Holocaust survivor shares her story at St. Jude Church

Speaking before a crowd of listeners at St. Jude the Apostle Church in Lewes Nov. 7, Ann Jaffey told her family’s story.

A Holocaust survivor from Poland, she spoke with intensity, yet also with gratitude, for the audience and for the will that fueled her escape.

“The Jews weren’t able to walk on the sidewalk,” Jaffey said. “I would see my dog running around on the yards and sidewalk, and say he’s better off than me.”

When Jaffey was 11 years old, the Nazis took over her small village in eastern Poland. The next three years would be a time of horror and perseverance.

“The first thing they did was take away our human rights. They made us all wear a gold star and treated us as if we were less than human,” she said. “The killing started immediately.” 

The Nazis would dig graves directly in front of the houses of Jewish families and kill Jews they did not see as ‘useful,’ she said.

There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, especially for Jaffey’s family, including her parents and three siblings, one a baby boy only 20 days old. Jaffey’s mother was a seamstress, and that was deemed useful by one of the Nazi captains.

“[The captain] told my mother that he wanted dresses for his wife, so he’d let her live for a few more weeks. It doesn’t seem like a long time, but it was a lot at that point,” Jaffey said. “He told her she could keep only two children alive, but she was a strong woman. She demanded all four, so he said OK.”

On Nov. 1, 1942, a guerrilla group attacked the area, attempting to save the remaining Jews. Her father was recognized by one of the guerilla soldiers, so the whole family fled, but they were unprepared for the long journey ahead.

“We didn’t have clothes. My one brother only had a suit jacket,” Jaffey recalled. “I had shoes but they were scorched when I slept too close to a fire. Eventually we cut a potato sack for my feet. It was one of the harshest winters. I once laid by the fire and wished to die due to the cold, the lice infestation, and being tired and hungry.”

Of 350 Jews in Jaffey’s hometown, 32 survived, including Jaffey, her parents and two of her siblings.

For 20 months, the family trekked through Poland, not sure where to go or where their next meal would come from. They survived entirely off their instincts, strength, and help from others.

Jaffey remembered farmers who provided milk for the infant, a woman who gave Jaffey shoes, and others who helped the family. “There were some extraordinary individuals that we shouldn’t forget,” she said “Though the world seemed so full of hate, there were still some people with love.

“My father always said, if one of us survives, please don’t let the world forget what the Nazis did and what others did to help.”

On July 4, 1944, the area of Poland where they resided was liberated by the Soviet Army. The family’s struggle had finally reached a breathing point.

The family ended up in Russia. They heard of Polish citizens being allowed to go back to Poland and knew it was their only chance of making it to the United States. They eventually traveled back to Poland and were smuggled into Canada. They made their way to the United States from there.

“If ever one was grateful for this country,” Jaffey said, “it’s us, the survivors.”

She moved to Wilmington with her husband in 1975, where she resides till this day.

Jaffey now speaks to various audiences and schools, not only to share her story about being one of a few Polish survivors, but to spread her message of love and kindness.

“Are we born with hate in our hearts? Do we see little babies hating each other?” Jaffey asked. “No. It is learned,” she said. “In my village, they learned this hate from the church, from the priest.

“Hate is taught to us, through childhood. Kindness is also something that is learned when we were very young,” Jaffey said, “and we need to keep teaching it. We need to keep love and kindness in our households so that the children grow up with it in their hearts.”

Jaffey plans to continue telling her story as long as she can, sharing with others the lessons she learned about determination and love.