1934-1941: MILA STREET

October 2, 1934 | Edna born at 18 Miła Street, Warsaw, Poland. Warsaw, “Paris of the North.”

September 1, 1939 | Germany invades Poland — World War II begins

• Germany unleashes devastating surprise attack from air, land, and sea against Poland

September 1, 1939 | Edna at her best friend’s 5th birthday party when bombing starts (Age 4)

• Aerial bombing of Warsaw by Luftwaffe begins (The Luftwaffe begins Operation Wasserkante as part of the invasion of Poland. The first air attacks against Warsaw start.)

• First German armored units reach Wola district (September 8, 1939)

September 25, 1939 | Heaviest bombing of Warsaw (Yom Kippur) (Age 4)

September 28, 1939 | Warsaw surrenders (Age 4)

• German troops enter the city on September 29

• Over 2,000 tanks deployed in the assault

• Approximately 18,000 civilians died during the siege

October-November 1939 | German occupation begins (Age 5)

• Edna turns 5 on October 2, 1939

• Approximately 375,000 Polish soldiers became prisoners of war

January-March 1940 | 50,000 Jews living west of Warsaw forced to relocate (Age 5)

October 2, 1940 | Warsaw Ghetto order signed (Age 6)

• On October 2, 1940 – Edna’s sixth birthday – Ludwig Fischer, the Nazi Governor of the Warsaw District, signed the order creating the Warsaw Ghetto

• Destined to become the largest ghetto in all Nazi-occupied Europe

• Jewish residents throughout the city forced to abandon their homes and businesses, allowed to bring only what they could carry, and relocate into a designated area measuring just 1.3 square miles

October 1940 | Nazis issue death penalty for unauthorized leaving of ghetto and for Aryans helping Jews escape (Age 6)

October-November 1940 | Warsaw Ghetto established — Walls built around Edna’s neighborhood (Age 6)

• Edna’s family at 18 Miła Street already within ghetto boundaries

• All Jewish people in Warsaw had to relocate to the area of the ghetto by 15 November 1940

• In total 113,000 Gentile Poles had to relocate outside the ghetto to the “Aryan side” and were replaced by over 138,000 Jews from other districts of the capital

1940-1941 | Life in the ghetto (Age 6-7)

• Area of 1.3 square miles housing 489,000 people

• Almost 100,000 of those in the ghetto were children under the age of 14

• Gates controlled entry into the ghetto

• To survive, children smuggled food on their bodies, went through holes in the wall, under the wall, or scaled the wall

• The Germans set a food ration for Jews at 184 calories a day

• More than 5,000 people a month succumbed to starvation and disease

• Tens of thousands died from illness, starvation, or cold

• Others killed themselves to escape their hopeless lives

1942-1944: ARYAN SIDE

1942 | Edna and Miriam move to Aryan side (Age 7)

• Living with new Polish Christian identities

• Begin dangerous life in hiding outside the ghetto

April 18, 1942 | Turning point for the ghetto (Age 7)

• Nazi order for mass executions by the SS marks turning point for life in the Warsaw Ghetto

July 22-September 21, 1942 | Grossaktion Warsaw begins (Age 7)

• The Grossaktion Warsaw (“Great Action”) was a Nazi code name for the deportation and murder of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto

• Germans begin mass deportations from the ghetto

• Goal: deport 6,000 people per day from the ghetto

• 265,000-300,000 Jews from Warsaw deported to Treblinka death camp

• 70,000-80,000 Jews remained in the ghetto for forced labor

April 19-May 16, 1943 | Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (Age 8)

• On April 19, 1943, Passover eve, the Nazis began the final liquidation of the Warsaw ghetto

• Fierce fighting against the German SS and police ensued for nearly a month

• Jewish resistance fighters battle Nazi troops in the ghetto

• Miła 18 bunker at 18 Miła Street serves as headquarters of the Jewish Combat Organization (ŻOB)

• On May 8, 1943, surrounded by the Nazis after three weeks of struggle, ŻOB Commander in Chief Mordechaj Anielewicz and many fighters at the command bunker perished or took their own lives, refusing to perish at the hands of their enemies

• This final act of Jewish resistance became known as the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

May 1943 | Ghetto destroyed (Age 8)

• By mid-May 1943, the ghetto was annihilated, systematically burned to the ground

• The Great Synagogue of Warsaw was destroyed, a Nazi symbol of crushing the resistance

• The ghetto ceases to exist

• Edna and Miriam continue living on Aryan side with false identities

1943-1944 | Living on Aryan side (Age 8-9)

• Edna and Miriam survive in hiding with false Polish Christian identities

• The largest of all WWII partisan movements was the Polish resistance organization known as the Home Army

• Formed to liberate Poland from German occupation, the Home Army increased its forces in 1943 to stage a national uprising in 1944 – a battle plan code-named Operation Tempest

Late 1943/Early 1944 | Edna joins Polish Home Army (Age 9)

• After turning 9 on October 2, 1943, Edna becomes youngest Polish Home Army soldier

• Given code name “KAJTEK”

• Serves as runner for resistance operations

August 1, 1944 | Warsaw Uprising begins (Age 9)

• On August 1, 1944, the Warsaw Uprising began, also known as the August Uprising

• When the assault began, the Home Army’s strength was estimated at 350,000 nationwide

• The Home Army had between 12,000 and 20,000 armed soldiers in Warsaw, most with only small arms

• They fought a well-equipped German force of 20,000

• The battle for Warsaw was desperate and savage, with SS and German auxiliary units inflicting mass casualties on the civilian population

• Kajtek survives the Wola Massacre (approximately 50,000 civilians murdered in one week in the Wola district)

• Edna wounded by grenade during fighting

October 2, 1944 | Home Army surrenders (Age 10)

• On October 2, 1944 (Edna’s 10th birthday), the Home Army formally surrendered, and all fighting ceased

• After 63 days of intense fighting, the city was reduced to rubble

• They turned in their weapons and survivors were dispatched to prisoner-of-war camps

• On the day the Polish Home Army dispersed to POW camps, Edna awarded valor medal and medal for wounded

• Kajtek becomes youngest decorated Polish Home Army soldier in history

October 5, 1944 | March to captivity (Age 10)

• Germans march captured AK fighters to transit camp

• Edna marches 20km to transit camp Ozarow

• Germans treated captured AK combatants as POWs but sent thousands of captured Polish civilians to concentration camps in the Third Reich

• Out of 5,000 female Polish Home Army soldiers, 3,000 became POWs

• 1,721 female AK soldiers eventually sent to Oberlangen camp

1944-1945: PRISONER OF WAR CAMPS

October 1944-April 1945 | Stalag X-B Sandbostel then Stalag VI-C Oberlangen camps (Age 10)

• First sent to Stalag X-B near Sandbostel

• A couple months later transferred to Stalag VI-C near Oberlangen

• Stalag VI-C Oberlangen was the only Nazi camp for female POWs

• Edna and Miriam held as prisoners of war at Oberlangen

• Survived harsh conditions with 1,721 other female Polish Home Army soldiers

1945-1946: HAREN (MACZKÓW), GERMANY & ITALY

April 12, 1945 | Liberation (Age 10)

• Polish 1st Armoured Division, led by General Stanisław Maczek, liberates Oberlangen POW camp

• Over 1,700 female Polish soldiers who had been taken prisoner during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising are freed

May 8, 1945 | Victory in Europe Day — Germany surrenders (Age 10)

1945-1946 | Displaced persons camp in Haren, Germany (Age 10-12)

• Recovery and processing for resettlement

• Edna turns 11 on October 2, 1945

• Edna turns 12 on October 2, 1946

1946 | Under care of Polish Armed Forces in Italy (Age 11-12)

• After liberation, Polish forces (including Anders’ Army/Polish II Corps) established camps in Italy for soldiers and dependents who couldn’t return to Soviet-controlled Poland

• Edna and Miriam placed in Polish military care at Porto San Giorgio on Italy’s Adriatic coast

• Edna attends the Army Grammar School in Porto San Giorgio, part of the Polish military educational system

• As a decorated former Home Army soldier and minor without parents, she was a ward of the Polish Armed Forces

• Processing for onward migration to countries including Great Britain, the United States, Canada, and Australia

• As the Cold War began and Soviet control tightened over Poland, former resistance fighters faced impossible choices about returning to their homeland

Fall 1946 | Papal audience in Italy (Age 12)

• Pope Pius XII granted audiences each day to visiting Allied troops, addressing them in English, French, Polish and Italian

• Edna was awarded an audience with Pope Pius XII as a decorated Polish Catholic resistance fighter, likely in October or early November after her 12th birthday

• Presented as “Stefcia Skolkowska” with code name “Kajtek”

• One of the famous “Oberlangen Girls”

• The Pope never knew he was honoring a Jewish child who had outsmarted the Reich

1946-1948: DODDINGTON, ENGLAND

November 2, 1946 | Arrival in England (Age 12)

• Docked at Dover

• Processed through immigration (Edna has been issued a Polish forces identity card)

• Transported to large military facility in Doddington

• The Polish Resettlement Corps was established by the British government in May 1946 to assist Polish troops and their dependents who chose not to return to communist Poland

• Nearly 114,000 Polish veterans and their families would eventually resettle in Great Britain

1946-1948 | Extended stay at Doddington (Age 12-14)

• Longer processing and preparation period at the military facility

• Sprawling complex of identical two-story white buildings across the English countryside

• Edna turns 13 on October 2, 1947

• Edna turns 14 on October 2, 1948

1948-1951: ST. MARY’S CONVENT SCHOOL, LOWESTOFT, ENGLAND

Late Spring 1948 | Arrival at St. Mary’s Convent School (Age 13)

• Edna (Stefania) receives scholarship at Lowestoft St. Mary’s Convent and School

• Begins living as a Catholic student

• Continuing formal education in England

1948-1951 | Education and new identity (Age 13-16)

• Edna excels academically and socially at the convent school

• Many Holocaust survivors concealed their Jewish identity even after liberation, fearing continued antisemitism

• Edna turns 14 on October 2, 1948

• Edna turns 15 on October 2, 1949

• Edna turns 16 on October 2, 1950

• Edna turns 17 on October 2, 1951

October 17, 1950 | Official registration requirement (Age 16)

• The UK issues Stefania a Certificate of Registration A 424644 at Ipswich, East Suffolk

• Legal requirement under Aliens Order 1920 for foreign nationals reaching age 16

• Confirms stateless status and residence at St. Mary’s Convent, Lowestoft

• Documents previous Polish Army service as “Messenger”

August 28, 1951 | Travel document issued (Age 16)

• The International Refugee Organization issues Stefania Skolkowska travel document S.106204

• Document valid for all countries through August 28, 1952

• Issued by London Home Office under IRO authority

1951-1955: LOHAMEI HAGHETAOT (GHETTO FIGHTERS’ KIBBUTZ)

Early 1950s | Rescue to Israel (Age 16-17)

• Miriam had been living in Scotland, married to a Polish Catholic RAF soldier

• Yakov locates Edna at the convent and Miriam in Scotland from the International Red Cross

• Yakov travels to England and removes Edna from the convent without authorization to bring them back to Israel together

• Miriam leaves her Catholic RAF husband to join the escape to Israel

• Edna issued travel document by the International Refugee Organization August 28, 1951 and enters Israel August 30, 1951

• They relocate to Lohamei HaGetaot (Ghetto Fighters’ Kibbutz)

• Interpol searches for Edna (still a minor who disappeared from her legal guardians at the convent)

• Miriam divorces her Catholic husband and later marries a Jewish man in Israel (date uncertain)

• When the State of Israel was established in May 1948, it opened its doors to Jewish immigrants from around the world

• Between 1948 and 1951, Israel absorbed over 650,000 immigrants, nearly doubling its Jewish population

• This mass immigration, known as the “Ingathering of the Exiles,” brought survivors from Europe alongside Jews fleeing persecution in Arab countries

January 30, 1953 | Marriage (Age 18)

• Stefania Skolkowska marries Zvi Brill in Naharya

1955-1960: PETACH TIKVAH

Mid-1950s | Move to Petach Tikvah (Date uncertain)

• After their marriage, Edna and Zvi (also known as Harry) leave the kibbutz and start independent family life in Petach Tikvah

January 6, 1958 | Motherhood (Age 23)

• Edna and Zvi have their first child, Samuel

September 1, 1960 | Journey to America (Age 25)

• 21 years since the bombs dropped on her friend’s birthday party

• Edna, Zvi and Samuel sail from Haifa on the TSS Olympia to New York, New York

• By 1960, the United States had become home to approximately 140,000 Holocaust survivors

• Many found new lives while carrying the weight of their experiences

• The process of revealing one’s true identity after years of concealment remained a complex and deeply personal journey for many survivors

A NOTE ON IDENTITY

Edna reclaimed her Jewish identity upon reaching Israel and lived the rest of her life as a Jewish woman. Yet she kept her Catholic name, Stefania, as her middle name. She preserved all the cards and correspondence she had received from her convent friends and the nuns at St. Mary’s, along with her Catholic religious pictures and paraphernalia from those years.

This was not confusion about her faith. At age eight, little Edna became Stefcia, the Polish Catholic girl hiding on the Aryan side. At nine, Stefcia became Kajtek, the resistance fighter who carried a weapon through sewers and survived the Wola Massacre. Later, she became Stefania, the decorated war hero who received a papal medal and excelled at convent school. These identities weren’t merely disguises; they were the vessel of her survival, her bravery, and real relationships that sustained her through impossible years. To completely abandon them would be to erase the young resistance fighter who defied the Nazis and earned the respect of the Pope himself.

She was Edna Stefania Brill: a Jewish woman who honored the identities that had saved her life. The complexity wasn’t a burden to resolve but a testament to bear – proof that she had survived not by forgetting who she was, but by becoming more than one person ever should have to be.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Miriam, who survived the Warsaw Ghetto, the Aryan side, the Warsaw Uprising, and POW camps alongside her younger sister, took her own life in the early 1970s, leaping from her apartment building in Tel Aviv. She had escaped the Nazis, rebuilt her identity, found love, and started a new life in Israel. But liberation in 1945 freed her body, not her soul. Some wounds never heal. This is the unmeasured cost of survival—a reminder that the Holocaust’s victims include not only those who perished in the camps, but also those who carried unbearable memories for decades after.