Christmas this year was a sad and difficult one. The wind blew, it snowed and the temperature dropped to minus 15 degrees centigrade. Not all our rooms could be heated. One reason was lack of fuel. Another was that during the restoration work stoves were not installed in all rooms. The whole house was on central heating but we did not have an allocation of coke, so this did not operate. Thus everyone gathered in the warmest room which was our salon at the time .
This is where I spend most of my time because this is where I study and this is where everyone else is. Apart from the salon the kitchen is the warmest place. So Freda asked Mama if she could move her bed in there. Of course, Mama agreed and Maryla and I often sit there.
Although we are in our own home, cold and hunger make themselves felt a bit. We did have big reserves of food but Mama gave away a lot of it to those who had none. Some was stolen while we were away from the Capital and the rest became mixed with the debris when the enemy bomb struck the annex in the yard. They did not even manage to recover any sealed jars from the ruins. We did not have the traditional Christmas tree in the house this year. They were on sale and my parents could have bought one. However, I could understand their intention. Although there was no tree Mama again made sure that everyone received something to wear as the traditional Christmas gift because it was very cold already. So, for the cost of a tree, everyone received, for example, a scarf, cap or gloves.
Many tears were shed at the sparsely-laden Christmas Eve table. For how can wishes be made when, only a few days previously the Nazis committed such a massacre at Wawer. Is it not terrible? How can there be joy at this time when a mourning veil covers God's manger?
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