Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Mala Weintraub Dorfman - September 15, 2005

Tell me about your trip back to Poland.

I, I myself did not enjoy it because it bring back very bad memories. But the kids liked it because they wanted to see where we lived. They wanted to know what's, what's all about in Poland. They couldn't imagine how we lived. When I went up to our building, I didn't go into our apartment. But I was afraid that they wouldn't let us in. But I showed them this was the building where I lived. And then when I, when we went to the ghetto I showed 'em where they, where they lived in the ghetto. I didn't live there, they lived there in the ghetto. They had to get out where we were before, they had to get into the ghetto.

And you went to ??? too.

??? and to ??? we went to, to uh, Kraków. Kraków is beautiful. That's the only city that really stayed the way it was. But the rest of it... Warsaw was horrible. The ruins that we saw. This is going back... I don't know, I don't remember what year we went there. I don't remember.

So you don't think, it wasn't a restorative trip, I mean, it didn't make you feel better.

No, it didn't make me feel better, it made me worse. Because when I saw uh, when Henry was hidden and the, the parents were gone, but the daughter, Jo... uh, Henry remembered her. And he said, "Don't you remember me when we were here?" She said, "I don't remember anything." She was afraid, her par... her husband, her kids didn't know that he was hidden there, you know what I mean. She was afraid to say it. But then he went into the house and he gave his son money. And uh, but then after we sent the money, afterwards, she wrote us a letter, do not send us anything anymore because the village wants to kill us that we saved Jews. This was the end of it, I didn't send her anymore. I sent the packages and the money. Didn't want it anymore.

Do you think the Poles are worse than the Germans?

Yes, some of 'em, yes. I mean, the old people, they were wonderful to Henry. But this was the kids.

Yeah.