Życie na gruzach Warszawy i Elbląga opisane we wspomnieniach Kazimiery Marii Żelaznej (1913–2003)
Life on the ruins of Warsaw and Elblag described in the memoirs of Kazimiera Maria Zelazna (1913–2003)

Summary/Abstract: Kazimiera Maria Zelazna was born on 29 October 1913 in Warsaw. She was a dressmaker by profession. Until 1944, she lived on Freta Street in the New Town in Warsaw. After the end of World War II, she and her family moved to Elblag, which was a large, industrialised city. Despite the destruction of the war, many factories and businesses had survived here. It was therefore easy to find work and housing, which had been abandoned by the displaced German population. Kazimiera Maria Zelazna remained in Elblag until the end of her life. She died on 12 April 2003. The unpublished “Memoirs of Kazimiera Maria Zelazna from 1999” are preserved in the Elblag Diocese Archives. Mrs Zelazna was persuaded to write them down almost before the end of her life by Father Mieczyslaw Jozefczyk, then pastor of St. Nicholas Parish in Elblag. These memoirs, though written in simple language, are very valuable. They cover the Warsaw period (the time of the Second World War and the Warsaw Uprising), but also refer to the first post-war years lived in Elblag. Kazimiera Maria Zelazna witnessed such important events as, for example, the explosion of the ‘trap tank’ at Kilinskiego Street in Warsaw, the massacre of insurgent hospitals on 2 September 1944, or the displacement of the German population from Elblag and the mass influx of Polish people into the area. The aim of the presented article is to show everyday life from the perspective of an ordinary Polish family during World War II and in the first post-war years.

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