Halina Jaroslawska — An Obituary.
My mother in law, Luise Scherf, and my wife, Caroline, wrote this obituary about a family friend, Halina Jaroslawska. She was a Polish Jew who survived the Warsaw Ghetto. In 1968, she and her husband Jan (also Jewish) both had to go into exile after the “anti Zionist” campaign of the Polish Communist Party (of which they were both members).
Halina Jaroslawska (1922 — July 8 2016)
Our friend Halina, who died this year aged 94, did not live only one but four lives.
Halina Krakowska, born 1922 in Warsaw had a happy childhood and adolescence. At the start of WWII, when the German army invaded Poland, Halina was 17 years old and her first life ended.
Her family was Jewish and lived in the Warsaw Ghetto under dreadful conditions. Halina was a member of the communist youth organisation and with their help she escaped the ghetto. Her attempt to rescue her beloved older brother Daniel failed. The Nazis murdered Halina’s entire family. Halina joined the resistance of the Communist Party, fought in the uprising of the Warsaw Ghetto and was captured and deported after its defeat in October 1944. She was forced to work in a north German labour camp. With the end of World War II, Halina’s second life ended as well.
Back in Poland she studied Economics at Warsaw University, fell in love with Jan Jaroslawski, a fellow Communist and survivor of the Holocaust (he was in Auschwitz)and they had two sons. She worked as a scientific advisor at the Polish Foreign Office, had a large circle of friends often debating post-war Europe and socialist ideologies. Halina remained a communist but became somewhat distant from the communist ideology following the Hungarian uprising in 1956.
This third life continued until 1968, when Polish anti-Semitism grew and repressive measures against Jews were enforced. Halina and Jan both lost their jobs and the family was declared stateless. They had no choice but to leave Poland and were allowed to bring only what they could fit into their car. Their journey ended on the other side of the iron curtain in Bremen, Germany.
Halina was 46 years old, put away the pain and humiliation of forced exile and started from scratch. Her fourth life had begun: the Jaroslawskis settled down in Fischerhude near Bremen where they found many new friends. A few years on Halina became Professor of Economics (some books still available here) at Bremen University , where Jan had already been appointed as Professor of Sociology. The Jaroslawskis took German citizenship and Halina was able to travel, especially back to her beloved Warsaw. Once retired, Halina noted that she had lived in Germany more than half of her life and that this fourth life was a happy and comfortable one. She leaves her husband Jan, her sons Robert and Arthur, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Luise and Caroline Scherf (December 2016)
Note.
After Halina died, Caroline and I discussed it and thought it would be a suitable obituary for the “Other Lives” section in the Guardian. Unfortunately, by the time Luise had talked with Jan, got his agreement and submitted the article to the Guardian, it was over the three month cut off point (since death) for publication. Rather than let it go to waste, I thought it should at least be put somewhere online.
John Rogan.
