Freda Hoffman Zgodzinski (8 February 1914 - 21 February 2012) was a

Polish Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

anarchist, a militant in the Anarchist Federation of Poland, and publisher of the

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

language ''Kul fun Frayhayt'' newspaper produced in the

Warsaw Ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (, officially , ; ) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the Nazi Germany, German authorities within the new General Government territory of Occupat ...

Biography

Early life

Hoffman Zgodzinski was raised in a Jewish family in the Polish village of

Wielkie Oczy Wielkie Oczy is a village (town until 1935) in Lubaczów County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland, close to the border with Ukraine. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Wielkie Oczy. It lies approx ...

. The second youngest of 8 children, her parents, David and Scheindl, were poor and made a living from selling goods in local markets, and occasional smuggling of contraband products such as

saccharin Saccharin, also called saccharine, benzosulfimide, or E954, or used in saccharin sodium or saccharin calcium forms, is a non-nutritive artificial sweetener. Saccharin is a sultam that is about 500 times sweeter than sucrose, but has a bitter or ...

. Because of the family's poverty all of Hoffman Zgodzinski's siblings emigrated to larger cities, such as

Lwów Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

Przemyśl Przemyśl () is a city in southeastern Poland with 56,466 inhabitants, as of December 2023. Data for territorial unit 1862000. In 1999, it became part of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Subcarpathian Voivodeship. It was previously the capital of Prz ...

Tarnów Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east– ...

and

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, in search of work. After nursing her mother through ill health Hoffman Zgodzinski also moved to Warsaw.

WWII

At the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Hoffman Zgodzinski was living in a fourth floor flat at 42 Leszno Street in

Wola Wola () is a district in western Warsaw, Poland. An industrial area with traditions reaching back to the early 19th century, it underwent a transformation into a major financial district, featuring various landmarks and some of the tallest offi ...

, occupied by four other tenants including her elder sisters Esther and Rose. As the Siege of Warsaw began they burnt all the books in their residence in order to avoid being persecuted for their political sympathies. The location of her residence was situated within the boundary of what became the Warsaw Ghetto. As conditions worsened in the Ghetto Hoffman Zgodzinski escaped, travelling to the countryside around Lublin by foot to work illegally as a farm labourer. However, she would later return to the Ghetto. On her return Hoffman Zgodzinski sustained herself working at a Többens factory producing garments for the German army. Back inside the Ghetto she was able to communicate to relatives outside through family friend Bernard Konrad Świerczyński, who would smuggle letters into the Ghetto. Following the start of the ''Grossaktion'' Hoffman Zgodzinski helped an acquaintance to smuggle their child out of the ''

Umschlagplatz ''Umschlagplatz'' () was the term used during The Holocaust to denote the holding areas adjacent to railway stations in occupied Poland where Jews from ghettos were assembled for deportation to Nazi death camps. The largest collection point ...

'', and later her own niece out of the Ghetto. She was able to avoid being transported to

Treblinka Treblinka () was the second-deadliest extermination camp to be built and operated by Nazi Germany in Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the Treblinka, ...

herself due to her factory job, and later escaped from transportation to a work camp by jumping off a train. Returning to Warsaw, Hoffman Zgodzinski went into hiding with the help of Świerczyński. She survived by getting work as a servant under the Polish pseudonym Franciszka Łańcucka. Following the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

she was sent to a transit camp, '' Durchgangslager 121'', in

Pruszków Pruszków is a city in east-central Poland, capital of Pruszków County in the Masovian Voivodeship. Pruszków is located along the western edge of the Warsaw metropolitan area. Pruszków is the largest city in the Warsaw metropolitan area outs ...

from which she escaped, before being recaptured, sent to a camp in

Częstochowa Częstochowa ( , ) is a city in southern Poland on the Warta with 214,342 inhabitants, making it the thirteenth-largest city in Poland. It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship. However, Częstochowa is historically part of Lesser Poland, not Si ...

, and once again escaping. After the Soviet liberation of Poland Hoffman Zgodzinski was able to return to Warsaw then

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

from where she traced her few surviving relatives.

Post-war

After the end of the war Hoffman Zgodzinski moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to live with her sister before emigrating to Canada with her two surviving siblings.

Death

Hoffman Zgodzinski passed away in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

on 21 February 2012.

References