Objects

Application from Stanisława Olchawa addressed to the Presidium of the County National Council in Wołomin, dated 19 March 1957. She requests the Council to determine the content of her and Kazimierz Olchawa’s marriage certificate. The document is handwritten on a single page of a graph paper sheet, in Polish. Underneath the main body of the text, there is a hand signature of Stanisława Olchawa. The application includes vital data of the married couple. According to the testimony of Elżbieta Chmielewska – a friend of Marta Olchawa (born Bauer) – Stanisława Olchawa was never married. The identity of Kazimierz Olchawa has not been established. In the application, Stanisława Olchawa states that she is the daughter of Jan Olchawa and Katarzyna née Joniec and that Kazimierz Olchawa is a professor of music born in Lvov (similarly to Marta’s biological father, Izydor Marek Bauer, who was a violinist). Marta Olchawa was rescued from the Lvov ghetto. Her biological parents, Ernestyna née Kutin and Izydor Marek Bauer, died in the Jewish quarter, but earlier managed to find a new home for their child. Stanisława Olchawa became the girl’s foster mother. Marta took on her surname. | Text by Monika Harchut