Many children are proud of who their parents are. I decided to sit down with my mom to hear her story in whole since I had only heard bits and pieces over the years. We spent 6 months talking, crying, and remembering what happened. Growing up we found it hard to understand why Mom did not have parents to visit or share occasions with. Blanca was 16 years older than Mom and they survived the war together, which created a unique bond between them.
Together, they shared the heavy burdens of lost parents, grandparents, siblings, cousins, and friends, which are unimaginable to most people. Mom would tell us a story about how she loved to sing, and her grandparents would wonder when she would ever stop singing and be quiet.
October 4th, was the day the singing stopped, and her life would be forever changed. This was the last day she saw her parents. Before the outbreak of war, Alina lived a normal childhood in Sosnowiec, Poland. The general population was approximately ,, and from those, 25, were Jewish. Alina was an only child, coming from a comfortable middle-class family.
Alina lived a sheltered life, pampered and loved by her family and quite naive to the world. Her father, Isador, owned a lime mine, which was used in making concrete.
Her mother, Paula, was a typical housewife. She loved clothes, both shopping for them and wearing them - always determined to make a fashion statement. As a child, Alina was always cheerful, happy, and upbeat, singing all the time.
