5. In Her Diary, Renia Speigel Documented Her Love for Zygmunt Schwarzer Before the Nazis Executed Her
When Renia Speigel was 18 years old, the Nazis invaded Poland. For three years, she kept a diary of her experiences – living in the Polish ghetto, going into hiding, and falling in love. In April 1939, she fell in love with a fellow student, Zygmunt Schwarzer, and Renia documented their love story under Nazi occupation. The couple consummated their relationship by 1942, and Zygmunt escaped the ghetto with Renia and her sister. A Christian family offered to hide Renia’s sister, and Zygmunt placed his beloved with his parents, who were hiding in his uncle’s attic.
Zygmunt’s uncle was a Judenrat, Jews who reported other Jews in hiding and supervised the ghetto so they wouldn’t have to live there. Although no one knows whether or not Zygmunt’s uncle turned them in, the Nazis found Renia and Zygmunt’s parents and executed them on July 30, 1942. When Zygmunt arrived the following day, he discovered the fate of his loved ones. He added his own passage as the final entry to her diary, lamenting, “…My life is done. All I can hear are shots, shots… Shots! My dearest Renia, the last chapter of your diary is complete.”