March 6th 2020
I received the most incredible gift on Wednesday this week from my lovely cousin Renata - my grandmother's wartime Passport which enabled her to flee occupied Europe. Looking at the stamps, different Visa's and border crossings I am finally able to work out some of her route. One particular Nazi stamp, giving her permission to cross the Reich, left me cold. How must she have felt, waiting at Arnoldstein on the Austrian border for a German soldier to give her permission to cross?
My grandmother, Helena Lis, lost many of her family during the Holocaust, including her brother Henryk, who never made it out. I feel a tremendous sense pride and admiration that this diminutive woman, who had never had to 'do for herself' as she explained to my mother, found the courage to face the terror and complete the journey, arriving in the UK in July 1940. Of course, the alternative, staying in Poland, would have almost certainly meant death.
Her story didn’t end there.. after joining the Polish Army under British command and giving up her only child to continue to fight, Helena suffered further devastating losses, never shaking the fear she experienced whilst in occupied Europe, which continued until her death, alone in a Nursing home, at the age of 98 in 2000. Following WW2 she became terrified of being 'found by the Russians' sadly living in fear of betrayal by her own Polish community. Who could she trust? The devastation of war continues long after it ceases.
Following her death, her passport and ID papers were sent to her beloved nephew James in the USA, and given to me by his daughters. ..I am now honoured custodian of this incredible piece of history, without which none of Helena's descendants may exist. Its hard to decribe how it feels to hold so much history in my hands..Thank you, Renata!
My grandmother’s wartime Passport which literally saved her life and enabled ours
