Józefina Wardenga was born in Warsaw, a graduate in political science. She is a wife and mother of Natan, Tobiasz, Benio and Noemi. She was as the office coordinator at the Etz Chaim Synagogue.
As she emphasizes, she comes from a multicultural family - her mother arrived in Poland from Shymkent in Kazakhstan, and her father is Polish, from near Grodno. Before moving to Warsaw, her grandparents lived in Uzbekistan and then in the United States. For many years, her paternal great-grandparents lived in Romania. Józefina Wardenga inherited her Jewish heritage from these great-grandparents, who were highly assimilated Jews from Austro-Hungary.
Józefina learned of her Jewish roots from her father. What prompted the conversation was a question about a poster with Hebrew letters, which hung in their apartment. Inspired by this information, she began attending Hebrew lessons at the Schorr Centre on ul. Twarda. There, she met people from the PUSŻ (Polish Union of Jewish Students), which she joined and where she soon met her future husband, Adam.
In 2002, as part of the Sochnut (the Jewish Agency for Israel), Józefina Wardenga went to Israel. There, she volunteered with the emergency medical service, assigned to an ambulance in Ashkelon. This gave her the opportunity to enter various homes and experience Israel from a deeper perspective - many immigrant families, significant local poverty and the everyday life of the country which is inaccessible to tourists.
Although she feels that Israel is like a second home to her, she does not intend to make aliyah (immigrate to Israel). Life in Poland provides her with a greater sense of security, especially when it comes to childcare and work. Here, in Śląsk Cieszyński, she also has her favourite place, to where she considers moving after raising her children.
