several of their friends2.
Helena Kraus born on February 18, 1919 in Komorowice Krakowskie, was the daughter of Alojzy and Maria Kraus, née Gacek. Her father was, like Matylda Pikoń’s father, a railway worker. After graduating from the five-grade local primary school in Komorowice Krakowskie, she attended Adam Asnyk’s Secondary School in Biała, where she passed her high school final exams in 1937. Years later, recalling her school years, she wrote: “Matylda was one of my best friends when I was young. Our friendship dates back to our school days. Although we did not attend the same school, we walked together every day to Biała - where our schools were located. /…/ Then we went for walks and trips together. It turned out that we were interested in learning French and we started taking lessons and studying together”3.
Just before the war, in 1937-1939, she studied philosophy at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Unfortunately, the war interrupted her studies. During the occupation, she lived in Komorowice and worked in a factory. In the opinion of her godson Andrzej Ślebarski, “she was a person who was always selflessly helping others. With a great sense of aesthetics and good taste. Very consistent in implementing her resolutions. Extremely open to knowledge. Well-read. She knew German well”4.
2 For the purposes of this sketch, the following accounts were used, collected in the Collection of Statements of the Archives of Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau: accounts by Józef Haszczewski, Aleksander Kalczyński, Anna and Józef Moroń, Stanisława Morończyk and Honorata Wawro, née Moroń. Additionally, Matylda Pikoń-Linert’s account from October 1987, contained in the file of Matylda Pikoń, married name Linert, No. 269, Archive of the General Elżbieta Zawadzka Foundation, pp. 22-27. Archive of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Digital Library.
3 Helena Kraus “Wspomnienie poświęcone Matyldzie Linertowej z d. Pikoń” (“Recollections dedicated to Matylda Linert, née Pikoń”). The typescript is in the author’s collection, p. 1.
4
Anna Moroń with her daughter Honorata in the first half of the 1940s. In the background is Mrs. Moroń’s mother (Saduś), née Chowaniec. Andrzej Ślebarski’s private archive.