Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Natalie Zamczyk - January 30, 1984

Church

And uh, we had a maid at home, she was with us, I don't know, thirteen years. She prepared me also on--she didn't think about it--but she prepared me for the hard time during the war. She was very religious. She was old maid and she, I think this wasn't normal the, the, how she was religious, that she was going to church mostly every second day. My mother allowed her, she was doing her work. And I was a young girl, I was maybe seven maybe or so. And she dressed me up and she said, "you want to go to church?" I said, " yes, why not?" And my mother didn't know she was taking me to church. Every third day she always dressed me up. I was even bigger then, maybe ten, eleven years old, and she was taking me to church. And at first the priest didn't know that I am uh, Jewish, you know?

Yeah.

Well, there was procession in that church, so she saw the priest and gave me a, a pillow, what you walk in the procession and you have the pillow, and I was carrying the pillow to put this. And so I was going with her maybe two years to that church, and I felt so wonderful, my God, and I know how to pray and everything. And my best friend, my girl friend, she had dark hair, she looked more Jewish. So she said to her, my maid says to her, "you can't go. You can go to church with me, but you can't be in the procession because I don't want to get in trouble." And she told me, "you, you never told your parents about it." But happened that my mother found out. She wondered once, what is it she's dressing her in the white dress, white dress and white socks, you know, and bow in my...

Yeah.

...and my mother spy on us, you know. And she found it, and she said, nevermore. She is Jewish and I don't, and that was the end. But she prepared me. And, you know, I didn't think about it, but this was good for me because when I needed, I knew what to do. So what else would you like to know, honey? I talk too much, you have trouble.


© Board of Regents University of Michigan-Dearborn