Narrative

The Translator

“Guten Tag,” she exclaimed as she slowly passed an elderly man on the street. He looked down at her small 12 year old face with disgust, and didn’t answer. As usual the smile on her lips remained. It was 1940. The streets were quite empty, unlike the various restaurants, parks and cinemas which were brimming with people. She looked at German people with dreamy eyes, yet she knew she couldn’t enter, because she was not one of them; she was a lowly prisoner in the nearby work camp. Now and then she would overhear conversations of German citizens and listen to them with interest. Before she knew it, all those unknown sounds made sense as she became familiar with their language. Teresa Karpińska, at that time, during World War II (WWII) a vulnerable 12 year old, became the hope of the children. Several times throughout the interview Teresa said, “Moi rodzice zawsze powtarzali, że gdy jest się dobrym dla innych, zwróci się to nam, lub naszym potomkom. Słowa te dodawały mi śiły,” [“My parents always told me, that when you are good for others, it will come back, either to you or your descendants. These words gave me strength.”] Here is her remarkable story.

Teresa was born on December 22, 1929 in Kalisz, a beautiful city in central Poland. She was the third child and lived a cheerful life. Everything changed when one seemingly calm morning Teresa looked out of her window, and saw a solider on a motorcycle. He had a swastika on his arm which could only mean trouble. Soon after, World War II began when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939; Kalisz became a part of the Third Reich.  After that day,Teresa’s life changed for several years. Nazis wanted to get rid of not just every Jew, but also Poles to make space for the native citizens. Teresa’s family was split up, with her mother, who was a nurse, being the only family member who remained in Kalisz. Her father, along with both siblings, were sent to different camps across Germany. Teresa, at the age of 12, was deported to a work camp in Poznań, 126 km away from her mother. “126 kilometrów to nie dużo, jednak dla mnie był to dystans nie do pokonania, ponieważ bez pozwolenia nie można było oddalać się od miejsca zamieszkania.” [“126 km is not a lot, yet for me it was a distance I couldn't overcome, because without permission leaving the camp was impossible.”] Even though her situation seemed ghastly, Teresa was a fortunate girl, whose living conditions weren't as depraved as they could have been.

Along with the other children of the camp, Teresa lived in an abandoned school building, which had heating and wooden beds. Wake up every day was at 3 am, and then at 4 am everyone would leave for work. The walk was often long, and workers got horrible wooden shoes which would hurt them extremely, especially in the warmer seasons. In order to protect their feet, children would often use newspapers to stuff their shoes. Everyone was allowed one bath a week, yet it was not a calm procedure. “Zanim mogłaś się umyć, sprawdzali czy nie masz robaków, takich jak wszy, lub jakiś chorób,” [“Before you were allowed to take a bath, you would be checked if you don’t have any bugs, such as lice or any diseases.”] Teresa recalled. If they found anything on you, your whole body would be shaved, and you would go through a special treatment. She was lucky enough to never get infected with anything. Every day after work they would also get a bowl of warm liquid that some called soup and the other meals throughout the day Teresa had to provide for herself using special coupons, of which she never got a lot. One of her best memories are the times when solders would come, stopping on their way to take over another city. They always had a food supply cart with them, and many couldn’t resist the pleading of a young 12 year-old girl who, at that time, weighed only 45kg. Unfortunately the work was the worst.

Working several hours a day, Teresa was often exhausted. She was doing things grown men are meant to do, making pots and other house items. While talking to us, Teresa recalled with a smirk an event that happened which could have ended deadly; “Jeden z moich starszych kolegów zauważył że jestem bardzo zmęczona pracą, więc zaproponował mi abym spowodowała infekcję.” [“One of my older friends noticed that I’m exhausted with the work I’m doing, so he proposed that I should force an infection.”] If Teresa got an infection then for a few days she would be hospitalized, and not forced to work, as well as getting access to better food. In the mind of a 12 year-old girl, this idea was perfect so she took the risk, not aware of the consequences. One day after work she snuck into the production room, made a small cut on her hand and put iron shavings on it. In less than two hours an infection was ready. Looking back, Teresa can’t believe how stupid her choice was, because the infection could have spread, making both her and her hand useless. Thankfully throughout her journey, Teresa made several smart choices that helped her survive.

For Teresa the worst part about the work camp was missing home. 126 km seemed like so little, yet so much. They got a bit of free time after work, to go the city nearby, yet they were treated like dogs, not allowed in parks, cinemas, restaurants. Also they couldn't get further away than 10km from their living area. It was like a prison, yet for sure better than many other camps around Poland and Germany. Teresa was an intelligent girl and she learned to speak German by ear. Soon she became somewhat of a translator between the Germans and the Poles. Her talent gained her recognition by the Nazis, who, in return for her help, gave her passes to go home each month. It was an honour that only a few achieved with hard work. Teresa never went home using the pass. She remembered what her mother taught her about delivering goodness to others, and decided that it would be better if she gave the passes to the young, poor children, who were clueless and missed home. Thanks to her, every month a different child was able to visit his family. During the interview, Teresa tearfully described these events, yet she said that the good she did paid back both to her and her family. The fact that she knew German helped her in a few other areas too.

Teresa went home every month. Her German skills were useful when she sneaked into the train station to find a random German solider. She would ask politely if he would be kind enough to buy her a ticket for the train, and often times many did. The rest of the journey couldn’t be easier, because people hid her in their coats. If Teresa was ever found she could pretend that she lost her pass, because after all she had a ticket, which was impossible for a prisoner to get without the pass. The trains were often rushed, and crowded, so losing things was a possibility. What Teresa did was extremely dangerous, as anyone found outside of camp without permission would be right away sent to a worse camp. Where she worked no one ever died. She was lucky that the main objective of her area was work and labour. On her free time, she would walk around the city, and very quickly made friends with several little German girls her age. Before the war, Teresa was fascinated with art, and began collecting cards with paintings. Those cards saved her health while being away, as she began trading with the young German girls. They would give her clothes, toiletries, food and sometimes even medicine. This barter system lasted for 6 years.  

In 1945, when the war ended, Teresa was finally let go and she could fortunately reunite with her family. Luckily every member survived and they could once again carry on with their usual life. Of course, life was not back to how it used to be. At school they had to cover two years of material in a year, to make up for the time missed. Teresa finished school, and began working in the television industry. She lived a blissful life, got married, and has a son, two granddaughters and two great-granddaughters. At the end of our interview with Teresa Karpińska we asked if the Nazi’s apologized, would she forgive them? She looked at us smiling and said, “Tak wybaczyłabym, ponieważ w życiu powinno się pamiętać tylko pozytywne wspomnienia. Oni tylko wykonywali rozkazy. Jestem nauczona wybaczać, bo bycie dobrym, jak już mówiłam, pewnego dnia do ciebie wróci. Mam nadziejię jednak że to nigdy więcej się nie powtóźy,” [“Yes, I would forgive them, because in life you should store only the positive memories. They were only completing orders. I was taught to forgive, because being good, as I already said, will one day come back to you. I just hope this will never happen again.”] On this positive note we ended our interview, forever inspired by the generosity, and kind heart of Teresa Karpińska, a WWII survivor.