Emil and Leon Superson
Poland/Norway
This story is written together by Emil, aged 10, and Leon, nearly 9.
It came about as a result of a conversation between the boys and their grandmother - the daughter of Marianna in the story.
“Today, our Grandmother told us about the Second World War memories of our Great-Grandmother Marianna.
Great-Grandmother was born in a small village called Kuźniaki, next to Perzowa Góra mountain, on the edge of the Puszcza Świętokrzyska great forest. Great-Grandmother didn’t often talk about the war or the hardships of life after it. She did, however, remember the beginning. On the 1st of September, 16 days before her eighth birthday, the radio announced that the German Reich’s troops had entered Poland. She didn’t understand what that meant, but she knew something bad was happening.
She said that, along with the other villagers, they would flee into the forest at night. People hid in the woods and lived there. They couldn’t always light a fire, even if it was cold, for fear of being found. Partisans also hid in the forests.
There was hunger. The Germans took food and animals – cows, chickens, horses – and then they burned down homes. They took children and shot people. They took her mother and older sister and sent them to the Reich for forced labour. At that time, no one knew if or when they would return. People could also be sent to a concentration camp.
Great-Grandmother remembered how heavy fighting took place in the village of Huciska, just beyond Perzowa Góra mountain.
Great-Grandmother didn’t go to school because the family only had one pair of shoes for all the children to share.”