Maria Feldhorn, born in 1934

I couldn’t find their grave

I was born in Kraków where I lived before the war. My father, Juliusz Feldhorn, Doctor of Philosophy, poet, writer (pseudonym Jan Las), was a teacher of Polish language and literature in the Chaim Hilfstein Hebrew High School, located on Brzozowa Street. The maiden name of my mother, Stella, was Landy, but after her first marriage, became Landau. She was a Doctor of Philosophy, a specialist in English, and worked on translations of literary works from English.

In 1939, Father was mobilized. Mama decided to leave Kraków and traveled with me to Lwów where we arrived on September 6, 1939. Soon, Father joined us. Both of my parents gave various lessons, going to the homes of their pupils, and I accompanied them. Father also devoted a lot of time to me, teaching me to read, write, and calculate. He also read to me a lot and told me stories.

“traveled with me to Lwów” – Lwów was farther east and thus considered safer.

After the Russians entered Lwów (in mid-September 1939) roundups intensified  on the streets, and people were taken for various work. Father was taken several times to dig trenches. Often, there were also shootings in the street at random passers-by. Blackouts were introduced, and air raids and bombardments began.

At the beginning of June 1941, we escaped from Lwów to Wiśnicz Nowy near Bochnia. We lived there for  approximately  one year, and then, we had to flee again, this time to Swoszowice, a resort community near Kraków We were hiding out on so-called Aryan papers. Father worked as an office worker in Borek Falęcki. In the evenings, he translated, from Russian, Ruslan and Liudmila by Aleksandr Pushkin. He never managed to complete this translation. The manuscript has been preserved and can be found, with other surviving documents of my family, at the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw.

“we escaped from Lwów” – because the Germans entered Lwów on June 30, 1941.

On August 11, 1943, three blue-uniformed policemen entered our apartment along with our terrified landlord. A quick exchange of sentences in the German language followed. My parents were standing against the wall, and I, next to Mama. At Mama’s whispered instruction I rushed to the door and underneath the arm of a policeman, ran out into the hallway, then to the little garden, the road, and further, constantly running. I escaped to the town of Łagiewniki to dear friends of my parents, Miss Augusta Trammer and her mother.

Blue-uniformed policemen – they were Polish policemen, in contrast to German police.

My parents, along with a group of about sixty people, were transported in the direction of Wieliczka and shot to death some place. I have never succeeded in finding their place of death nor their graves. The Polish Commission to Investigate Nazi Crimes has no data whatever relating to this event.

The house in Łagiewniki where I found shelter was a meeting place of the partisans of the Home Army. My “bad looks” attracted the attention of our neighbors, and they began to blackmail the women sheltering me. It became very dangerous; many people were at risk. In March 1944, equipped with a small bag of sugar and a figurine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, I was transported by some strangers to Czersk, near Góra Kalwaria, to an orphanage managed by the Sister Servants of the Most Holy Virgin Mary.

“bad looks” – Jewish appearance.

I was then nine years old, and I was one of the oldest children in the orphanage where the majority were little ones. The nuns, forced to leave their place because of the approaching front line, in a heroic manner and at great personal sacrifice, tried to provide the assembled group of children with a roof over their heads and something to eat. There were bombardments and continuous flight, fear, hunger, lice, shortages of clothing and shoes. We lasted like this until the end of the war. At the beginning of 1945, the nuns, together with the children, returned to their ruined quarters in Czersk.

When after wartime wanderings, people started returning to their homes, Cracovian friends of my parents found out about their tragic death and the fact that I survived and was entrusted to the care of the nuns in Czersk. On May 8, 1945, a woman arrived for me from Kraków whom I did not know. She had with her, however, a picture of my father. The woman was Irena Trammer, wife of Henryk, who was a cousin of the lady who had looked after me in Łagiewniki. She found me, and, overcoming many difficulties, came from Kraków in order to take me home with her. With Irena and Henryk Trammer, I found a real family home. I finished elementary school and two vocational schools, and I began to work.

May 8, 1945 – the day the war in Europe ended.

Years passed, happy events were intertwined with worries and illnesses. The sons of my hosts grew up side by side with me, and I regard them as my brothers. Henryk Trammer, a professor of law at Warsaw University, passed away suddenly in March 1973. Irena finds pleasure in her sons and her grandchildren. I, after thirty-three years of work, am on pension. Mrs. Augusta Trammer Szemelowska lives in Kraków. She saved from death not only me but also others, and for that, she was honored with the medal, “Just Among the Nations of the World.”

During the occupation, the following members of my family perished at the hands of the Nazis: my parents, Juliusz and Stella Feldhorn my grandparents, Ludwik Landy Doctor of Law, along with his wife, Tola my grandparents, Michał Feldhorn teacher, with his wife, Leya, and my uncle, Rudolf Feldhorn, mathematician, with his wife, Maryla, a violinist. Other than myself, a sister of my father survived who was hiding in Lwów on Aryan papers through the entire war period. After the war, she worked as a teacher of Polish language, history, and foreign languages in Kraków. She was a highly regarded and dedicated educator. She passed away in 1975. I decided to make my life story available because I consider this an opportunity to express my recognition and appreciation to the people who, because of their courage and generosity, managed to save me as well as others from death, and to thank those others, who, after the war, in spite of very difficult conditions, managed to share with me their small piece of bread.

Warsaw, November 25, 1992

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RELATED PROJECTS

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„Moi żydowscy rodzice,
moi polscy rodzice” moirodzice.org.pl

Permanent exhibition
„Moi żydowscy rodzice,
moi polscy rodzice”
in The Museum of Armed Struggle
and Martyrology in Treblinka
muzeumtreblinka.eu
Website „Zapis pamięci”
Associations
„Dzieci Holocaustu”
in Poland.

Was carried out
thanks to the support of the Foundation
im. Róży Luksemburg
Representation
in Poland
Concept and graphic
solutions – Jacek Gałązka ©
ex-press.com.pl

Implementation
Joanna Sobolewska-Pyz,
Anna Kołacińska-Gałązka,
Jacek Gałązka

Web developer
Marcin Bober
RELATED PROJECTS

The exhibition is on its way
„Moi żydowscy rodzice,
moi polscy rodzice” moirodzice.org.pl

Permanent exhibition
„Moi żydowscy rodzice,
moi polscy rodzice”
in The Museum of Armed Struggle
and Martyrology in Treblinka
treblinka-muzeum.eu