Chana Bodner (Chana Hellman)

When they got married in 1921, Zalman had already been a widower with three children. Two of them had emigrated as adults from Poland before the outbreak of the war. Ariel went to Palestine, and Malka  - to America. In the first days of the war, Zalman’s third child, Abram, fled to the East, ending up in the Soviet Union.

Rozalia and Zalman Bodner had seven children. Their store had been confiscated by the Germans and transferred to the Poles already at the beginning of the war. In 1941, a ghetto was created in Frysztak, and all Jews from neighboring villages were herded into it. The Bodner family also had to move there. The eight of them settled in the ghetto. Their oldest son, 18-year-old Pinchas, was killed while still in Cieszyna, in the basement of the Bodners’ house, which was witnessed by his father. Zalman was beaten badly at that time.

From the entire nine-member family only Chana survived. The fates of the remaining family members were as follows:

- parents, Rozalia and Zalman, together with their two youngest children, 7-year-old Maniek (Mordechai) and 4-year-old Janka (Yocheved) were led out from the ghetto and into the Warzyce forest, where they were shot to death;

- Perla (14 years old) and Miriam (11 years old) were taken from the ghetto to Bełżec, where they perished;

- Sara (16 years old; had one lame leg) together with Chana (11 years old) had escaped from the ghetto before Perla and Miriam were taken away; they wandered in the neighboring villages for some time. All of the residents knew the girls – they were clients of the girls’ parents’ store. Despite that, those village residents failed to prove helpful. They acknowledged that the presence of Jews in the vicinity of their homes endangered them. They chased away the girls and assured them that if they showed up again, they would be killed. Chana got scared and ran away. Sara, however, remained and continued to wander in the same area. Chana had later found out that the villagers found her sister in a furrow on a potato field, and murdered her. Chana was able to find shelter. She wrote:

“I reached another village, where no one knew me, and, by coincidence, I came across a house of an old woman, who was looking for a servant for her daughter, Bronisława, who lived in Jasło. Bronisława planned to adopt an orphan. Bronisława Wydrowa was a widow, and she lost her beloved little daughter. I told her a made up story that I escaped from the Soviet border without papers and belongings, that I was an orphan, that I was looking for work and shelter. I stayed in this house until the night, and at night a rail worker, who was the Wydras’ friend, took me to Jasło. I was hidden under a bench, because this was a car for the staff, and I did not have papers. I wore rugs, I was covered in scabs, and I was freezing (it was December). I was welcomed heartily in Bronisława’s house, bathed, and the wounds on my legs were dressed. One of the son’s, Adam, took particular care of me.

I stayed with the Wydras, and I continued to tell my story, justifying why I did not have any papers, and that I was scared to travel back to retrieve them without having papers on me. They accepted my story and did not suspect my origin. Bronisława gave me a cross to wear on my neck, and offered she would make arrangements for my baptism, which would serve as a basis for receiving bread rations and even enrolling me in school. As a Jew, I wanted to avoid this claiming that I had been already baptized, and as soon as it would be possible I would show them the documents. I was so consistent in my story that it prevented any possible suspicions. I was treated well by the family; I worked as a servant, but they referred to me as a member of the family.  

The neighbors, to whom I used to bring milk, liked me very much. One neighbor, in particular, offered she would adopt me.

I remained at Bronsiława’s house. Once, I overheard Bronisława’s son, Józef, a railway worker, through the wall telling his brothers and friend Mateusz that the Germans tried to get him drunk and gave him a gun so that he would go and kill Jews. Józef, shocked, was saying how scared he was, but that he refused to do it.

One day (probably it was already 1944), Bronisława invited me for a face-to-face talk. She said that they most likely knew who I was, that I was a Jew from the neighboring village, one of the sisters who had escaped before the ghetto was dissolved. They arrived at this conclusion based on the story told by a neighbor of Bronisława’s mother, to whom I came in the beginning. Having heard this story, one of Bronisława’s son took a special trip to Cieszyna’s village elder in order to check the stories, and he returned certain that I was the Jewish girl they were looking for, who ran away while her older sister was killed by the peasants. I was in shock, I felt the earth beneath me collapse, but I kept a straight face and told her that if they wanted to get rid of me, I would go away; I had a place to go. I meant the neighbor, who wanted to adopt me. I stayed at the Wydras until liberation. It was then that Bronisława had told me that she was convinced that I was a Jew, but that my attitude and consistent telling of my story have saved me.

When I thought the danger had passed, I told them who I really was.”

Chana survived at the Wydras until the end of the war. Earlier, however, she was expelled from Jasło together with them; they were rushed to the West. The city was largely burned. After the front had passed through, they returned to Jasło. 

Chana became attached to the Wydras, a feeling they reciprocated as well. She called Bronisława “mom,” and Bronisława even wanted to adopt the girl. When Chana began to plan leaving the Wydra house and searching for her own family, Bronisława did not want to let her go. 

The girl had lived with the Wydras until May 1946. She was then found by a representative of the Jewish community. The man who came from Kraków showed an authorization to retrieve Chana and place her in a Jewish orphanage in Kraków. The appearance of this man caused great commotion in Chana’s and her caretakers’ minds. It was long debated what should be done. The decision was left to Chana; she was already 16 years old. She decided to leave, but the parting was very difficult.

Chana, together with a group of Jewish youth, was being prepared for leaving for Palestine: she studied Hebrew, introduction to agriculture, and general subjects. She had only two years of formal education in a Polish school.   

Following a two-year stay in Kraków, the entire group was transferred to Austria. She found out by coincidence that her older step-brother, Abram, whom she had thought was in the Soviet Union, actually stayed in Berlin. She was able to get in touch with him and move to Berlin at the beginning of 1947. Together, they contacted the remaining siblings: their sister Malka in the U.S. and brother Ariel in Palestine.

The siblings tried to bring Abram and Chana to their homes. Visa formalities, however, took a very long time. During that time, Chana became a dental technician in Munich. She agreed with Abram that they would go to the first place that granted them visas. The documents from their brother in Palestine arrived faster. At the beginning of 1949 Palestine had already become the State of Israel.

Both of them emigrated; and Abram took his wife and child with him. Chana finished bookkeeping courses in Israel and married a German Jew. She worked as an accountant. She was widowed in 2008. She has two children, five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. She lives in a seniors home near Tel Aviv. She remains in constant contact with the Wydra family. She went to Poland twice.

During one of her visits, she visited the forest in Warzyce, a place where her parents, sister, and brother had been shot to death. There is a cemetery in the forest with 32 mass graves, including one children’s grave. There is no information on those graves except for a note about the victims’ origin. A memorial was erected there after the war. The sign mentions about 5,000 murdered people. It has not been written that the vast majority of those murdered there were Jews. A Catholic cross was placed there, but there is no Jewish religious symbol.

Chana Hellman nee Bodner was born in the village of Cieszyna near Frysztak in the Rzeszów province. She does not know her exact birth date, which probably is 1929 or 1930. Her parents, Zalman (born in 1882 in Cieszyna) and Rozalia nee Szperba (born in 1891 in Jasło) Bodner lived in Cieszyna and ran a general store in the nearby town of Frysztak.

When they got married in 1921, Zalman had already been a widower with three children. Two of them had emigrated as adults from Poland before the outbreak of the war. Ariel went to Palestine, and Malka  - to America. In the first days of the war, Zalman’s third child, Abram, fled to the East, ending up in the Soviet Union.

Rozalia and Zalman Bodner had seven children. Their store had been confiscated by the Germans and transferred to the Poles already at the beginning of the war. In 1941, a ghetto was created in Frysztak, and all Jews from neighboring villages were herded into it. The Bodner family also had to move there. The eight of them settled in the ghetto. Their oldest son, 18-year-old Pinchas, was killed while still in Cieszyna, in the basement of the Bodners’ house, which was witnessed by his father. Zalman was beaten badly at that time.

From the entire nine-member family only Chana survived. The fates of the remaining family members were as follows:

- parents, Rozalia and Zalman, together with their two youngest children, 7-year-old Maniek (Mordechai) and 4-year-old Janka (Yocheved) were led out from the ghetto and into the Warzyce forest, where they were shot to death;

- Perla (14 years old) and Miriam (11 years old) were taken from the ghetto to Bełżec, where they perished;

- Sara (16 years old; had one lame leg) together with Chana (11 years old) had escaped from the ghetto before Perla and Miriam were taken away; they wandered in the neighboring villages for some time. All of the residents knew the girls – they were clients of the girls’ parents’ store. Despite that, those village residents failed to prove helpful. They acknowledged that the presence of Jews in the vicinity of their homes endangered them. They chased away the girls and assured them that if they showed up again, they would be killed. Chana got scared and ran away. Sara, however, remained and continued to wander in the same area. Chana had later found out that the villagers found her sister in a furrow on a potato field, and murdered her. Chana was able to find shelter. She wrote:

“I reached another village, where no one knew me, and, by coincidence, I came across a house of an old woman, who was looking for a servant for her daughter, Bronisława, who lived in Jasło. Bronisława planned to adopt an orphan. Bronisława Wydrowa was a widow, and she lost her beloved little daughter. I told her a made up story that I escaped from the Soviet border without papers and belongings, that I was an orphan, that I was looking for work and shelter. I stayed in this house until the night, and at night a rail worker, who was the Wydras’ friend, took me to Jasło. I was hidden under a bench, because this was a car for the staff, and I did not have papers. I wore rugs, I was covered in scabs, and I was freezing (it was December). I was welcomed heartily in Bronisława’s house, bathed, and the wounds on my legs were dressed. One of the son’s, Adam, took particular care of me.

I stayed with the Wydras, and I continued to tell my story, justifying why I did not have any papers, and that I was scared to travel back to retrieve them without having papers on me. They accepted my story and did not suspect my origin. Bronisława gave me a cross to wear on my neck, and offered she would make arrangements for my baptism, which would serve as a basis for receiving bread rations and even enrolling me in school. As a Jew, I wanted to avoid this claiming that I had been already baptized, and as soon as it would be possible I would show them the documents. I was so consistent in my story that it prevented any possible suspicions. I was treated well by the family; I worked as a servant, but they referred to me as a member of the family.  

The neighbors, to whom I used to bring milk, liked me very much. One neighbor, in particular, offered she would adopt me.

I remained at Bronsiława’s house. Once, I overheard Bronisława’s son, Józef, a railway worker, through the wall telling his brothers and friend Mateusz that the Germans tried to get him drunk and gave him a gun so that he would go and kill Jews. Józef, shocked, was saying how scared he was, but that he refused to do it.

One day (probably it was already 1944), Bronisława invited me for a face-to-face talk. She said that they most likely knew who I was, that I was a Jew from the neighboring village, one of the sisters who had escaped before the ghetto was dissolved. They arrived at this conclusion based on the story told by a neighbor of Bronisława’s mother, to whom I came in the beginning. Having heard this story, one of Bronisława’s son took a special trip to Cieszyna’s village elder in order to check the stories, and he returned certain that I was the Jewish girl they were looking for, who ran away while her older sister was killed by the peasants. I was in shock, I felt the earth beneath me collapse, but I kept a straight face and told her that if they wanted to get rid of me, I would go away; I had a place to go. I meant the neighbor, who wanted to adopt me. I stayed at the Wydras until liberation. It was then that Bronisława had told me that she was convinced that I was a Jew, but that my attitude and consistent telling of my story have saved me.

When I thought the danger had passed, I told them who I really was.”

Chana survived at the Wydras until the end of the war. Earlier, however, she was expelled from Jasło together with them; they were rushed to the West. The city was largely burned. After the front had passed through, they returned to Jasło. 

Chana became attached to the Wydras, a feeling they reciprocated as well. She called Bronisława “mom,” and Bronisława even wanted to adopt the girl. When Chana began to plan leaving the Wydra house and searching for her own family, Bronisława did not want to let her go. 

The girl had lived with the Wydras until May 1946. She was then found by a representative of the Jewish community. The man who came from Kraków showed an authorization to retrieve Chana and place her in a Jewish orphanage in Kraków. The appearance of this man caused great commotion in Chana’s and her caretakers’ minds. It was long debated what should be done. The decision was left to Chana; she was already 16 years old. She decided to leave, but the parting was very difficult.

Chana, together with a group of Jewish youth, was being prepared for leaving for Palestine: she studied Hebrew, introduction to agriculture, and general subjects. She had only two years of formal education in a Polish school.   

Following a two-year stay in Kraków, the entire group was transferred to Austria. She found out by coincidence that her older step-brother, Abram, whom she had thought was in the Soviet Union, actually stayed in Berlin. She was able to get in touch with him and move to Berlin at the beginning of 1947. Together, they contacted the remaining siblings: their sister Malka in the U.S. and brother Ariel in Palestine.

The siblings tried to bring Abram and Chana to their homes. Visa formalities, however, took a very long time. During that time, Chana became a dental technician in Munich. She agreed with Abram that they would go to the first place that granted them visas. The documents from their brother in Palestine arrived faster. At the beginning of 1949 Palestine had already become the State of Israel.

Both of them emigrated; and Abram took his wife and child with him. Chana finished bookkeeping courses in Israel and married a German Jew. She worked as an accountant. She was widowed in 2008. She has two children, five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. She lives in a seniors home near Tel Aviv. She remains in constant contact with the Wydra family. She went to Poland twice.

During one of her visits, she visited the forest in Warzyce, a place where her parents, sister, and brother had been shot to death. There is a cemetery in the forest with 32 mass graves, including one children’s grave. There is no information on those graves except for a note about the victims’ origin. A memorial was erected there after the war. The sign mentions about 5,000 murdered people. It has not been written that the vast majority of those murdered there were Jews. A Catholic cross was placed there, but ranslation:there is no Jewish religious symbol.

Text based on Chana’s Hellman’s account and compiled by Jadwiga Rytlowa, Givataim, Meculat Yam 9 (seniors’ home), March 2010.

Translation: Joanna Sliwa