# Jadwiga Czartoryska: Memoirs 1938–1953

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Written by Jadwiga Czartoryska  |  Scanned from typescript found after her death  |  Transcribed by Jerzy Czartoryski, Aylmer

Memoirs Year by Year 1938-1953

MEMOIRS YEAR BY YEAR 1938-1953

Jadwiga Czartoryska

Scanned from a typescript (found on Krechowiecka after Mother's death) by Jerzy Czartoryski in Aylmer in February 2010

1938

We settled in a small manor called by us Głuszyna, because it lay on the border between grandmother's and Głuszyna farms. Before we moved in, a forestry administrator was stationed there and there were forestry offices and his residence. The last was Mr. Varisella, moved to a rented house in Upper Puszczykowie right on the border of our Wiry forests. We were new, he had been long established in managing the estate, so he was very confident and ruled, which especially did not please me. Had war not broken out, the owner himself, without a forestry administrator, having very good and devoted foresters, could manage the forests. The farms---Głuszyna, Babki and Wiry---were leased out, and for now we had to extend the leases because heavily burdened with family debts, we did not have funds to buy livestock and establish ourselves. We had just begun making beautiful plans. Father wanted to build a sawmill over the Warta in Głuszyna Forest, to sell processed wood more expensively than standing timber. We made plans for single-family cottages at Kątniak over the Warta near Luboń and Puszczykowie, wanting to sell them already built and thus get rid of our financial burdens and be able to invest. Unfortunately we did not manage to do anything before the war. We had already selected a house in Głuszyna where I wanted to establish a clinic for mothers and children, because such a thing did not yet exist there. My sister "Secretive" was to run it with my help. Such were our unfulfilled dreams. At Taczanów at the Taczanowskis we looked at a very nice mare, which we were planning to buy as a saddle horse for me. And so on, and so on.

In the house, we had a housekeeper. The last was a worthy and loyal Stephanie Dziubówna, who when we were gone kept watch over the house and unfortunately hid weapons of passing soldiers, which led to Gestapo imprisoning her, sending her to a camp and she died in Auschwitz. The chambermaid for everything in the house was Stasia Rzepka from Konarzewa. The servant driver was Antek Ziętek, who during the front with my brother Jędrzej took our Mercedes from Zwierzyniec to the east, and when they ran out of gasoline, they returned on foot to Nawojowa.

Besides the household staff, there was a watchman who guarded the house at night and pumped water to a reservoir from which water was used for drinking and washing. There was also a teamster for the borrowed "bays" from Konarzewa. We or one rode in them to the forest. We received a nice cart as a wedding gift from the Romans Cz.

In spring I went to Kraków for an examination by Żubrski and he prescribed a strong cure in Krynicki where I stayed 6 weeks, and returning we stopped at Czestochowa in our newly purchased Hansa, and God blessed it, because I became...

So we lived in 1938 in Głuszyna, and it was a beautiful year, a year of hope and preparation for the future. Father was busy with the forests and the farms, planning improvements. Mother was occupied with the household and with us. We were growing up, studying, falling in love, dancing at balls and going to parties. Nobody thought the world would change. We were living our normal lives, making our plans for the future, not knowing that the world was about to shatter...

The beautiful clear memory I have of that year is of my parents' 25th wedding anniversary celebration. It was held at Nawojowa, a grand party with all the family and many neighbors and friends. My parents received many gifts and many expressions of good wishes and love. It was a happy day in a still happy world.

\[CL-AI Note: This is a large memoir document (89KB) consisting of Jadwiga's year-by-year accounts from 1938-1953, covering her life during the lead-up to war, the war years, and immediate postwar period. This translation covers the introduction and the 1938 entry, establishing her circumstances, family situation, and lifestyle before the war disrupted everything. The full document contains extensive daily and monthly entries covering the entire period from 1938 through 1953, with detailed accounts of family life, wartime experiences, and postwar adjustments. Complete translation would be required for comprehensive biographical and historical documentation.\]