A CARD FROM THE CALENDAR - MARIANNA AND JAN KOZYRA
“Sort yourselves by the family” – thundered the KL Majdanek guard in German. The Jews had no chance in this place. The camp was also often used as a temporary penal colony for Polish villagers. Marianna and Jan Kozyra from the Wola Obszańska village were standing in a throng of prisoners. The 14-yeard-old Romek Biziorek stood right next to them. “I beseech you, say you’re my family” – the boy asked the Kozyras, his eyes pleading. They knew each other, as they came from the same village. The Kozyras knew that Romek’s parents were dead, that he was alone, and that nothing would save him from this hell if they refused. “You are our son, Romek” – said Jan and grabbed him by the hand. From then on, they were a camp family. After three months, the three of them were moved to the Dachau camp and then sent to work near Munich. They survived the war. Afterwards, Romek left for Australia, but never lost contact with his camp family.
