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According to Krzysztof they moved to a room in the villa owned by an engineer Tolloczko. In the pre-WWII Warsaw telephone directory there is only one Tolloczko living in Kolonia Staszica: the engineer Ludwik Tolloczko at 7 Prezydencka St. 

Kolonia Staszica, another very posh neighborhood in Warsaw, was very close to the city center which enabled Krysia to very quickly improve her German and learn typing and stenography.

 

She must have been a very quick student because soon afterwards she started working as a secretary to the director of the Procurement Department in the former factory "Avia" now taken over by the Germans and renamed Mechanischen Werkstaetten Neubrandenburg (MWN). 

The MWN’s main client was the German air force, Luftwaffe, and working there must have provided, in addition to some income, a very good Ausweis in case she was stopped by a German patrol.

Krzysztof thought that Krysia had a bad conscience because of this contribution to the German war effort. "I tried to convince her - he wrote - that the "ironclad" Ausweis protecting her from accidental arrests ... was more important and that she should concentrate on surviving as the life of two people depended on it".

In Krysia's album there is her passport photo obviously removed, at some later stage, from her MWN Ausweis. On the verso she wrote her address: Filtrowa 30/6, which is very close to the Prezydencka street. There are also two photos under which Krysia wrote “On the Filtrowa St.” I asked Krzysztof about Filtrowa but he did not recall it at all. 

At first, I thought that "Filtrowa 30/6" written on the verso of the photo must be a fake address so that she cannot be located in case the Gestapo is searching for her. It would make sense to place the fake address close to the correct one so that if she is seen in the neighborhood it will not be suspicious. 

But the large building with its quite unique rows of windows (today the Polish Ministry of Defense) which can be seen at the background of both photos and which, as it seems, could only be photographed in this way from 30 Filtrowa St. seems to indicate that the address was correct after all.


The MWN where Krysia started to work during the second half of 1941 was on Praga, not very far away from her previous address at Saska Kepa.  She would, most probably, take tram number 25 up to its last station, in front of the Praga Basilica. As she soon discovered, her co-workers from the MWN office would gather every day at the Basilica and, after their morning prayers, walk together to the factory. As witnessed by some photos taken on the steps of the Basilica, Krysia soon became a part of this routine. She told Krzysztof that these church visits had helped her to keep her nerves under control. 

       1941
 

Filtrowa 30 (1935) - Fotopolska.eu.png

The building on 30 Filtrowa St. on a 1935 photo (Source: Fotopolska.eu). The open air balcony supported by two pillars is, most probably, where the following photos have been taken.

Photo 47.jpg

Krysia and Zofia on Filtrowa St. In the background: the building which, as it seems, can only be seen in this way from 30 Filtrowa St.

Photo 51 col..jpg
Photo 59.jpg
Ausweiss (ZIH).png

An Ausweis issued to an employee of the Schultz & Co in Warsaw, most probably quite similar to the one issued to Krysia by the MWN: "The company Schultz & Co Ltd in Warsaw is supervised by the Headquarters of the Warsaw Armaments District. The bearer of this Ausweis shall not be detained without the prior consent of the Headquarters of the Warsaw Armaments District". (Source: ZIH, Warsaw). On the next page of the document there was a designated space for its bearer's photo. 

Krysia's photo removed from an MWN Ausweis and its verso. The date of birth is wrong, most probably in order to prevent the Gestapo from obtaining her true birth certificate from Lodz..

Photo 59 verso.jpg

XXXXXXXX

Photo 45.jpg
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Photo 43 col.jpg

On Pole mokotowskie, a vast green space in the middle of the city, not far from Kolonia Staszica.

Avia, 1948.png
Photo 53 col.jpg
The Praga Basilica.png

The "Avia" factory on a 1948 photo. In the background is the office wing where Krysia and Jerzy worked and in the foreground the manufacturing hall where later on Krzysztof worked (Source: Fotopolska.eu).

The Praga Basilica soon after its inaugurations in the early 1920s (Source: twoja-praga.pl).

Photo 54.jpg

Krysia and her co-workers in front of the Praga Basilica, 1941. First from the right is Jerzy, who was to play a major role in her life.

Photo 52.jpg
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