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I wanted to get over to the other side of the Vistula, because I knew that if I got to a German camp, I wouldn’t survive for certain.
I ran towards the Vistula. On the way there, in some ruined house, I met a member of the AK, who had a bullet in his head. There was no blood, the bullet was stuck in the head, he said he couldn’t see anything, he had gone blind from it. I had a first-aid kit, but I was afraid to take out that bullet, I only dressed the wound. I had to leave him, and kept on going, to the Vistula.
I was waiting near the Vistula for about two days; it was the end of September. I knew I wouldn’t get on any boat, because I didn’t have money. I decided to swim across. It was the 20th or 21st of September, low level of water, 52 cm – I checked it in a calendar of the Warsaw Uprising, in 2005 – in the middle of the river there was a ford, so that you could walk a little. But that wouldn’t help the situation, because the river was lit with flares and shot at with machine guns, so you had to hide your head under the water.
I undressed down to my underwear, beside me there was a member of the AK who was also undressing; we were to swim together. I had some oil with me then, we put it on, because the water was cold. We started swimming in the evening. I tied a scarf on my head with pictures and the Kennkarte. I didn’t even take the money I had in my purse, because I thought it wouldn’t be valid over there. I had a really beautiful necklace that I could have put on my neck, but I also didn’t take it. That man swam poorly, I helped him a little, pushed him there, and somehow he swam. When we got to the other side, we ran across a patrol boat and they told us, ‘Get on, get on’. It was dark already [38].
The led us to a villa in Saska Kepa [district of Warsaw on the eastern side of the Vistula River], where the command was. The commander was a Russian, he had a Polish last name and that’s why he was placed in the Polish army, the way it was then. Two more men from the AK swam over and they were naïve enough to admit they were from the AK. They immediately took them to a different unit, I don’t know if they deported them or not.
I was aware of the situation and told them I was a private person, a Jew who wanted to save herself. They left me, put me in a basement, and tried to make a pass at me there, but fortunately not aggressively. They gave me vodka to drink. I was wearing only a bra, a shirt, underwear, and a scarf on my head. On the next day they brought me a suitcase with things, so that I could pick something. I got dressed in some smart suit, and I also found some shoes. They also gave me some useless stuff, a pillowcase or something, and they let me go free.
So, off I went. I found an army hospital. I had my false Kennkarte on me. A doctor came, I asked if he could hire me as a nurse. ‘What’s your name?’ I said, ‘I can show you my Kennkarte, my name is such and such, but it’s a false Kennkarte, because I’m a Jew.’ ‘Oh, we don’t need Jews here.’ And from then on I knew I couldn’t confess my origin. That’s why I was hiding for many years, only recently I opened up.
Then I got on some truck and they took me to Anin [during the war a town near Warsaw on the east bank of the Vistula, today within the city limits].
I ran towards the Vistula. On the way there, in some ruined house, I met a member of the AK, who had a bullet in his head. There was no blood, the bullet was stuck in the head, he said he couldn’t see anything, he had gone blind from it. I had a first-aid kit, but I was afraid to take out that bullet, I only dressed the wound. I had to leave him, and kept on going, to the Vistula.
I was waiting near the Vistula for about two days; it was the end of September. I knew I wouldn’t get on any boat, because I didn’t have money. I decided to swim across. It was the 20th or 21st of September, low level of water, 52 cm – I checked it in a calendar of the Warsaw Uprising, in 2005 – in the middle of the river there was a ford, so that you could walk a little. But that wouldn’t help the situation, because the river was lit with flares and shot at with machine guns, so you had to hide your head under the water.
I undressed down to my underwear, beside me there was a member of the AK who was also undressing; we were to swim together. I had some oil with me then, we put it on, because the water was cold. We started swimming in the evening. I tied a scarf on my head with pictures and the Kennkarte. I didn’t even take the money I had in my purse, because I thought it wouldn’t be valid over there. I had a really beautiful necklace that I could have put on my neck, but I also didn’t take it. That man swam poorly, I helped him a little, pushed him there, and somehow he swam. When we got to the other side, we ran across a patrol boat and they told us, ‘Get on, get on’. It was dark already [38].
The led us to a villa in Saska Kepa [district of Warsaw on the eastern side of the Vistula River], where the command was. The commander was a Russian, he had a Polish last name and that’s why he was placed in the Polish army, the way it was then. Two more men from the AK swam over and they were naïve enough to admit they were from the AK. They immediately took them to a different unit, I don’t know if they deported them or not.
I was aware of the situation and told them I was a private person, a Jew who wanted to save herself. They left me, put me in a basement, and tried to make a pass at me there, but fortunately not aggressively. They gave me vodka to drink. I was wearing only a bra, a shirt, underwear, and a scarf on my head. On the next day they brought me a suitcase with things, so that I could pick something. I got dressed in some smart suit, and I also found some shoes. They also gave me some useless stuff, a pillowcase or something, and they let me go free.
So, off I went. I found an army hospital. I had my false Kennkarte on me. A doctor came, I asked if he could hire me as a nurse. ‘What’s your name?’ I said, ‘I can show you my Kennkarte, my name is such and such, but it’s a false Kennkarte, because I’m a Jew.’ ‘Oh, we don’t need Jews here.’ And from then on I knew I couldn’t confess my origin. That’s why I was hiding for many years, only recently I opened up.
Then I got on some truck and they took me to Anin [during the war a town near Warsaw on the east bank of the Vistula, today within the city limits].
Period
Interview
Maria Ziemna
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