The video was recorded by the Pilecki Institute as part of the “Witnesses to the Age” project.

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Our today’s interviewee:
Ewa Żelechowska-Stolzman (1929). Following a long journey from the Pruszków Dulag and after saying goodbye to her father, Ewa was transported to KL Ravensbrück along with her mother and sister Hania. The camp was so overcrowded, there were not enough striped uniforms for them. The women were assigned to work in the field, where they travelled everyday by tractor. After a while, German prisoners who were travelling with them refused to take the same transport, as the Polish prisoners smelled. The Polish women settled in a shack near the field and went to work on harvesting potatoes on foot. The manager of the land would beat women with a whip if they took rest even for a moment. Ewa and her mother and sister were then directed to the employment office. Hania was sent to a private farm, while Ewa and her mother were sent to a sewing workshop, where they patched up German uniforms. All of them suffered from hunger. Ewa fell ill with nutritional edema. Despite the ban on leaving the premises, her mum left the barrack at night and went to the nearby town, looking for a doctor. She found a German female doctor, who was a decent person, and who went to examine the girl at night and gave her the right medication, saving Ewa’s life.

Copyright by Instytut Solidarności i Męstwa im. Witolda Pileckiego.