Class 3b
Toruń, 17.06.1946
How I studied during the occupation
Having been displaced by the Germans in 1940, we went to Warsaw. I attended an elementary school there until 1943. However, it was an official school: except for a few geography lessons (if one may call them so) taught by the school principal, the remaining subjects were taught with the full knowledge of the authorities. It was only in 1943 that I started taking underground classes. They were held at Śniadeckich Street 8, in the building of the former middle school that had been converted into a vocational school, which was a cover-up for teaching forbidden subjects.
We were divided into classes. Each clandestine subject had its “vocational” counterpart, for instance Polish was taught as correspondence and geography as workshops. As for the number of students, there were probably about 30 of us. I continued studying in this manner until 1944, until the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising. My course corresponded to the first grade of pre-war middle school. We also used textbooks written for the pre-war middle schools. We could buy them either in street-sales or in regular and second-hand bookshops.
When it comes to my friends, the majority of them were members of various political organizations, such as the Scouts or combat groups.
At first the school principal was Professor Miernik, but he was later shot in the streets of Warsaw. He was succeeded by Professor Kopczewski. Our class teacher was Professor Majeranowski, who also taught history and Polish. Geography was taught by Professor Drewko, zoology by Professor Kaczyńska, Latin by Professor Lipczewski; unfortunately I don’t recall the names of the remaining teachers.
The Germans sniffed around and went to great lengths to discover any visible trace of clandestine teaching. They often conducted surprise searches, during which they inspected our bags and even frisked the students.
One day, as I was walking home from school along Marszałkowska Street, I was suddenly stopped by a patrol of the German gendarmerie. One of the gendarmes – there were two of them – demanded to see my ID, while the other reached for the notebooks that I held in my hand. Among them were history, geography and Latin notebooks, as well as a Polish textbook. While the first gendarme handed me back my ID, the other kept flicking through the notebooks. I prayed silently to get out of that mess. Luckily the German must have been unable to read Polish, as he returned my things without a word. As I was leaving, a piece of paper slipped from under the book cover – I had once drawn P on it, the symbol which the Germans hated and for which you could end up in Pawiak. Fortunately neither of the gendarmes noticed that, and I dashed home without as much as a glance back.
Our studies were interrupted by the Warsaw Uprising, which engulfed the whole of Warsaw. For the period of its duration any studying was out of the question, and everybody strived to help the insurgents in some other, more tangible way. It was only some two months after the fall of the Uprising that I started attending clandestine classes once again.
At that time I lived in Głowno, in the vicinity of Łowicz. We studied in more rough and difficult conditions than before. We met in a room by a shoemaker’s workshop which was frequented by the Germans. This time my class consisted only of five boys and six girls, all of whom came from various parts of the country. Unfortunately the teaching staff was far less numerous than during my first clandestine classes. The textbooks also posed a greater problem, as they were hardly available. However, we managed somehow to overcome this obstacle. This time I did the second grade of middle school.
My new friends also belonged to a scouting organization, which had many members in these parts.
The local community treated us very kindly, helping us to the best of their abilities.
I continued my studies until the Red Army came.