Edith's parents owned a cotton factory in the town of Wegrow [in Poland]. The Goldmans were a religious family, and raised Edith, her brother and three sisters to strictly observe the Sabbath, Jewish holidays and the dietary laws.

1933-39: Edith attended public school, and also studied at the Beis Yakov religious school for girls where she learned Hebrew, the Bible and Jewish history. Her favorite hobby was knitting, and after finishing secondary school she learned the quilt-making trade. In the mid-1930s, the Goldmans moved to Warsaw where Edith's father opened a down feather factory. On September 1, 1939, the Germans invaded Warsaw; three weeks later Warsaw fell.

1940-44: Edith and her family were among those forced into the Warsaw ghetto in November 1940. The next year, 24-year-old Edith was married there, and after two years of living in the harsh ghetto, Edith and her husband managed to escape to her hometown of Wegrow. There, they found a Polish family who agreed to hide them.

Edith and her husband survived in hiding until the area was liberated by Soviet troops in 1945. After the war, the Bielawskis emigrated to the United States.

Lonia had three sisters and one brother. Her parents owned a cotton …
Personal stories

Edith Goldman Bielawski