Chaskielewicz, Stefan; Ukrywalem sie w Warszawie. Styczen 1943 – styczen 1945 (I Was Hiding in Warsaw. January 1943 - January 1945)

  • Stefan
  • Chaskielewicz
  • Kraków
  • 1988
  • personal accounts
  • yes
  • no
  • Polish

  • High school finals in the Merchants’ Union of Warsaw Gymnasium (junior high school), tertiary education in Belgium, course of the photographic technique in Vienna; from the end of 1936, he works in an agency of Belgian photo-chemical enterprise; his father was head of this agency; he lives with his parents. On 6 September 1939, he left Warsaw for the East, after a two-week journey, he was taken captive by the Germans, stayed in several POW camps, escaped and at the end of October, he reached Warsaw. The house, in which he lived, was partially destroyed, he moved with his parents to Zielna Street No. 5, to his brother's house. For several month, he was busy with liquidating the agency, in which he worked before the war. Director Leonar, friend of Stefan's father, came to Warsaw on behalf of the Belgian enterprise. He got the certificate which stated that the flat belongs to the family, under Gestapo's care - the Department IV which took care of Jewish matters. However, after Leonar's leave, German soldiers came and tore the document. In autumn 1940, the Chaskielewicz family moved to the ghetto at Wielka Street No. 11, to the house where they lived before the war. Stefan worked in ZTOS (Jewish Social Welfare Association) for 2-3 months, later, subsequently, in the Camp Inmates Patronage, in different departments of the Supply Section, and (first and foremost) in the Bread and Flour Department as its head from 1942 to January 1943. This post helped him to save his parents. From October 1942 to the end of January 1943, he lives with his parents in Franciszkanska Street. At the end of January 1942 he crossed to the 'Aryan side'. He hides in several flats. After the capitulation of the Warsaw Uprising, he stays in Warsaw, hides in a basement under ruins with several people until the liberation on 17 January 1945.