Lusia with her guardian Kazimiera Nowak

Lusia Kałuszyner (Perla Spinka), a Jewish girl from Poland, deported with her aunt Sala Spinka and her daughter Janeczka from a labour camp in Bliżyn on 31 July 1944. The Jews in this is particular transport did not undergo selection on the Birkenau ramp and so everyone, including the few children among the adults, was sent to the camp. Lusia was given prisoner no. A-15515. After one of the selections in the camp, Lusia’s aunt and cousin were sent to the gas chamber, but she was cared for by other female prisoners and thus survived until liberation. On 29 January 1945, Lusia was put under the care of 16-year-old Kazimiera Nowak, a resident of Oświęcim. One and a half months later she was found by her mother, who had survived the ghetto in Piotrków Trybunalski (where they had been separated) and next a labour camp in Skarżysko. After they were reunited in Oświęcim, the mother and daughter moved to Łódź. In January 1946 they left Poland and settled in the Palestine. Photograph 1 shows Lusia with her guardian Kazimiera Nowak. Source: APMA-B