us-005578-irn707840
type: RecordSet
archival history: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
biographical history: Maria Dworzecka (born Marysia Rozenszajn, 1941- ) was born on June 19, 1941 to Izak (Wlodek) Rozenszajn (d. 1941) and Bela Rozenszajn (Bella, née Kaufman, 1909-1948). Bela Rozenszajn was born in 1909 in Pinsk (now Belarus) and had been active in the Communist party since 1929. Bela moved to Warsaw, Poland where she met Izak Rozenszajn. After the start of World War II, they fled to Białystok, Poland which was located within the Soviet sector. Their daughter Marysia was born in the Białystok ghetto on June 19, 1941. Three days later, Germany launched a surprise invasion of the Soviet Union. Eight days after his daughter’s birth, Izak was either killed during the “Red Friday” massacre on June 27, 1941, or in the bombing of Białystok also in June 1941. In February 1943, Bela and her daughter escaped from the Białystok ghetto using false identification papers issued under the false name Paulina Pakulska. They settled in Tykocin, Poland where Bela worked as a laundress for two unidentified Polish communist women. In November 1943, the two Polish women were killed by members of the Narodowe Siły Zbrojne (NSZ), a nationalist and anti-Semitic underground military organization. Afterwards, Bela was arrested by the Gestapo and is believed to have been sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp where she passed as a Polish political prisoner. Two year old Marysia was left by herself in Tykocin. According to family lore, she was discovered wandering the street by Lucyna and Wacław Białowarczuk, teachers without any children of their own. Recognizing Maria as an orphaned Jewish child, the Białowarczuks cared for her throughout the war. Bela Rozenszajn survived imprisonment in Auschwitz and Ravensbrück concentration camps. In April 1945 she was transferred from Ravensbrück to Gothenburg, Sweden through the Folke Bernadotte initiative. After recovering in Sweden, Bela returned to Tykocin in February 1946, where she was reunited with her daughter. Bela and Maria moved to Warsaw, Polan…
date: circa 1909-1948
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 3
has or had identifier: 2
has or had identifier: 4
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: pol
has or had some members with language: swe
has or had some members with language: deu
has or had subject: 843
has or had subject: 112
has or had subject: 1159
has or had subject: 101
has or had subject: 701
has or had subject: 904
has or had subject: 819
has or had subject: 824
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn707840
record resource extent: folders 5
record resource structure: The Rosenszajn, Herszkowicz, and Dworzecka families papers are arranged in two series. Series 1: Biographical materials, 1942-1945 Series 2: Photographs, circa 1908-1948
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: The Rosenszajn, Herszkowicz, and Dworzecka families papers relate to the pre-war and wartime experiences of the Rosenzajn family of Pinsk, Poland and Białystok, Poland; the Herszkowicz family of Łódź, Poland; and the Dworzecki family of Vilna, Poland (now Vilnius, Lithuania). The families’ papers include studio portraits and candid photographs of each of the families, as well as photographs of Maria Dworzecka (born Marysia Rozenszajn), a hidden child during the Holocaust, and her rescuers Lucyna and Waclaw Białowarczuk in Tykocin, Poland. The papers also include a postcard sent from the Łódź ghetto and documents issued to Bela Rosenszajn (née Kaufman) under her wartime alias Paulina Pakulska. The documents are issued to Paulina Pakulska, the wartime alias of Bela Rozenszajn. The documents include a German work permit issued on December 18, 1942; a registration certificate for Paulina and Maria Pakulska, March 19, 1943; a receipt for refugee money paid to Bella Rozenszajn from May 13-July 10, 1945; 2 receipts, 1945; a Swedish registration certificate, September 23, 1945; and a permit to return to Poland from Sweden, October 28, 1945. The photographs of Maria Dworzecka include images of Maria while in hiding in Tykocin, Poland with Lucyna and Waclaw Białowarczuk and their extended family. Also included are photographs of Maria’s father Izak Rozenszajn (d. 1941) and her mother Bela Rozenszajn (1909-1948). There is also a photograph of Maria taken in 1948 while she was living with the family of her maternal uncle, Mosze Kaufman. The postcard was written by Jankel and Gitla Herszkowicz in the Łódź ghetto and sent to Alicja and Antonii Grosman in Łuniniec (now Luninets, Belarus). The postcard notifies Alicja that her parents, her brother Dawid and his wife Bronka are healthy. The postcard expresses happiness that Alicja will be joining her younger brother Moniek and his wife (who was pregnant at the time). Alicja’s parents enquire about their friends the Krakowskis and th…
title: Rosenszajn, Herszkowicz, and Dworzecka families papers