In 1939, my husband and I paid for an apartment with money I received as a wedding gift from my grandmother who was living in New York. We were happy to be living in the city of Warsaw. My husband was a member of the Communist Party and a Jew, and was warned by members of the Party to leave Warsaw before it was taken over by the Germans.
We left our apartment and went to Berezniki, Sverdlovsk, Russia. My husband was taken away to a work camp, and I had to fend for myself, soon with a child, our daughter Anna. I worked at anything I could do to make a little bit of money to pay for the room I stayed in and for the food for my baby. Times were extremely harsh, and during this time, my husband became ill in the work camp. He never fully recovered. He died at an early age of complications from his illnesses in the camp.
After the war, we left Russia without any money or anything to sell. We settled in Dzierzoniow, Poland where other members of my family lived. Life was quite difficult there as well. I had two small children, and my oldest daughter helped take care of them so that I could work. My husband was always ill. Our family moved to Wroclaw in 1956 when it was discovered that our youngest daughter had a musical talent and would flourish at a music school. We moved to Wroclaw to give her that opportunity. There was quite a large Jewish population in Wroclaw (formerly Breslau, Germany), and this would be a good move for the entire family.