The family of Aleksandra Walfisz nee Tugendrajch comes from Warsaw. Her parents spent World War II in the USSR where her elder brother Włodzimierz was born. Aleksandra Walfisz’s father was a soldier in the Kosciuszko Division and returned with it to Poland in 1944. Following his demobilisation, he brought in his wife and son to Poland. Initially, the Walfiszs settled down in the Recovered Territories, however, after Aleksandra Walfisz was born in 1948, they had moved to Warsaw. Aleksandra Walfisz’s father began to work in the Automobile Factory and her mother became a librarian.
During March ’68 events, Aleksandra was a student of psychology at the University of Warsaw. In 1970, following the example of her parents’ friend, Aleksandra Walfisz immigrated to Sweden. Soon after her arrival, while working in one of the Swedish hotels, she met her future husband, Arnold. In Sweden, she resumed and completed her studies and became a worker in a medical laboratory. In the 1980s, soon before the introduction of martial law in Poland, she brought in her parents to Sweden.
Arnold Walfisz’s parents, Adam and Celina, came from Wyszogrod. They spent World War II in the USSR, where their daughter was born. After the war, the family moved to Wałbrzych. Arnold Walfisz was born there in 1947. He finished primary school and a mechanical college there. In 1967-1969, he served in the army, and then, started to work in the gas enterprise in Wałbrzych and married a Polish woman.
At the end of the 1960s, Arnold Walfisz was dismissed from his work and decided to immigrate, encouraged by his mother. His wife could not leave Poland due to difficulties created by communist authorities. In effect, the couple decided to divorce. Arnold Walfisz left Poland in 1970, and his mother joined him a year later (a year after her arrival, she had died of cancer). In 1976, Arnold Walfisz’s sister immigrated to the United States.
Soon after his arrival to Sweden, Arnold Walfisz met his future wife, Aleksandra. After their marriage, he undertook various jobs while studying at the same time. Following his graduation, he had worked as an engineer of the labour environment for many years, producing furniture at the same time. The Walfisz couple have two children, one living in Sweden and the other one in Israel.
