A CARD FROM THE CALENDAR - JOSEPH MIETKIEWICZ
It was the spring of 1940. Bełchatów was a city proud of its pre-war multiculturalism, tolerance, and freedom, but at that time it was going through its worst times under the occupation. Nearly 50% of the population was Jewish. The repression of the Jews and no job opportunities meant they were getting ever more poor and scared.
The seven-year-old Józef Miętkiewicz found ethnic differences incomprehensible: a man was a man, and a friend a friend, regardless of his descent. Józio was friends with a Jewish boy by the name of Haim, who lived on a nearby street with his mother, brother, and a disabled sister. Their lives got progressively worse as the German occupation went on. The little Józek offered his friend clean clothing, a hat, a milk-can, and, above all, protection, provided personally by him. He’d take Haim to the dairy dispensary every day, as only Poles were allowed to receive milk there.
