Chapter 5

I traveled with a fellow student Ala Poznanska from Wloclawek .Her father was a physician. Ala was a serious and talented pianist. While in Nancy, she had a rented piano and practiced in her hotel room. Ala was good company. During the trip she conversed with fellow passengers. She spoke good German, and the signs of militarism did not intimidate her. I was very frightened. I was homesick and ready to be under the protection of my parents. We arrived in Warsaw. Ala changed trains. I expected that my mother would meet me at the train station. She was not there. I hired a taxi to the hotel. She was not there either. I got the key to the room. Mother’s luggage was open. I will never forget the smell of mother’s perfume, it was Shalimar. Shortly after I arrived, mother came. We had missed each other. Mother looked at me and told me right away that I should be on a diet. I left home slim and I returned fat. This delicious pastries in France!

We left Warsaw the same evening for an overnight trip to Lida. I do not remember much about the first weeks in Lida. I remember that mother bought me a miniature bear for good luck. I had it with me during the war. I lost it while in Paris on the way to the USA. It explains why I bought a miniature bear for my daughter Mary and a Big Bear for granddaughter Sarah.

At the end of June we left for Nowojelnia for the summer. Some of our friends who went abroad to study did not return to Poland. The situation in Poland was changing. The anti-Jewish propaganda was inflammatory. Poles were ordered to boycott Jewish businesses. There were anti-Jewish demonstration even in our always peaceful town. One evening a big stone was thrown through the window. It broke the glass and it landed in our dining room. Father phoned our friend an officer in the Polish army. It was Major Wrona. He arrived shortly. So did another Polish friend Colonel Majewski. Every one was very upset. And nothing could be done to prevent the violence. It was a sporadic incident. The city was relatively peaceful. If our parents expected the political situation to become dangerous, we the children did not think about danger.

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