European Resistance Archive/European Resistance Archive (ERA)

and then command assigned him to administer this Polish land estate so that he could rest peacefully away from the front and the hardships of war.

Ertbruger at first behaved decently.

He played with us kids.

And it seemed that he was quite a nice man.

Well, unfortunately, the Germans found out that I, my sister and mother were registered for residency in Warsaw

and in December 1939 or in January 1940 they resettled us to Warsaw.

My grandma, aunt and cousin, Hanka, were allowed to live there till about 1941,

when they were relocated to a neighbouring estate of Orszymowo.

This was also a small manor house.

Unfortunately, the barn got burnt and the Germans suspected my aunt that she had told her niece Hanka to set this fire.

They simply made up this version to lock her up.

Maybe it was a revenge of Mr Ertbruger, because my aunt was a very beautiful woman

and he must have had some hopes that this acquaintance would develop into something serious.

Well, unfortunately, my aunt was a great patriot. She detested the Germans.

She was little diplomatic and her feelings showed.

She paid with her life for that. Because they sent her to Fordon [near Bydgoszcz/Bromberg],

first they sentenced her to death for inciting a kid to burn a barn.

We wrote to Hitler pleading for pardon and Hitler gave her a commuted life sentence,

but she was immediately deported from Fordon to Oświęcim [Auschwitz], where she stayed for three days at most.

Introduction, family, Germans begin the war