MOM SURVIVES WWII ONLY TO LEAVE A MYSTERIOUS NOTE FOR HER SON THAT SERVED ITS PURPOSE 50 YEARS LATER

 

Although World War II was just a matter of a few years, sadly, its aftermath is a matter of centuries.  Thousands of civilians left their homeland and took refuge in different countries. People left everything they had, their jobs, lands, homes, and the worse; their loved ones. Countries can sign up peace treaties all they want but what’s done can never be undone.

Most of the survivors of the war were the only ones left of their families. Entire villages have vanished in the blink of an eye. The lifetime of anyone and everyone who was somehow connected to the war lived in two entirely opposite eras.

This is one such story about those victims of the war who lost everyone without even knowing they ever had them.

Agitated Teen

George Skrzynecky, a 17-year-old teen was thinking of a plan to find a way out of his parents’ house. He didn’t like them, but his parents thought it was just the effect of the hormones. In reality, he never felt that it was his home, and he blamed his parents’ dominating behavior for it. However, he had this strong feeling of frustration from a long-forgotten childhood memory.

The Old Attic

George was looking for all the alternatives to leave Poland as it will give him the opportunity to start a separate life far from his controlling parents. In 1965, while searching for his old belongings, the 17-year-old George found a mysterious envelope in the storeroom. So far, he wasn’t sure if he was ready to leave his homeland but this letter was going to change everything for him.

The Life-Changing Note

The envelope seemed quite old and was mailed when he lived on a different address with his family. There was a long letter inside the envelope and to his surprise, it was addressed to him. Who could’ve sent him a letter back then? And if anyone did send one, why didn’t his parents ever tell him about it?

Confused Questions

George was confused as well as curious about the letter. As he started reading this letter, tears started to roll down his cheeks as all his questions were being answered. He couldn’t stand anymore and collapsed on the floor yet he just couldn’t get his eyes off the letter. He went on reading it and then he reread it. 

Unsettling Truth

The letter contained the unsettling truth about his past. And all that had been kept a secret from the young guy. He knew he couldn’t stay with his parents after reading the letter. He went straight to his room and packed his stuff for he couldn’t live there anymore. He walked up to his parents and showed them the letter.

Walking Out

No matter how hard George’s parents tried to explain to the young teen, he wasn’t going to keep calm after the sudden revelation. He didn’t ask them any further questions and just left the home. What was in the letter? And whom was this letter from? 

Efforts Of A Mom

This letter was written nearly 15 years ago, in 1950 by a woman named Elisabeth Jankowski, Geroge’s biological mother. In the letter was her story and what she had to go through to keep him alive. George was never informed about being an adoptive son. And the most upsetting part of this letter was about to keep the 17-year-old awake at nights for the next 50 years. 

Back When It All Started

A Catholic woman named Elisabeth Jankowski of Polish origin lived her early life peacefully in Grebenstein, Germany and became one of the millions of war victims in the later years. The people who saw the life inside the ghettos and the concentration camps never lived a normal life again. Elisabeth’s family kept her far from German capture for a long time but in 1945, the Germans finally got hold of her along with her family. 

A Young Beauty

Born on September 25, 1919, Elisabeth Jankowski was just 14 years old when Hitler started to gain power over Europe. The Polish origin girl, however, remained far from the effects of the war until the Second World War breakout. She lived peacefully in her parents’ protection who were helplessly watching the war coming their way too.

A U.S. Soldier

Elisabeth’s life was going on normally until 1944 when one day a U.S. soldier walked into her life. So far, Elizabeth was living in the outskirts of the war area and the handsome-looking military men’s battalion was posted a few miles away. Undoubtedly, they became a center of attraction for the girls of Elisabeth’s age.

Love Life

Somewhere in the middle of all this chaos, Elisabeth was able to find the love of her life. Not only did she fall in love but also planned to marry the man she loved the most. However, the plans of fate were not at all similar to what she had on mind for herself. Unfortunately, she never even got a chance to introduce the guy she loved to her parents.

Short-Lived Love

Elisabeth’s beloved took a leave for his duty was calling him. Although he promised her that he will be returning to marry her, that promise was broken with the young man’s sad end. Elizabeth only received the news of his passing away during the war and the heartbreaking part was that she didn’t even get time to mourn the loss of her sweetheart. 

The Nazis Got Closer

So far, Elisabeth’s family was living safely but right after the distressing news, the war reached to Elisabeth’s city as well. The Nazis were against all the non-Aryan population and there was no way for anyone to cross the borders and reach to a safer place. People were caught inside their own houses where they waited for the German soldiers to knock at their doors and take them to their camps.

Moving Into Hiding

With no way to escape left, some ran towards the woods, some died raising their voices and some like Elisabeth moved into hiding with their families. Elisabeth was not yet settled with her beloved’s loss and she had to live frightfully with her family in a tiny suffocating area.

The hiding plan too had failed within a week’s time as the information of their location was leaked and they were arrested by the Gestapo.

Separated From All

Elisabeth was separated from the rest of her family members and was taken to a forced labor camp in Kassel, central Germany. Nobody knows whether any one of her family members or friends managed to survive or not. The moment when everyone was asked to get down and stand in two queues, Elisabeth knew this will decide whether she’ll live or not.

The Forced Labor Camps

The words were already out, and everyone was talking about the terrible and scary stories of these concentration and labor camps. Sooner or later, all met the same dreadful end. There were countable numbers of survivors of this war and uncountable lives were lost. Elisabeth too thought this was the end of her…

Passing The Fitness Test

As soon as Elisabeth stood in the queue, she could hear people talking that they will be selected by the so-called physicians if they are fit enough to work or else they’ll be sent to Auschwitz to the infamous gas chambers. Elisabeth was sent to the labor camp but she wasn’t happy to be alive anymore as there was no reason left for her to live. 

Falling Ill

Within a few weeks of living in the forced labor camp, Elisabeth falls ill. That’s when she understood the possibility of her being pregnant. There were these extremely tiny and filthy care centers where Elisabeth got the confirmation to her doubt. Unfortunately, she didn’t feel good about it for even a moment.

The News Of Pregnancy

After the news of her pregnancy was confirmed, Elisabeth was suggested to abort the child or else the child will not live more than a couple of hours anyway. There was no soft corner in the SS soldiers’ hearts for the babies. Elisabeth, however, decided that she’ll not abort but will her baby live?

Disturbing Advice

Elisabeth was criticized by all the women in the camp for her decision to keep the baby. They told her how the Germans will not let her baby live but she had already made her choice and now there was no turning back from it. Little did she know, she’ll never get a chance to live with her kids.

The Dark Future

In a place where people got a piece of bread and soup just once a day, Elisabeth worried for her child’s future. Never had she thought that her child will be born in what they started to call death camps. But this pregnancy gave her the long lost reason to live and to think for a future out of that labor camp.

Severe Illness

In the first trimester of her pregnancy, Elisabeth struggled to work. And by the time she entered the second trimester, her health started to deteriorate quickly. The poor diet and intense work were taking over her quickly. The doctor too told her that she and her baby might not survive. And that’s when on Sept. 2nd, 1945 the long-awaited news came.

The War Ends

It was the news of the collapse of Nazi Germany that freed the survivors from the camps and Elisabeth was one of them. Like most of the victims, Elisabeth too was in need of immediate need of medical attention. For her, pregnancy worsened the situation. Even though the first thing she wished to do was to look for her family members, the nurses admitted her to the hospital.

The Scars Of The Past

While in hospital, Elisabeth did all she could to find her long lost family but nothing helped her. The pain of separation wasn’t helping her health at all. The nurses tried to tell her how blessed she was to survive the hellish environment with her kids alive. At least now she didn’t have to worry about her unborn child’s safety. Elisabeth made her peace with this fact but her struggles were far from being over.

Giving Birth In Freedom

Elisabeth’s only happiness was that her child will be born in freedom. She was kept in the hospital for the rest of her months of pregnancy. And Elisabeth finally got into labor on January 1st, 1946. After listening to what the doctors told her during her labor, Elisabeth couldn’t hold back her tears.

The Double Surprise

Elisabeth was pregnant with twins and she gave birth to two underweight boys, Georg and Lucian. Both the mother and the boys were kept in the hospital in the doctor’s observation. Before the single mother could even learn to live a stable life, in 1947, Elisabeth’s life took another and the last biggest turn when she was diagnosed with a critical heart condition.

Who’ll Look After The Kids?

Elisabeth’s sole concern was her sons. In her absence, there was no one to look after them. From the hospital, she contacted the Red Cross who took the boys’ responsibility while their mother fought with her illness. To her misfortune, this was the last time she ever held her babies in her arms.

The Red Cross Intervention

The Red Cross representatives took the infants more than  150 miles south, far from the calamities of war and their mom. There they lived in a children’s center for displaced people in Aglasterhausen, Germany. These distances between the mother and her sons were only going to increase with time. 

To Poland

Elisabeth’s heart was getting weaker day by day and looking at the mere chances of her survival, the kids were relocated to the city of Katowice, southwestern Poland. Later that same year, they were given to an orphanage in Rybnik, Poland. All this transition took place without informing Elisabeth as she was not in a situation to worry for her sons.

The Time Has Come

The little ones needed proper attention which only a well-stable family could offer. But the war brought a lot of stress on almost every family of Europe and it seemed impossible to find a family that can adopt two babies. And now was the time when the Red Cross did what they didn’t want to but with no other choice left the decision was made.

Separating Them For Good

The Red Cross had no other option left but to separate the twins and let two different families adopt them. They were separated and adopted in the age when they could not understand anything at all. The twins were less than 2 years old when they were finally adopted by families located in far locations. 

Attempts To Get Them Back

For the minute period of time when Elisabeth thought she was recovering, she tried to get her kids back. In a hope of reunion, she contacted the Red Cross and raised a family reunion case. She even requested to get her the photos of her sons.

Uncureable Disease

Finally, the doctors told her the truth of her state and the fact that she won’t be able to live for long enough. She couldn’t reunite with her kids as this would affect their mindset as a kid. The Red Cross had to deny her request for she was struggling herself and bringing the kids back would mean that they’ll be left with the same unfateful future once again. 

Mom Passed Away Alone

George got all this information from the letter of his mom and from the records of the Red Cross. He even got the disheartening news of his mom’s death six years after their separation, in the year 1953. And his twin brother? That question remained unanswered… Was he alive? Did he know about George’s existence? Or was he equally unaware of it as George was a few months back?

Red Cross Family Tracing Case

George launched a Red Cross family tracing case, sadly, his search ended up being unsuccessful. His adoptive parents’ lies, his biological parent’s death, and the unsuccessful search of his twin brother were just too much to take. George moved out of Poland the same year.

An Incomplete Life

Though George moved far from his past and settled in California, he never really felt complete. His desperation to reunite with his brother made him contact the Red Cross and continue the search even from the U.S. but all his efforts went in vain.

Failed Attempts To Move On

George met the right girl and had a beautiful child with her. He was living a decent life in California. “For 70 years I live with unknown things,” he recalled during an interview with the American Red Cross. He further added: “And I was thinking, I’m never going to find it.”

Meanwhile…

While on one side George couldn’t let go the urge of seeing his twin brother, Lucian too grew up in Poland, as Lucian Poznanski. Unlike George, Lucian shared a strong bond with his adoptive mother. However, he too wasn’t aware of his adoption until he turned 17.

In The Polish Army

Lucian’s adoptive mom told him the truth about his adoption when he joined the Polish Army. She told her son whatever she knew about his past and that didn’t include his twin brother, George. So, he lived many years knowing he was the only child of his biological mother. 

Just A Feeling

Lucian too got married and raised his family in Poland. But he claimed that although he didn’t have any proofs to support his gut feeling, he always felt that he had a twin brother. One of them was sure about it and the other one felt it strongly yet they spent most of their lives oceans apart. 

A Visit To The Old Orphanage

In 2014, after his retirement, Lucian once thought that he wouldn’t like to die without knowing the history of his biological family. So, he started to search for more information and reached to the orphanage from where he was adopted decades ago. It was nothing less of a miracle that he was told that he did have a twin brother.

Polish Red Cross

With hopes of finding his brother, Lucian contacted the Polish Red Cross for further assistance. As the case was filed, Lucian couldn’t believe that he could be called up anytime informing that they have found his twin brother. “It felt like I was dreaming,” he recalled.

Lisa Ghali, Reconnecting Families

The case was spread on a global level. The Polish Red Cross shared all the details of it with Lisa Ghali, the then American Red Cross Senior Associate of Reconnecting Families, Washington, D.C. She was an expert in looking into unseen clues to reunite families and she started with her investigation.

A New Lead

After going through the old records, Lisa started to look into the Red Cross’ newly digitalized records. And this was the platform that gave her the most exciting piece of information. She found the case of George Skrzynecky which he launched during the 1970s.

Connecting The Two

Ghali right away called the two of them and connected them over the call. Within minutes, they decided to reunite at Poland’s Warsaw airport. Lucian later explained, “It is the first time I’ve ever felt this kind of happiness. I didn’t expect this at all. There were times when I thought I was dreaming.”

Couldn’t Wait Any Longer

Before boarding the flight, George said on the airport: “I hope that from now on we’ll always be close together. I cannot wait to hug him.” The moment was captured by media as well as their family members. 

The Emotional Reunion

George admitted that his search was on from past 49 years and he almost lost hopes of ever finding his brother again. George expressed the moment he found about Lucian: “For a while… I just… I couldn’t stop crying. All my life I want to know my family. And I was thinking… I’m never gonna find them.” 

Welcome My Brother

So, that September 14th, 2015, the first thing Lucian said to his twin brother was: “My heart is overwhelming with joy to welcome you on Polish soil.” They tried to hold back their tears but it seemed impossible for them to calm down. Overwhelmed will be a small feeling to contain what they might have felt at that moment.

Left With No Worries

“I don’t care about winning the lottery I just want to have my brother by my side,” said Lucian. “The best part is we found each other, after so many years of separation,” expressed George. They now call themselves as, “Brothers forever.”

That Gut Feeling

“I always had the feeling I want to come to America, and now I found out why,” said the 69-year-old. They now stay together and didn’t wish to leave anytime soon. They couldn’t be more thankful to the Red Cross society which took their case seriously.

Lucian Learnt About Mom

“When I finally learned the whole truth I cried for my mother. I cried for my brother. But I am happy we are together,” explained Lucian. Remembering his mother George said, “I wish, when I was young, she was with me, but it didn’t happen this way.”

Terrible Wars

“Wars are terrible things. We have wars going on right now around the world with people dying and getting misplaced and it’s a tragedy. Not only do people suffer during a war, but even later generations suffer in an emotional way long after it’s over,” concludes George.