Slide 1 Channing– Hello, my name is Wanda Ladzinski. I am 18 years old, and I live in Warsaw, Poland. I have been living here my whole life. I started working at this coffee shop when I was 13. Slide 2 Anna– Before the Germans invaded Poland, I went to a small country school. The class was fairly small, but I still enjoyed it.

Slide 3 Channing– The day of September 1, 1939, I was doing my daily routine of waiting on the customers at the coffee shop, and cleaning the dishes. The radio was on as usual, and since today wasn’t particularly busy, I decided to listen in. Slide 4 – Radio plays

Slide 5 Anna- The Germans came storming in, I had no idea what to expect. I didn’t know where to go. I was so scared. One of my first reactions, was to go home and help my family. Slide 6 Channing- When I got home I lead my family into out safe closet, and we waited there for a what felt like days, but what really was a couple hours. We heard footsteps outside the door, and all of our hearts stopped.

Slide 7 Anna- A German officer opened the door, I saw 3 or 4 officers behind him, they grabbed us from where we were sitting and dragged us outside into their vans. It happened so fast. Slide 8 Channing- As we were all being drug out of our houses, I remember seeing what looked to be hundreds, maybe thousands of soldiers all walking in straight lines. All of the soldiers had guns in hand, and were very intimidating.

Slide 9 Anna- As I stepped out of the dark van into the sunlight, I saw above my head, a sign that said “Treblinka”. I had no idea where I was. My family and I were split apart, and put into separate cabins. Slide 10 Channing- I was put into an extremely long line with kids of all ages. I couldn’t see where the line lead to, but what I did know, was that where I was did not look remotely safe.

Slide 11 Anna- When I got to the front of the line, I saw that I was receiving a new change of clothes, and getting my head shaved. I was terrified and disgusted. Slide 12 Channing- I was taken to my bunk. I was to share this room with around 60 women. My bed was tiny and made out of old wood. I had a no mattress or pillow.

Slide 13 Anna- I was woken up the next morning by a loud siren. I got dressed and was taken to my work station. My job was to plow the fields. It was hot and tiring job, we had 2 breaks all day, and each of them were really short. I was starving. Slide 14 Channing- The meals I received were terrible. It was extremely bland and looked like mush. The portions didn’t even cover half the plate.

Slide 15 Anna- Day after day I did this same routine. After a year of repetitive working, eating, and sleeping, I was taken away from my bunk mates, and brought to the place where I received my new clothes. Slide 16 Channing- A German officer handed me a new set of clothes, and told me that I was being released today. After changing, he opened the door, and said, “Go!” I walked out the door and got into the car that had been waiting for me. The driver drove me into the nearest town. I saw tons of women, who were very thin, with huge smiles on their faces. All of the women had been released that day also. I was finally free!

Reflection Anna- When I look back at everything that occurred during WWII, I think about how hard it was for me personally, and for people all around the world. The citizens at Pearl Harbor suffered thousands of losses. The men in D-day, the British civilians of the British blockade. They suffered immensely, they were being bombed and starved. In the concentration camp, it was extremely uncomfortable. Reflection cont. Channing- My experience in the concentration camp was incomparable. Nothing that bad has ever occurred again. I still think back to the days of working in the fields, and being screamed at for doing one thing wrong. It took me 3 months to get a correct eating schedule. I was so used to being fed 2 tiny meals a day. After I was released, I weighed 89 pounds. I was all skin and bones. I hope nothing this bad ever occurs again, the things that I saw in that camp have scarred me for life.