Helena Spandel

* 1928

  • "[…] (Mom) was wearing normally at home and only dressed a special Silesian dress to the church. Her sister made a black dress with a white collar to a coffin. And we had to take Silesian dress and change it. And a wedding apron (part of Cieszyn costume) that she wanted to have. And we put it under dress, under apron, and she had a black one with a grey design. And all school children were there."

  • "[…] I remember that there was a church chapel near an orphanage. And we went to this chapel with my cousin to decorate an altar. And we heard someone playing the organ. There were German soldiers […] and one of them was playing the organ […]. We went downstairs and had a conversation with them because we could speak German, we attended German school. They started visiting my cousin to get some eggs and other kinds of food. We became friends and they visited us after the war, thirty years later."

  • "[…] My husband [… ] I met my husband in such a way: I was a bridesmaid of my cousin and he came with his cousin. The party was near my house; his name was Gumola. I met my fiancé during a dance at this party. He was visiting me for two and a half year. And he said to take pity on him because it was so far from his house. Therefore, I had to marry because I felt sorry for him […] And I met my mother-in-law here because Irka Foltynowa, my friend took milk from her. And she said: -'I’m going to get some milk. Come with me.' And I met my Karol there but I found it out only at the wedding."

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    Kończyce Małe, Polska, 20.08.2016

    (audio)
    délka: 01:06:46
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Slezsko: Paměť multietnického regionu
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We had no holiday

Helena Spandel - the photograph from the period of youth
Helena Spandel - the photograph from the period of youth
zdroj: Helena Spandel, Ośrodek Pamięć i Przyszłość

Helena Spandel, nee Czakon, was born on March 24, 1928 in Pruchna, which is a part of Cieszyn district. She was raised in a clerical-peasant family, professing Catholicism. Her father Karol Czakon run a restaurant and shop. Her mother was a housewife and raised six children. Czakon family lived in a building of railway station in Pruchna. They also had a house in the countryside. Her mother, Elżbieta nee Zawadzka, was raised in an adoptive family in Pruchna. Helena attended Polish primary school in Pruchna and continued education at German school after an outbreak of World War II in 1939. In 1945, Czakon family evacuated to Kończyce Wielkie to their relatives‘ house and Helena‘s father buried valuables in seventeen places in the garden. After the war, Helena attended Cieszyn secondary school and attended Sisters of Mercy of St. Borromeo School in Cieszyn for a year. Then, she completed an intensive one-year trade course and found a job in an administration department of the dairy in Pruchna. She soon met her future husband, Karol Spandel who came from Kończyce Małe. Two and a half years later, Helena and Karol got married. Five years later, they decided to build a house in Kończyce Małe. Her two sons came into the world: Stanisław and Czesław and Helena combined career with bringing up children. She later moved to the Dairy Cooperative in Kończyce Małe. Helena lives now at the same house with a son Czesław and his family. She speaks Cieszyn dialect and Polish fluently.