European Resistance Archive/European Resistance Archive (ERA)

Finally she was taken to the train.

And in the last moment she tore out the wooden board from the floor

and lowered herself onto the railway track, she did it, she was lucky they did not shoot her

as at the end of the train always a German was who was supposed to shoot if somebody left the train.

Helena did it, she rolled onto the railway embankment,

went through some fields and reached Vilnius, where the priest Kretowicz gave her papers.

Well, everybody knew that she worked as a maid with the Kretowicz family in upper Orwidów,

and then the Konarzewski family came, they moved there, and she moved to my place.

Lithuanian officials help Stefania to hide people

There were people who helped during those German-Lithuanian times.

If I am saying bad things about Lithuanians, because they were very cruel to the Poles,

but there were two very good people in Niemenczyn.

It was the village leader Mr. Baučius who was sent from Lithuania,

I guess he could speak Polish, even though it was not good.

The second one was Mr. Žemaitis

who had nothing to do with the next minister in here, who was by the way a person of Jewish descent, not a Jew or a Lithuanian.

Žemaitis had a big farm house

and he was the vice-village leader.

Mr. Jankowski, Henryk as I well remember – the district secretary, was also helping.

But there were some people who were against Jankowski in spite of the fact he had never done any dirty things.