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1935–1975

Halina Czeszak

Halina Czeszak was born in Poznań in 1935. In 1940 or 1941 she was stolen from her family and underwent a process of Germanization at a special Lebensborn centre.

Halina pictured in Germany with an unknown woman who could have been her adopted grandmother
Halina pictured in Germany with an unknown woman who could have been her adopted grandmother

Her name was changed to Uta and she was given to a German family in Eisleben in Saxony-Anhalt. Her German mother’s name was Ernestine Maurer and the father was called Richard Maurer. They lived in a big house near a meadow. The father wore a grey uniform and was away a lot because of the war.

Halina was found by the Red Cross and returned to Poland in 1947 or 1948 when she was about 12 years old. With her Polish parents dead, and having spent a happy childhood in Germany, Halina got back in touch with her German mother soon after the war ended and they stayed in close contact. 
Halina’s son Dziekan remembers this period well: “My German grandmother used to send me packages with clothes, toys, those kind of things. I had a lot of things from East Germany that we didn’t have in Poland,” he said.