Videotape testimony of Jadwiga G., who was born in Lublin, Poland in 1923, one of three children. Ms. G. recalls her family's affluence; attending Polish school; cordial relations with non-Jews; German invasion; ghettoization; moving to Melgiew in summer 1941; her future husband joining them; visiting friends and relatives in the Lublin ghetto; obtaining authentic documents as non-Jews; round-ups of Jews from nearby villages in October 1942; returning to Lublin; her father leaving en route when he was robbed and lost hope (she never saw him again); his non-Jewish, former employer arranging to include her mother and sister as Polish forced laborers in Germany; hiding with her husband; going out since she did not look Jewish; moving to Warsaw with funds from her husband's very wealthy family; moving often to avoid detection; assistance from many non-Jews and underground members; moving with her husband and his younger sister to a rescuer's summer home in Zielonka in November; returning to Warsaw in March 1943, fearing detection; meeting escapees from the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising; printing underground papers; visiting friends in Hotel Polski (they were killed); her husband joining partisans in the forest (he was killed); receiving funds from Żegota; a Gestapo interrogation during which a German “race expert” declared her a non-Jew; moving to Łuków with her brother; liberation by Soviet troops in July 1944; moving to Józefów; marriage to a non-Jewish Pole; and reunion with her mother and sister when they returned in 1945.

Ms. G. details many episodes during the war; the fates of relatives and many non-Jews who helped her; nightmares resulting from her experiences; continuing contacts with rescuers, friends, and relatives in Poland and abroad, including her first husband's family; antisemitism in 1968; believing her survival was due to good luck; and losing her belief in God after the Holocaust.

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) > Personal narratives.

World War, 1939-1945 > Personal narratives, Jewish.

Jews > Poland > Lublin.

World War, 1939-1945 > Underground movements > Poland.

Warsaw (Poland) > History > Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, 1943.