house, and the lady couldn’t find them, so she left a note. By sheer chance, Alicja discovered the note and they were able to meet at a train station when the lady was already leaving. Fortunately, they managed to exchange contact information. The woman, inspired by their meeting, wrote and sent her testimony of her war experience to the Yad Vashem Holocaust research organization. After several years, the organization recognized Alicja and her mother  for their admirable deeds of hiding the Jewish people by the organization with the ‘Righteous Among the Nations’” medal.

In times of great fear and despair, where most would focus only on their own lives families, few people stood up risking their lives for the good of others. However, Alicja was one of them. Starting with the simple, good-willed gesture of helping a young, innocent girl; the single good deed evolved into an extensive sacrifice that not many would be capable of sustaining, which saved the precious lives of several people. In these darkest of times, the true heroes are the ones who rise to help the ones in need. Alicja and her mother risked their lives on many occasions, sometimes escaping death by mere vital seconds or centimeters. Alicja and her mother Natalia stood up, and with unfathomable courage, affection, and honor they made a difference. And as the quote on the ‘Righteous Among the Nations’ medal says, “Whosever saves a single life, saves an entire universe.”