Halina Leszczynska with her son, Wlodzimierz

Halina Leszczynska with her son, Wlodzimierz

This picture was taken in Warsaw, in 2003. It's me and my son, Wlodzimierz Leszczynski. In the background you can see the Heroes of the Ghetto Monument. My son and I go to the anniversary celebrations each year, on 19th April.

My son Wlodzimierz was a very good student, he didn't have any problems getting into the faculty of law at university and he graduated on time. He went to work at Bank Handlowy. He worked there for quite a long time. Later he got kicked up. At first they sent him to Berlin - it was still West Berlin then.

He managed to marry in the meantime. My daughter-in-law, Marysia, is also Polish. So there's no prejudice among us. My son didn't have a church wedding. His father-in-law used to be a prisoner of Auschwitz, he had a very low number, one of the first prisoners. My son's in-laws are not alive now. When my son got married he also lived with his in-laws, like I lived with my parents, because he didn't have an apartment. He later got an apartment in Ursynow district.

Later my son was sent to Luxembourg, where he was the director of Bank Handlowy. He is still in Luxembourg, but he is not the director of Bank Handlowy any longer, he now has his own consulting company, I can never remember the full name. [Wlodzimierz Leszczynski is the director of the EuroAccess SA company in Luxembourg, which deals with the financing of investments.] He sometimes writes pieces for 'Gazeta Bankowa' ?

Well, I have one grandson. His name is Janusz. He is 27 years old, he lives in Warsaw, he went to university in London, because when they were living in Luxembourg and Wlodek was the director of a bank, he could afford to educate his son in London. Janusz is now working in Warsaw, I can't remember where. Why is his name Janusz? Well, mostly in honor of Janusz Korczak, that's why we decided to name him that. My granddaughter Zosia is in Luxembourg, she'll be graduating from high school next year. Zosia - just because it's such a pretty name. Zofia Maria Leszczynska, we decided it sounds nice. Both of my grandchildren have not been baptized.

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