Stanisława Leszczyńska delivered more than 3000 babies in the most horrible circumstances. She was known as an “Angel from Auschwitz”. When Joseph Mengele told her to murder them immediately, Leszczyńska refused to follow the order. “Never. You must never kill children” – she said.
From the very beginning of the war, she was active in the Polish resistance movement, providing false documents and food to those in the most extreme need, including those in the Jewish ghetto. After being denounced, she, together with her daughter was sent to Auschwitz, and her sons were transported to other concentration camps. She never saw her husband again – he was killed in the Warsaw Uprising in 1944.
Despite all of this, she never fell into total despair. As soon as she realized how inhuman Auschwitz was, she began to think of ways of bringing consolation to the others. Being a midwife, she had a particular concern for pregnant women and, after many struggles, managed to convince the guards to let her deliver babies. The orders, especially at the first phase, were clear: every newborn was to be drowned in the bucket. She never did it and fought for every life with all her strength.
Although every act of disobedience in Auschwitz was likely to be punished by death, Joseph Mengele not only didn’t kill her but appeared to be afraid of her. He was aware that out of 3,000 births in Aushwitz, no baby had died for any reason (although most of them were murdered afterward). He knew that even the best German clinics of that time could not reach such results. How could Leszczyńska in Auschwitz have better medical success than German doctors? There was no logical or scientific explanation for this. Although, other prisoners recalled later that Leszczyńska was praying while delivering every child.
Other women referred to her as a mom. And she tried to be their mom to the extent of organizing improvised Christmas Eve in order to alleviate their homesickness. Of course, it was strictly forbidden and they hoped to keep the evening secret. In the midst of this, Mengele came in and stood looking at them. Prisoners heard his words. “For a moment, I felt like a human being” – he said. Later, however, he continued mass murders and cruel experiments on vulnerable people.
After the evacuation of the camp she stayed, with those sick and unable to move, although, according to official information, anyone who didn’t escape was going to be killed. After the war, she continued to work as a midwife with never-ending patience and tenderness.
In 1956, Poland legalized abortion under the communist government, and she clearly spoke up on the behalf of the unborn. If in my homeland – despite the sad experiences from the times of war – there would appear forces directed against the life, I do trust in the voice of all midwives, all honest mothers and fathers, all honest citizens in defense of life and children’s rights – she wrote in her “Report of a midwife from Auschwitz”, released in 1957. When her son Bronisław, received a diploma from the Medical School she said to him, while congratulating, that she believes he will never perform an abortion, no matter what law is implemented.
Leszczyńska knew that some laws are unjust at such an intolerable level that one simply cannot follow them. She also knew that every life is priceless. Even in the most horrible circumstances.
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