Narrative

Family Roots

In 1952, at 10 years old, Anna Szpanowska, a Polish girl, was living a privileged and nice life. World War II was already over, her education was good and her parents were wonderful to her, as the translation of what Ms. Szpanowska said was, “I was extremely lucky because everyone really took care of me. They really offered me a lot of love and care.” Love that must have been so affectionate and great that it could be bigger than the world or even the universe. Unfortunately, that year, her father died. She continued to live her life but six years later, her mother had soon passed away too. At her mother’s funeral, two men approached her saying that she was actually Jewish and that they would make sure that she was going to be relocated with different parents. This had taken her by surprise as her Jewish heritage was unbeknownst to this, at the moment, 16 year old girl. Though it was not complete shock because many letters from the Jewish community were sent to her family which of course raised suspicious but she never really gave it so much of a thought.

Ms. Szpanowska was gladly taken in and cared for by her new mixed Jewish and Polish family. Being 16, she didn’t want another pair of parents. A mindset of rejecting this family settled into her. Whatever they offered her, she didn’t comply or didn’t want to accept, such as the food, the customs, and even the way they were treating her. Her stubbornness was comparable to a rock’s. Often, she would go to her mother’s sister and beg her to take her in because she hated living with her new parents. Everything was just too unsettling for her, and she didn’t want to let go of her previous life. Later on, the Jewish local authority in the area Ms. Szpanowska lived in, offered her some sort of allowance. She didn’t want to accept it. Believing that if she did, she would be binded to something that she didn’t want to do. Another thing they suggested, was to fly to Israel and live there. However, she didn’t choose to do so because she felt as if Poland was her country and she didn’t want to leave. This invitation was another reason as to why she did not want to accept the allowance because they might have forced her to go.

With all these obstacles, it was challenging to live her life, but she continued her studies, succeedingly passed her exams, and went on to college, being accepted as a biologist. She needed not to pay for her education due to the fact that she had a scholarship. Also, the Polish state was compensating her. This was because her father served as a soldier in the Polish army and had obtained high ranks. Eventually, she got married and had kids, and in her 40s she finally wanted to learn about her past.

Because Mrs. Anna didn’t know her family name, finding about her past proved to be more arduous than expected. It was like trying finding a needle in a haystack. During this search, it was the anniversary of the Warsaw uprising, and Mrs. Anna requested to the Polish institution or state to be one of the people deciding who would get a medal for saving at least one Jewish life. Regarding her history, they agreed to her petition. After the meeting for this commision, some people heard about her story, and were willing to make a broadcast on television about her life and would try to help her look for her biological parents or relatives. When the awards were taking place, her adoptive parents were bestowed the award for helping a Jewish life and that was given by the Israeli council. She was granted the chance to plant a tree in their honor. Days after, the broadcast aired and there were hundreds of phone calls on a daily basis, asking if she had bodily marks like a mole or a birthmark somewhere. Although many people called in, she never managed to find her real family.

Ultimately, she found out that in October of 1942, she was born in the Warsaw ghetto, and was evidently not safe. The war was still hard-going, and had to be snuck out of the ghetto. On May 15, 1943, 8 months after her birth, a Polish security officer that worked for both sides, fled with her. Luckily, her escape was rightly-timed as the liquidation of the ghetto happened the next day. The liquidation was the consequence of the ghetto uprising on April 19, 1943. The officer brought her to a Polish couple, Mr. and Mrs. Dubniecki, who later adopted her. Her adoptive father worked in a company that produced farming equipment and was secretly in the Polish army. To keep Mrs. Anna safe, they baptised her which made her Christian and no longer a Jew. Taking extra measures, they put her in an orphanage for a short period of time. The orphanage was inhabited by Jewish and Polish children. Her parents placed their daughter there because they needed her protected while they were making sure that the paper stating that she was Polish was officialized.

Coming to the American School of Warsaw and telling her story wasn’t very hard for her. She answered each question to the best of her ability, considering the fact that she doesn’t remember the war. What she could say to the question of whether explaining her story was difficult or liberating was, “I wasn’t very aware of what was happening during the war, but during my adolescence, I got in touch with the Jewish community, and accepted my identity, and still this is one of the things that just happens in life. She feels the heaviness of this ancestry.”

Mrs. Szpanowska never fully experienced or remembered the war, but she stated in regards to the war, “First of all, any kind of war should be avoided no matter what they are called, hybrid wars, economic wars, whatever kind of wars. These kind of events, they give a lot of problems and it usually something very difficult to deal with.”

Even though she never met her biological parents, she still connects with her roots. Both her Polish and Jewish ancestry is kept at heart, and she strives to learn more about her Jewish heritage, but still keeps her Polish customs. It was very overwhelming to acquire information such as what Mrs. Anna was told but in the end, she accepted who she was and who she will be because of it.