Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Nancy Fordonski - July 29, 1982

We stayed there for a few weeks. It wasn't like it was before, when we came to my grandmother and two--she lived with uh, two daughters. They had a business of their own of uh, uh, leather goods and they had a home and there was a uh, son-in-law and there were four grandchildren, four of my cousins. But it was a different thing when we came in. Before the war, when we came on vacation for u...it was for us uh, the biggest thrill of our life. But here, when we came back and our house was burned down to the ground, Oh, I didn't mention anything about before. Because the first day of the war, the Germans came in, they were burning down the city and they burned down house by house they were going down they were destroying everything. So coming back to my grandmother's place, it was quite different. You know, when you came and you used to come on vacation, greeted and uh, accepted with uh, open arms. And here when we came later, when we really didn't have anymore, any place of our own, so, we were very warmly taken in. Uh, they gave us a room and we had food, we had everything. But somehow in my heart, I felt--and this is my brother, with the one what is still missing. I hope that somebody we'll hear still from him, even that it's just a dream. We felt in our heart that uh, you are not welcome all the way. It isn't anymore like it used to be. And the same thing was with uh, with Martel, with the younger, the sister what was with us. But we were trying. We were pretty good there in helping out you know, in the household and making ourself useful. After a few weeks, my parents tried and they got a place of their own in Zdunska Wola. So they called for us. They send a note for us that we should come back and we should be again together and not one here and one there. And even the times were very tough--very rough. It was unbelievable in what place we lived later. After having everything before and here we had a small room, in a small bedroom. But we gathered all together and we tried you know, not to show too much, how much we lost already with starting the war, even if the war was just going on for a few months. But we shared what everything we had, we shared together. And we were trying to be a happy family together. My brother was by that time--Jack, Srilek-- back from the Polish army. And he went to another city where he was staying there for awhile. It was, uh. [pause] And we all tried our best not to show to the parents that they shouldn't suffer more that they had to. [crying, long pause]