Zofia Odrobna (1917–1960): the mother to “lost” children

After moving from the Polish school in Cologne-Mühlheim, Zofia continued her work as a teacher in the Polish school district in Lippstadt. When she was not teaching she was continually plagued by health problems and had to be treated in hospital on several occasions . She wrote about her complaints in the following terms: 

“(…) Now I've also been ill for the whole week. Since I ate too much cucumber salad I have been restricted for the whole time to a diet of chamomile and white bread and I can't stand the sight of it any more. Today I had some fruit soup and potatoes. A few days ago I had [illegible word, note by the author ŁW] with the illness. Since there was no white bread to be had anywhere, all my acquaintances went out looking for it in the town and early the next morning I got three loaves; later that day another person brought me some bread and I had to turn it down otherwise I would have had a whole cartload. Even the priest joked that only under these circumstances could I get ill again from eating too much (…)”. 

In the first few years after the war Zofia was not particularly interested in politics, unlike Kazimierz Odrobny, who was surrounded by many people from the National Party (Stronnictwo Narodowe). That said we cannot entirely exclude the fact that her closeness to Kazimierz was responsible for arousing her later interest in this form of social commitment in Germany. Whatever the case, in 1947 she was already prepared to emigrate from occupied Germany to a country recognised by the Polish exile government in London (Rząd Polski na Uchodźstwie w Londynie). Indeed she applied for a passport at the Polish General Consulate in Dublin at the start of January 1948. Despite her wish to leave the country and the fact that she had taken initial steps to do so, she never realise these plans. In one of her letters she wrote the following to her family:

“(…) And what would you say when I was to travel to a place where many of my acquaintances have already moved? It is a long way away and Mr O. wants to go there.” In the next letter she remembers: “(…) Two days ago a transport left from here. I'm still having treatment for my little liver and I dare not risk such a long journey, especially during the winter. Herr Prof. O[drobny] is trying the whole time to explain to me that it wouldn't do my love for my family any harm if I was to remain here a little longer. O. is truly my friend and I am grateful to him that my bouts of depression are not so terrible as they once were. He respects me a lot and demonstrates his attachment to me whilst I, for my part, am continually trying to make it clear to him that it's not worth bothering his head about such Cinderella like me. He has also written to my brothers to ask them to tell him what your living conditions are like and if you need any help. I am still teaching in the school and am also working in a home for orphans (…)”.