Narrative

A Miracle That Changed a Lifetime

          No matter how many obstacles one goes through during their life, they must never lose hope.  Katarzyna Andrejew is a heart-warming person whose story took our breath away.  Throughout Katarzyna’s life, she never let go of her goal - to learn about her family’s story - even though many obstacles lay in her way. She pushed through, until one day, a miracle happened.

On November 13, 1931, a stunning woman walked down the church aisle towards her future husband.  Only eight years later, war was on the horizon. Then, on September 1, 1939, war broke out with the invasion of Poland. This war stemmed from a hatred in the hearts of the Nazis. So, on November 14, 1939, the graceful bride, Natalia Gutowicz, a Jew, was baptized in the Catholic church in order to protect herself from the Nazis’ plan to eliminate all Jews.

Eleven years after the couple married, a new hope lit up their war-darkened days.  Katarzyna Andrejew was born in 1942 in the Warsaw Ghetto. Her father was Polish and her mother was Jewish, so, according to the Nazi’s, she was a Jew as well, even though her mother had converted to catholicism. Katarzyna did not know about her family’s heritage until she was fourteen. On that day she was sat on the couch and  her father told her a story that changed her outlook on life forever, and began her life-long journey to find her unknown extended family. Her father told her about World War II (WWII) and how her maternal family was killed during the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto.  Katarzyna’s father told her of her mother’s Jewish family, and how they were all killed except for her mother and herself. He told her how lucky she was.  Katarzyna reflects, “Mogę powiedzieć że byłam szczęśliwym dzieckiem.” [“I can say that I was a lucky child.”]  Later, in her adulthood, she had a dream she followed until she got what she wanted.

Katarzyna’s story begins in the Ghetto. Separated from her father by the Ghetto walls, she lived with her mother and mother’s family. When the Ghetto was to be liquidated, Katarzyna’s father made connections with a special police officer who kept the Jews in the Ghetto. The policeman helped Katarzyna and her mother escape.

          During WWII, Katarzyna moved around from family to family to stay hidden. A family Katarzyna lived with was one of her mother’s best friends who was married to Rudolf,  a Remacht officer. While Katarzyna lived with them, Rudolf and his family took care of her, treating her like their own daughter. Following that experience, Katarzyna remembers living with Babcia Adamowa, an elderly woman she thinks of as her grandmother. Katarzyna does not remember much from these early years; however, she remembers two moments very clearly. One moment was when the German officers marched into Babcia Adamowa’s cottage, ripped Katarzyna’s blanket from the bed, and kicked the young girl in the stomach multiple times. The second moment she recalls well is when Russian soldiers entered Poland, and she greeted them with roses from her grandmother’s garden.

In 1948, a new member was brought into Katarzyna’s family. Katarzyna’s baby sister was born, a beautiful girl with her father’s demeanor.  

Recalling her life after WWII, Katarzyna remembers her mother shouting a lot during Katarzyna’s teen years. The war between the countries may have been over, but Katarzyna’s mother was fighting her own war with guilt. She felt guilty for leaving her family for certain death in the Warsaw Ghetto while selfishly wanting to live. Her mother was always wary after the war. She felt it would never be safe for Jews, which led her to discourage Katarzyna’s wish to change her war records and documents of birth and identity into her original ones so she could regain her original identity. She also hoped to find documents and information about her maternal family’s death. Sorrowfully, nothing was found.

          Katarzyna’s mother could no longer live in Warsaw. It was too painful. Therefore, the family decided to move to Gdansk. However, before they left, in the train station, a friend of her father’s told them of a job opportunity in Poznan, where he would help them. So, with help from her father’s friend, Katarzyna’s family started a new life in Poznan.

Katarzyna married at 18. Though she always dreamed of having a large family, Katarzyna has only one daughter, and no grandchildren. In 1972, Katarzyna and her husband moved to Łódź with hope that their daughter would want to study there. Instead, her daughter chose to go on a trip to the United States. This trip was funded by Katarzyna’s mother who would join her daughter.

Three weeks before Katarzyna’s mother’s death, the two finally had a conversation about her mother’s family. Katarzyna wanted to continue the conversation later on. Grievously, two days after Katarzyna’s and her daughter’s departure to the United States, her mom died of a heart attack.

Not long ago, Katarzyna returned to Pruszkow, her hometown, and found her family's house.  From a book she received in Pruszkow, Katarztyna learned that her grandfather was a wealthy and successful man who ran an aristocracy of the Potulicki. In July 2012, a miracle happened. Her mother’s aunt’s sister found her. She finally had her family. They are currently in touch. Katarzyna was supposed to fly to Israel to visit them but due to the heart disease she inherited from her mother, she had to postpone. Katarzyna and her husband will be having their 54th wedding anniversary this year. She is also part of the Holocaust Children organisation and is the leader in Pruszkow. Katarzyna’s daughter has lived in the U.S. for 27 years, is married, and currently has a successful career as a lawyer.

Throughout our interview, Katarzyna expressed her love for her parents, calling them “Mamusia i Tatuś,” [“Mommy and Daddy,”] with tears in her eyes. Voice shaking with restrained emotion, Katazyna described her life during the war, telling us about her experiences. When she arrived at the part of her story where the war ended, she immediately began to radiate happiness, making us all smile. Although, as her story continued, Katarzyna’s smile faded, showing us how hopeless she felt during her search for her family. Her smile returned ten-fold when she began telling us about her daughter and the family  with whom she was finally able to reconnect. Katarzyna left us smiling because she had finally, after many years, reached her goal, because she had never stopped fighting for it.