Apolonia Starzec's grandmother Zelinger

This photo was taken in Sosnowiec in the 1900s. This is my grandmother Zelinger. I don't remember her first name. They say I had her looks. It's my mother's family, a large family. And, unlike my father's family, it was an assimilated one. I kept in touch with my mother's family. My mother comes from Sosnowiec, a city in Silesia region in southern Poland, some 300 km south of Warsaw. I have a very vague recollection of my grandmother. I know they lived in their own house, a large one, because there were nine of them. Grandmother died when I was little. Did she wear a wig? I think so. That was the custom then. And my grandfather I don't remember at all. In the house in Sosnowiec my grandparents lived on the second floor. Lubomirski Park and the river Przemsza were nearby. The address was 2 Ludwiki Street. There were two balconies; you could spend Sukkot there, under the roof. There were quite a lot of rooms, and in the living room stood toys for us. I liked to go there because my grandparents really doted on me. Katowice was not far away, it wasn't part of Poland yet. I remember them taking me there, buying me nice clothes. Sosnowiec was poor, and Katowice was different, German style, I returned all elegant. I was born and raised in Sosnowiec under my grandmother's supervision, because my mother was emotionally very strongly attached to her family home. I spent more time in Sosnowiec each year than at our home. The other grandchildren came, too, had their toys there, I had a beautiful talking doll, Zygmunt Zeligier had a rocking horse in the living room? He was the eldest of all the cousins; he died recently.

Photos from this interviewee