Henryka Grzyb
Private Coeducational Middle and Secondary School in Zagórze
How I learned in secret during the occupation
When the war started in 1939, I had finished only the third grade of elementary school, so I was still attending school during the occupation until I finished the seventh grade.
We all know what the curriculum was during the German reign. We also know how much the youth lost. But thanks to the Polish teachers and our strong will, we managed to study outside school. Our teachers lent us books with true information, not twisted by German censorship. We read those books while on the lookout for German spies. Our daily classes aroused suspicion, so we had to change the meeting place several times.
There were five of us, all girls. We were taught by a strict and demanding teacher. I was 15 at the time, as were my classmates, so our thoughts were more serious. We were thinking about various problems portrayed in books, doing written exercises, which we later discussed, and we also talked about various topics with great enthusiasm. This brought us satisfaction because we knew that the more we learned and worked, the stronger our society would be. That is why even now, when we are free of our greatest enemy, we must work twice as hard to join the ranks of the builders of the Polish State as soon as possible.