Renia's Diary
Page 33
As for my dad … it breaks my heart to say it, but the letter Renia mentions was the last we heard from him. The war killed most of my wonderful family. God rest your soul, Bernard Spiegel, my Ticio. You were a man of few words, who tended to your fields, your leather boots shiny and green eyes sparkly under the summer sun. I wish I had known you longer and better.
24. JUNE 7, 1942
There’s a quarter in Przemyśl called Zasanie, and before the war, it had one synagogue. During the war, the Germans turned the synagogue into a power station, and they forced the Jewish residents of the quarter to live together in one building. I’ve read there were about forty-five to sixty occupants, packed together like sardines.
On June 3, 1942, Germans murdered forty-five of these people. Just like so many others before them, they were loaded onto trucks, taken to a fort in the suburbs of Przemyśl, and shot one by one in the nape of the neck. Just before they died, many of them—just like Maciek’s mom—had been forced to strip naked and dig their own graves.
I don’t remember this, but other Jews—both in Zasanie and throughout Przemyśl—were beaten on the street for trying to steal a piece of bread. Others were chased by dogs while the guards—some of whom had their children with them—laughed. Then the Jews were hanged, a public spectacle that the children watched, too.
Writing this makes me sick. Renia had the full, open emotions to describe what she lived through, but most of the time now, I don’t. When people ask me about the war, I just don’t want to talk about it.
25. JUNE 19, 1942
In the early summer of 1942, news spread that there had been a series of anti-Jewish riots in the towns of Tarnów and Rzeszów, which lay along the road between Przemyśl and Kraków. Communication wasn’t reliable between cities during the war, so the Przemyśl Judenrat decided they needed to investigate to figure out if the rumors about the riots were true. They were.
“This can’t happen here to us,” the Judenrat told the Gestapo. “We’re going through enough without the whole community coming after us, too.”
The Judenrat and the Germans worked together in two ways. The Judenrat was administered by the Nazi government, so they performed services for them like registering Jews and reporting those numbers. They also worked to protect the Jewish community, organizing food distribution, helping the elderly, and trying to simplify life in the ghetto. It wasn’t unusual for them to come to the Gestapo with a concern; they knew the Jewish community needed protection, and they thought the Gestapo might offer it.
The Gestapo officials listened and nodded, seeming sympathetic. Then they told them they’d come up with a plan. A few days later, they announced it.
“If you behave well, we’ll protect you,” a Gestapo official said.
“But how is that?” the head of the Judenrat asked.
The Gestapo chief, whose name was Benthin, cleared his throat.
“If you provide me with one thousand young people for work at the Janowska camp in Lwów, they’ll be safe. Nothing will happen to them.”
On June 18, 1942—the horrible night Renia describes, which was also her birthday—1,260 Jews were loaded into cattle cars and transported to forced labor at Janowska. There, most of them slaved away doing carpentry or metalwork for the Nazis. To make things worse, the Gestapo shot many of their relatives right there on the tracks as they waved goodbye. The families that weren’t killed were later charged the cost of their loved ones’ transportation to the camps.
The Gestapo’s words had all been lies, and they’d betrayed the trust of the Judenrat to help them with their dirty work.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to dedicate this book to the memory of my cherished sister, Renia. She was a mother figure to me during the war. Through this book, her memory will not be lost to history.
I am grateful to the renowned Holocaust scholar Deborah Lipstadt for writing the introduction to my sister’s diary. I appreciate her insight into my sister’s poetry, love, and humanity.
To moja mamusia, Bulczyk. You were the most beautiful, well-educated, elegant, and resourceful woman I have ever met. You knew how to maneuver through life. You knew how to survive. You gave me life. You gave me courage. You gave me hope. You gave me a life in America.
There are certain people to whom I owe my very existence. Their bravery is the reason I am alive today: Ludomir Leszczyński, a righteous Pole who, under the penalty of death, saved my life and brought me from Przemyśl to my mother in Warsaw; the Bereda family, who welcomed me in Warsaw, reunited me with my mother, whom I had not seen in two long years, helped me to obtain papers, and basically saved my life—again; Zygmunt Schwarzer, who risked his life and took me out of the ghetto in Przemyśl to safety. He saved my life. Again. He brought the last remnants of my sister in the form of the diary and miraculously found my mother in the United States. I am forever indebted to them for my life.
My deepest appreciation to Tomasz Magierski. Tomasz unearthed press clippings, movie reels, photographs, and countless other documents about Renia and me. He was captivated by Renia’s story, and without his tireless efforts, her story would not have been brought to life. Dziękuję bardzo.
I would like to acknowledge with gratitude the support and love of my family: my son, Andrew Bellak, and daughter-in-law, Susan. My beautiful grandchildren, Theo, Nicholas, and Julian.
A special note of gratitude to Marta Dziurosz and Anna Blasiak, who had the painful and arduous task of translating over seven hundred written pages of my sister’s work, including sixty poems.
Thank you to Jennifer Weis of St. Martin’s Press for taking an interest in this story and believing wholeheartedly that it needed to be told!
To my recently departed husband of fifty-three years, George Bellak, I miss you dearly. You understood me implicitly. George was my Viennese-born wunderkind, who showed unwavering support and love and devotion to me and our children.
I would like to thank all those whose assistance proved to be a milestone in the accomplishment of my end goal: to tell the world what happened.
I would like to pay tribute to my extended family, who were not as lucky and perished in the Holocaust.
But there is one person more than any other whose never-failing dedication and perseverance have ensured that my sister’s words would not be lost to history.
That person is my beloved daughter, Alexandra Renata.
Renia’s spirit lives on through her and it is to her that generations of future readers will be indebted.
—Elizabeth Bellak
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
RENIA SPIEGEL was born to a Jewish family in Poland in 1924. She began her diary at the start of 1939, right before the invasion of Poland by the German and Soviet armies. In 1942 she was forced to move to a ghetto but was smuggled out by her boyfriend and went into hiding with his parents. She was discovered by the Gestapo and murdered on July 30, 1942. You can sign up for email updates here.
ELIZABETH BELLAK (née Ariana Spiegel), born in 1930, was a child actress once called “the Polish Shirley Temple.” In 1942 she and her mother fled to Warsaw and then to Austria, finally arriving in New York City, where she lives today. You can sign up for email updates here.
DEBORAH E. LIPSTADT is the Dorot Professor of Holocaust History at Emory University and the author of Antisemitism: Here and Now.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Maps
Foreword
Preface
Begin Reading
Phot
ographs
Afterword
Notes
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Copyright
RENIA’S DIARY. Copyright © 2019 by Elizabeth Bellak. English translation copyright © 2019 by Anna Blasiak and Marta Dziurosz. Foreword copyright © 2019 by Deborah E. Lipstadt. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Michael Storrings
Cover photographs courtesy of Elizabeth Bellak
Maps by Jeffrey L. Ward
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-24402-4 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-25812-0 (international, sold outside the U.S., subject to rights availability)
ISBN 978-1-250-25612-6 (ebook)
eISBN 9781250256126
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.
First Edition: September 2019
* François Mauriac, “Introduction,” La Nuit, by Elie Wiesel, as quoted in Ruth Franklin, A Thousand Darknesses (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011), p. 70.
* A town in the USSR close to the border with China, administrative center of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast created in 1934.
† A reference to one of the most important prayers in Judaism, Shema Yisrael (“Hear, O, Israel: the Lord, our God, the Lord is one”).
* The Maria Konopnicka Girls’ Middle School in Przemyśl at 4 Grodzka Street.
† Also Ariana, Jarośka, Jarka, Jara, Jarusia, Jarosia, Jakusia.
* Also Nora, Noruśka, Noreńka.
* Olga Skorska.
* These were the territories annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938 and 1939, before World War II broke out.
* Stanisław Jerschina—specialist in Polish studies, teacher, founder and director of the Teaching College in Kielce.
* The occupation of Lwów began the afternoon of September 22, 1939.
† Comrade (Russian).
*“Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła” (Poland has not yet perished)—Polish national anthem.
* Ticio, Ticiu, Tusio—Renia’s father.
† A town in Stanisławów Voivodeship, an administrative center of the Horodenka district, at the time under Soviet occupation, later under German occupation.
* The Juliusz Słowacki High School in Przemyśl.
† Title and first line of a folk song.
† Rena, Renusia, Renuśka—variations of the name Renia. Also: Aurelia.
* Julian Tuwim’s poem.
* Heinrich Heine’s poem.
* At this point, Szczepko (Kazimierz Wajda) and Tońko (Henryk Vogelfänger), actors in the popular prewar radio program Wesoła Lwowska Fala, were in fact in Bucharest and only crossed the French border on March 9, 1940.
* 1 złoty equals 100 groszy.
* The Flying Dutchman.
* Jarosław (Jaroslau)—a town near Przemyśl, at the time located in the general government.
† Reference to a sentence from Henryk Sienkiewicz’s With Fire and Sword.
* May 3–Poland’s Constitution Day. May 1–International Workers’ Day.
* Wolf in Polish. Most likely a reference to Holender.
* Most likely a reference to Julian Tuwim’s “Śmierć” (Death): “Quietly like a razor through butter / Like a stone thrown into water.”
† Dzidziu, also Dido—Renia’s grandfather.
* While the United States didn’t enter World War II until December 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt had begun mobilizing the war effort by denouncing Mussolini, increasing the U.S. production of war goods, and appointing two pro-interventionist secretaries of war.
* Sadis’, seychas sadis (садись, сейчас садись)—Sit, sit down now.
† A town in the USSR close to the border with China, administrative center of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast created in 1934.
‡ First lines of the famous Soviet patriotic “Song of the Motherland,” composed by Issac Dunaevsky and with lyrics written by Vasily Lebedev-Kumach, first featured in the 1936 film Circus.
* A town in Stanisławów Voivodeship on the Prut River; between 1939 and 1941 under the Soviet occupation, then under the German occupation until 1944, then again occupied by the Soviets and in USSR.
* Bulczyk, Buluś, Bunia—Renia’s mother.
* Most likely a reference to ZSSR, the Polish-language abbreviation for USSR, though Renia shortened it to refer to “Zygmunt Schwarzer Renia.”
* Zygu, Zygo, Zyguś, Zyguśka—variations of the name Zygmunt.
* From the beginning (Italian).
† Adam Mickiewicz (1798–1855), Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, and activist.
‡ Głos Radziecki (Soviet voice)—Polish-language Soviet newspaper published in Kiev between 1939 and 1941.
* Jan Brzoza (1900–1971)—Polish writer, publicist, radio host, communist activist, one of the founders of the proletarian literature in Poland. Children, published in 1936, describes the life of a Lwów paperboy.
† Young Pushkin (Junost’ poeta)—1936 Soviet film directed by Abram Naroditsky, with Valentin Litowsky as Pushkin.
‡ Photography was invented in 1839, two years after Pushkin’s death. The author most likely means a photograph of his painted portrait.
* Obez’yana, обезьяна—a monkey (Russian).
† Renia wrote this date for two separate entries.
* Piszemy sami (We write)—most likely a newspaper
† The author made several mistakes with dates and days of the week. December 8, 1940, was a Sunday.
* From Neue Gedichte (1844), by Heinrich Heine (1797–1856).
* December 28, 1940, was a Saturday.
* Vidminna (відміннa)—feminine form for excellent, superb (Ukrainian).
* January 17, 1941, was a Friday.
† January 21, 1941, was a Tuesday.
* Airborne and Antigas Defence League existed until 1939.
† OSOAVIAKhIM (Union of Societies of Assistance to Defence and Aviation-Chemical Construction of the USSR)was a paramilitary Soviet organization established in 1927, concerned mainly with weapons, automobiles, and aviation. In 1951, it was renamed as DOSAAF (Volunteer Society for Cooperation with the Army, Aviation, and Navy).
* Adam Mickiewicz’s ballad.
* February 10, 1941, was a Monday.
* February 11, 1941, was a Tuesday.
* February 16, 1941, was a Sunday, so it’s not clear if Renia wrote this on Saturday, February 15, or on Sunday, February 16.
* This entry is in fact from February 17.
* Juliusz Słowacki’s drama.
* Juliusz Słowacki’s drama.
* Kulparków is a district of Lwów, famous for a psychiatric facility.
* This is in fact the March 5 entry.
* This is in fact the March 6 entry.
† This is in fact the March 7 entry.
* Taras Shevchenko (1814–1862), Ukrainian national poet.
† Should be: “Du hast [Diamanten und Perlen] […] die schönsten Augen— / Mein Liebchen, was willst du mehr?” From Die Heimkehr, LXII by Heinrich Heine (1827).
* I am yours / You are mine (German).
* Words written backward.
* Renia and Ariana’s mother was baptized on January 20, 1940, later changing her name to Mariana Leszczyńska after she secured false papers in Warsaw.
* Mirosław Mochnacki (1904–1970)—expert in mathematical analysis, algebra, and calculus of variations. He taught mathematics at the Juliusz Słowacki Polish High School in Przemyśl starting in 1934.
* Reference to a line from Adam Mickiewicz’s Great Improvisation from Forefathers’ Eve, part 3: “This song is force and power / This song is immortality!” (translated by Louise Var
ese, published by Voyages, 1956).
† April 4, 1941, was a Friday.
* April 5, 1941, was a Saturday.
* Possibly a reference to the 1931 waltz entitled “Mały pokoik” (Little room), with lyrics by Tadeusz Kończyc and music by Wiktor Krupiński.
* April 18, 1941, was a Friday.
† April 19, 1941, was a Saturday.
* Song XXXIII from The Book of Songs (1827). Incipit: “Sie liebten sich beide, doch keiner.”
* The Third Reich attacked the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941.
* July 15, 1941, was a Tuesday.