One of Maria Dworzecka’s earliest and strongest memories was when she was separated from her mother at two and a half years old. “I still have shivers when I think about it,” Maria later testified.
One of Maria Dworzecka’s earliest and strongest memories was when she was separated from her mother at two and a half years old. “I still have shivers when I think about it,” Maria later testified. Born to Jewish parents in Bialystok in June 1941, Maria was only a few days old when the Germans invaded Soviet-occupied Poland. Her father was killed shortly after the invasion. While Maria and her mother, Bela, were forced into the Białystok ghetto, they later escaped and fled to a nearby town where they lived under false Christian identities. In spring 1944, the German occupiers rounded up and deported non-Jewish Polish civilians at random as a reprisal for anti-German activity in the area. Maria and Bela were walking down the street when her mother was suddenly grabbed by German authorities, as they believed she was a non-Jewish Polish woman. Maria cried out for her mother, but Bela pushed her away, hoping to protect her. All alone, Maria was left to wander the streets. She eventually sa...
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