Name at birth
Adela Lech
Date of birth
07/29/1923
Where were you born?
Name of father, occupation
Michael Lech, Farmer
Maiden name of mother, occupation
Teresa , Died when Adela was a baby
Immediate family (names, birth order)
Father, step-mother, brothers Leonard and Mihal, step-sister
Piasecki was born to a Polish-Catholic farm laborer family in 1923. Her mother died when she was an infant. At age seven her father sent her away from home to work at another farm, where she took care of the smaller children. Consequently she received very little formal education.

Following the German invasion of Poland in 1939, she was sent as a forced laborer to a series of German operated work farms in Germany. As a result of some disagreements with the farm owner and some of the other forced laborers, the police were called and Piasecki was sent to a prison in Berlin. From there, she was forced to work in a munitions factory, on road construction projects, and on other work sites. Eventually she was taken to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

She recalls horrible conditions at Bergen-Belsen. She saw a whole trainload of Jews being taken to showers where, in the absence of soap, they had to wash themselves with stones. She spoke of groups being taken to gas chambers and crematoria. Food consisted of only thin soup and bread. She relates that she saw masses of people, many not yet dead, buried in large holes in the camp and others burned in large piles.

She also describes the events prior to and during the liberation of Bergen-Belsen by British and American soldiers. After liberation inmates were taken to hospitals close to the camp and after some months they were sent to DP camps.

Her father and brother died during the war. Following the advice of a friend, Piasecki went to England where she worked in a hospital before being marrying another Polish survivor. Upon receiving a U.S. visa through the efforts of her aunt, she came to the United States in 1952 with her husband and newborn daughter.

A number of photographs and documents are shown during the interview. Following the conclusion of the interview, brief comments about Piasecki are made by her two daughters.
What DP Camp were you after the war?
Adela was sent to a DP camp after liberation
When did you come to the United States?
1952
Where did you settle?
Muskegon, Michigan
When and where were you married?
4/11/1951
Spouse
John Piasecki
Children
Marion (Janice), Michael, Krystyna, Denise Kanaar (fiance, Larry Van Haitsma) of Muskegon, and John Piasecki of Portsmouth, VA.
Grandchildren
Grandson - Benjamin Bublick
Interviewer:
Hans Weinmann, Zekelman Holocaust Center
Interview place:
Muskegon, Michigan
Interview date:
03/17/1999
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