A gift for mother

In 1939, thirteen-year-old Riva Feldman (Regina Zielinski) learned to sew at school, and with a bit of help from her mother, made a long white nightdress for her. She was in the 6th grade and it was to be the last schooling that she got. Nevertheless, these skills helped her to survive.

Born in 1925 in Siedliszcze, Poland, to a traditional Jewish family consisting of her parents Golda and Josef, sister Friedl and three brothers, Max, Paul and Teodor. When the Germans invaded the region, the family were forced into the Siedliszcze ghetto from May 1941 until October 1942. On 22 October, they were sent to Staw labour camp and then in December to Sobibor. Her entire family were murdered upon arrival. Riva, however, was selected for her useful skills; she was taken to the barracks with 11 other girls and given the job of knitting socks for the German army.

Rumours had circulated about a planned uprising in Sobibor and, the night before 14 October 1943, inmates were told to be prepared. On 14 October Riva escaped through the cut electric wire to the forest and after three days of hiding, made her way into the town. Here she acquired a school friend’s birth certificate and, using her name, Regina Wojciszyn, obtained papers to enter Germany. In November 1943 she travelled to Frankfurt where she found work as a nanny for a German family. Regina retained the name of her Polish Catholic school friend even after the war. After the war, Regina made her way home to Siedliszcze to discover that people had occupied her house. She walked to the neighbouring village of Majan, to a farmer who was a friend of her grandmothers. She learned that her grandparents had been taken to the cemetery with other old Jews and executed. The farmer, who had safeguarded some of the Feldman family belongings, gave Regina the option of choosing from the possessions. She chose the nightdress. It is the only memento that she has of her mother.