By Lynda Kraar
My last name is Siedlecki and no one else can even pronounce it.
Siedlecki
A Polish nobleman from the village of Siedlce
sometime around 1500
A coat of arms with a cavalryman and the cross
Siedlecki
The people of Siedlce
their families
their descendants
their ancestors
Siedlecki
Daniel Siedlecki, founder of Siedlce –
not to be confused with Daniel Siedlecki
father of Abram Mojsze Siedlecki
not of Siedlce but of the Jewish holy city Konskie: My father.
My last name is Siedlecki and no one else can even pronounce it.
My Daniel Siedlecki was not the nobleman, no.
But he did become a sergeant in World War I
notable for a Jew – miracle for a Jew.
Siedlecki
We numbered hundreds
Abram, Daniel, Chaja
Freda, Eliezer, Ruchel
Rivke, Ari, Chaim
Matisyahu, Yidl, Shmiel
Gitl, Sureh, Leibish
We populated the farms and factories
of Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Opochno and Stuznow.
We morphed into Anklewiczes, Sawickis and Zlotogurskis.
Siedlecki
The other ones – the Jans, Tadeuszes and Antons –
they were chased from their towns
to the cold Russian gulags
to the colder English world --
only to relearn their culture
and yearn for a strong, free Poland.
They formed veterans associations
and sung songs of the Polish air force
accompanied by accordions and Sliwowicz,
poured out in thimbles at the Polish Legion hall
as if that would make it right
My last name is Siedlecki and no one else can even pronounce it.
Our Siedleckis, the Jewish ones, stayed behind in Poland.
Our Siedleckis were counted and herded
into the ghettos of Konskie, Tomaszow, Warsaw and Lodz.
Our Siedleckis went by train to places with names like
Poznan
Birkenau and
Auschwitz
Our Siedleckis went up the chimney
after gasping and choking
on Xyklon B
until blood poured from our ears and eyes.
Women, children, naked…
Our Siedleckis, the glorious Siedleckis who had orchards
and served in the Polish brigade
and celebrated weddings and births –
they dwindled to one Siedlecki…
My last name is Siedlecki and no one else can even pronounce it.
…my father, Abram Siedlecki,
who was not part of the veterans association
who was not decorated
whose only achievement was to escape the death camp
while the Allies were bombing the factories of IG Farben
Siedlecki
Were it only up to the Nazis and not also up to God,
he would have been known only as
111855 –
the number tattooed on his arm
which made me proud to be a
Siedlecki
My last name is Siedlecki and no one else can even pronounce it.
That is the name of the first group I ever saw fit to join on Facebook.
