– If in my homeland, despite the sad experience of the war, tendencies against life are to ripen, I believe in the voice of all midwives, all honest mothers and fathers, all honest citizens in the defence of life and the rights of the child – said Stanisława Leszczyńska, “Angel of Life from Auschwitz”. March 11 marks the 51st anniversary of the death of a midwife, who carried a message of hope and life in the drama of the concentration camp.
Stanisława Leszczyńska had large hope that in Poland, which experienced the drama of war and camps, attempts to hit human life will meet with opposition primarily to those who witness the birth and transfer of life. It itself was a sign of courage in the reality of business and German concentration camps, in which people were subjected to cathartic labor, hungry, humiliated, and newborns most frequently killed just after birth.
Midwives for 40 years helped women and took birth to their children. As she mentioned, she liked and valued her profession. She loved children very much. – MThat's why I had so many patients I had to work 3 days without sleep. I worked prayerfully on my lips, and actually I haven't had a bad accident all my professional life. – described in “A midwife study from Oświęcim”.
Stanisława Leszczyńska and her husband and 4 children lived in Łódź. erstwhile Germany entered Poland and the Second planet War began, Stanisława became active in aid in the Łódź ghetto, for which she was arrested in 1943. Later she and her daughter Sylwia were transported to the Auschwitz camp, where they stayed until his liberation in January 1945.
She was the only midwife in the camp, and despite the difficulties, she brought relief to women who had children under these severe conditions. And the conditions in the transportation barracks were terrible, as she described in the report. Women awaiting transportation were crowded, lay practically on the bunks of boards, frequently lying among another patients suffering from infectious diseases. Nevertheless, all the children she received were born alive, and the births were without major complications. Stanislawa mentioned that erstwhile problems arose in childbirth she asked for aid “Mother of God, put on at least 1 slipper and come rapidly to the rescue”.
In the camp, the midwife herself had to apply for basic medicines, dressings, clothes, and diapers for children. In order to get it, she frequently sacrificed her own hunger rations. Everything was missing, rats attacked women and newborns, wounded their faces, bit their hands and legs. Stanislawa herself spent many hours trying to defend weakened women and children from rodent attacks.
Already at the beginning of the camp, orders were given to kill newborns. They were drowned in water by German women guarding the block. Leszczyńska powerfully opposed this order, aware that opposition to orders of SS men and Dr. Josef Mengele threatened to die. – No, never. You can't kill children! – she responded erstwhile she heard Dr. Mengele's order.
Later, erstwhile any children were left alive and exported, Stanisława Leszczyńska marked them with a tattoo, hoping that after the war their mothers would have a chance to find them. Each newborn kid was besides baptized.
– In the concentration camp, all children – despite all predictions – were born alive, beautiful and fat. By resisting hatred, nature struggled for its rights with stubborn, unbreakable reserves of vitality. Nature is simply a midwife's teacher. Together with her she fights for her life and promotes the most beautiful thing in the planet – the grin of a child – she wrote.
Stanisława Leszczyńska accepted over 3,000 children in the camp. Women called her "mama." The camp experience was recorded in the 1965 Oświęcim midwife report.
She was an highly modest, sensitive, caring individual for all female waiting for the baby. As a midwife, she passed on her cognition to others, and everyone, including her son, the doctor, reminded them that human life is sacred. – I can't believe you're always going to have a abortion in your life due to the fact that then you can't think of yourself as my son. – she said.
Stanisława Leszczyńska died on 11 March 1974 in Łódź at the age of 78. Thousands of people came to her funeral, including children who survived the camp. In 1996, on the centenary of her birth, her remains were deposited in the Church of the presumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Łódź, and in 1992 the beatification process began.
AG/stanislawaleszczynska.pl, Sunday.pl
