08/30/2013, 11:08 am
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Charles Stanley, charless@mywebtimes.com, 815-431-4063
Charles Stanley, charless@mywebtimes.com, 815-431-4063
Although just a girl when they happened, Valerie Skrzypcak's World War II experiences are indelible memories.
Recently, the Marseilles resident shared those recollections with the Marseilles Rotary.
Skrzypcak was born in Poland in 1938, the year before Germany invaded.
She had a twin brother, Tony, an older brother, Michael, and two older sisters, Regina and Helena. The siblings, with their parents, Peter and Janina Dziatko, her father's two brothers and sister, lived on his parents' farm near the border with today's Republic of Belarus.
It was a dangerous time.
Partisans frequently raided the farm.
"They would come out at night. They would rob and steal whatever they could. I don't know what side they were on. We called them nothing but bandits."
Skrzypcak said the partisans wanted to recruit the men from her family to join them.
Her father had her oldest sister keep watch at night. If the partisans were seen the men would go into hiding to keep from being forced to join.
"One night they saw my dad and his brother running through the fields of rye and oats they were raising. They sprayed the area with machine guns and they got my dad, they shot him in the chest.
"Mom and my sister went out early in the morning and they found him barely alive. He had lost a lot of blood. Grandpa put him in a wagon drawn by horses and they drove him to the nearest town which had a hospital. He was recovering for three weeks."
Fearing the partisans, the family left the farm for a small town.
"One winter morning — it was New Year's Eve — we heard a gun shot. Dad said 'Well, someone is celebrating New Year's early.' But when he looked out the window he saw a group of men dressed in white."
They were Russian army troops wearing winter camouflage to blend in with the snow.
The family members laid on the floor, out of sight, while fighting took place outside.
"Afterwards we went outside to find bodies of neighbors, Russians and Germans laying in the streets."
Soon after, family members were conscripted for forced labor.
"Poland was like a sandwich. On one side the Germans would take whole families to the labor camps, and on the other side the Russians would take people to Siberia.
"My two uncles were taken by the Russians to dig trenches for the army. They were never heard of again.
"My family was taken to Germany to a forced work camp."
It was the Bavarian town of Hartenstein, she said.
The camp, about 35 miles northwest of Nuremburg, was enclosed by barbed wire and the roughly 1,000 residents lived in close quarters. As many as four to five families shared a single room and five to six children shared a bunk bed. Rations were slim, sometimes only a slice of bread with water to drink.
Her parents and sisters made bullets and poison gas. The brother older than her by three years was made to unload box cars, while Skrzypcak and her twin were kept busy by guards who ordered them to pick up trash off the ground.
For the Germans who helped make the poison gas, there were gas masks to wear, but not for the foreign workers from Poland and other countries.
"My sister tied a handkerchief around her nose and mouth, but that didn't do too much good. She became very sick. The gas burned her lungs and she still has scar tissue there."
Frequently there were air raids.
"The SS (guards) made us go into a man-made cave in the mountains and they would lock us up, sometimes for as long as 24 hours."
The guards were feared, and for good reason.
"One day a Russian couple came to ask my dad to borrow his shoes. So he let them have them, not knowing they were planning to escape. They got as far as some farm where they stopped and begged for food. But the farmer turned them in to the SS.
"They brought them back to the camp, tied them to a post and then hanged both of them."
The camp workers were forced to watch.
"They were kicking and hitting out. The woman was pregnant and miscarried right there. Afterwards they took their bodies and hung them for everyone to see."
The air raids continued becoming more frequent as Allied troops got nearer.
"Rumors were that they were planning to put all of us into the cave and and blow it up so none of us would survive. But the American forces came too soon.
"When the Americans entered the camp people went wild screaming, singing and praying. The soldiers started throwing kids some candy and gum from the army trucks. All the gates were opened and people were free to wander around."
"There was a beautiful villa on the top of a mountain where the wealthy owner of the factory was living. People went up there and took whatever they could because they and the SS had left the night before only with whatever they had on their backs.
"The villa had a wine cellar. Some of the men drank and got very sick and would die, not knowing that the SS had laced it with wood alcohol."
Skrzypcak's family was taken to a displaced persons camp at Wildflecken, Germany.
"There we went to school and got rations of food, clothes and had close to a normal life."
Soon after the war both of her older sisters immigrated to Canada, where they still live.
Through Catholic Charities, she and the rest of her family made their way to the United States. On Memorial Day 1949, they arrived at Spartanburg, S.C., where they worked at a dairy farm, milking cows and doing chores.
"Our sponsors, Mr. and Mrs. Driscoll, were very good to us."
When they earned enough to pay for the family's transportation from Europe, they were free to move on.
Skrzypcak's father had friends in Chicago who offered to help get him and his family set up there, so that was their destination.
At a Polish dance club, Skrzypcak met her husband, Steve. Born in Poland in 1930, wartime events took him to Siberia. A post-war odyssey took him to several countries including Persia and India before arriving in Los Angeles and being sent to a refugee colony in Mexico. He later served with the U.S. Army in Germany.
The Skrzypcaks married in 1956. At first they lived on Chicago's South Side, then moved on to Frankfort and later to Manhattan.
They bought their "retirement" house south of Marseilles in 1994, finally moving there in 2001.
Skrzypcak's parents, husband and twin brother have died. But her sisters still live in Canada and her older brother in Hawaii. Her own two children also live in Illinois.
She said living near Marseilles suits her.
"It's fine. It's quiet. I always wanted to be back in the country."
Recently, the Marseilles resident shared those recollections with the Marseilles Rotary.
Skrzypcak was born in Poland in 1938, the year before Germany invaded.
She had a twin brother, Tony, an older brother, Michael, and two older sisters, Regina and Helena. The siblings, with their parents, Peter and Janina Dziatko, her father's two brothers and sister, lived on his parents' farm near the border with today's Republic of Belarus.
It was a dangerous time.
Partisans frequently raided the farm.
"They would come out at night. They would rob and steal whatever they could. I don't know what side they were on. We called them nothing but bandits."
Skrzypcak said the partisans wanted to recruit the men from her family to join them.
Her father had her oldest sister keep watch at night. If the partisans were seen the men would go into hiding to keep from being forced to join.
"One night they saw my dad and his brother running through the fields of rye and oats they were raising. They sprayed the area with machine guns and they got my dad, they shot him in the chest.
"Mom and my sister went out early in the morning and they found him barely alive. He had lost a lot of blood. Grandpa put him in a wagon drawn by horses and they drove him to the nearest town which had a hospital. He was recovering for three weeks."
Fearing the partisans, the family left the farm for a small town.
"One winter morning — it was New Year's Eve — we heard a gun shot. Dad said 'Well, someone is celebrating New Year's early.' But when he looked out the window he saw a group of men dressed in white."
They were Russian army troops wearing winter camouflage to blend in with the snow.
The family members laid on the floor, out of sight, while fighting took place outside.
"Afterwards we went outside to find bodies of neighbors, Russians and Germans laying in the streets."
Soon after, family members were conscripted for forced labor.
"Poland was like a sandwich. On one side the Germans would take whole families to the labor camps, and on the other side the Russians would take people to Siberia.
"My two uncles were taken by the Russians to dig trenches for the army. They were never heard of again.
"My family was taken to Germany to a forced work camp."
It was the Bavarian town of Hartenstein, she said.
The camp, about 35 miles northwest of Nuremburg, was enclosed by barbed wire and the roughly 1,000 residents lived in close quarters. As many as four to five families shared a single room and five to six children shared a bunk bed. Rations were slim, sometimes only a slice of bread with water to drink.
Her parents and sisters made bullets and poison gas. The brother older than her by three years was made to unload box cars, while Skrzypcak and her twin were kept busy by guards who ordered them to pick up trash off the ground.
For the Germans who helped make the poison gas, there were gas masks to wear, but not for the foreign workers from Poland and other countries.
"My sister tied a handkerchief around her nose and mouth, but that didn't do too much good. She became very sick. The gas burned her lungs and she still has scar tissue there."
Frequently there were air raids.
"The SS (guards) made us go into a man-made cave in the mountains and they would lock us up, sometimes for as long as 24 hours."
The guards were feared, and for good reason.
"One day a Russian couple came to ask my dad to borrow his shoes. So he let them have them, not knowing they were planning to escape. They got as far as some farm where they stopped and begged for food. But the farmer turned them in to the SS.
"They brought them back to the camp, tied them to a post and then hanged both of them."
The camp workers were forced to watch.
"They were kicking and hitting out. The woman was pregnant and miscarried right there. Afterwards they took their bodies and hung them for everyone to see."
The air raids continued becoming more frequent as Allied troops got nearer.
"Rumors were that they were planning to put all of us into the cave and and blow it up so none of us would survive. But the American forces came too soon.
"When the Americans entered the camp people went wild screaming, singing and praying. The soldiers started throwing kids some candy and gum from the army trucks. All the gates were opened and people were free to wander around."
"There was a beautiful villa on the top of a mountain where the wealthy owner of the factory was living. People went up there and took whatever they could because they and the SS had left the night before only with whatever they had on their backs.
"The villa had a wine cellar. Some of the men drank and got very sick and would die, not knowing that the SS had laced it with wood alcohol."
Skrzypcak's family was taken to a displaced persons camp at Wildflecken, Germany.
"There we went to school and got rations of food, clothes and had close to a normal life."
Soon after the war both of her older sisters immigrated to Canada, where they still live.
Through Catholic Charities, she and the rest of her family made their way to the United States. On Memorial Day 1949, they arrived at Spartanburg, S.C., where they worked at a dairy farm, milking cows and doing chores.
"Our sponsors, Mr. and Mrs. Driscoll, were very good to us."
When they earned enough to pay for the family's transportation from Europe, they were free to move on.
Skrzypcak's father had friends in Chicago who offered to help get him and his family set up there, so that was their destination.
At a Polish dance club, Skrzypcak met her husband, Steve. Born in Poland in 1930, wartime events took him to Siberia. A post-war odyssey took him to several countries including Persia and India before arriving in Los Angeles and being sent to a refugee colony in Mexico. He later served with the U.S. Army in Germany.
The Skrzypcaks married in 1956. At first they lived on Chicago's South Side, then moved on to Frankfort and later to Manhattan.
They bought their "retirement" house south of Marseilles in 1994, finally moving there in 2001.
Skrzypcak's parents, husband and twin brother have died. But her sisters still live in Canada and her older brother in Hawaii. Her own two children also live in Illinois.
She said living near Marseilles suits her.
"It's fine. It's quiet. I always wanted to be back in the country."
http://mywebtimes.com/archives/ottawa/display.php?id=481037&query=dark%20memories
