A CARD FROM THE CALENDAR - JULIA, STANISŁAW I FRANCISZEK CZERWONKOWIE
It was a wedding that caught attention of most of the villagers. The wedding procession was largely followed by curious, whispering and gossiping people, as Mrs Julia’s nephew was marrying to a Jewish woman, assimilated but Jewish. It didn’t matter that she had converted to the Catholic faith, had been baptised, or that they loved each other very much. She was simply not theirs. The couple lived to have three children and often visited the Czerwonka family, especially in the summer. They were family, they were looking after each other. The war years were going on and tension in the village was increasing. A minor conflict between the Czerwonka and a neighbour was enough for the neighbour to take cruel revenge on them, reporting to Germans that the couple was hiding Jews. There was little truth in this, but consequences of human meanness were dramatic. On 7 July 1943, after cruel tortures, Germans murdered first a 19-year-old Stanisław, then shot his mother Julia. Everything took place in front of Franciszek’s eyes, who was the last to fall next to the bodies of his loved ones after being shot in head.
