Happy Birthday to Stella

A Holocaust survivor, Stella Muller-Madej was the 169th entry on Schindler's List. She became 80 years old, yesterday, on the 5th of February.

I went to her Birthday party in Stradomskie Centrum Dialogu , in Krakow's old Jewish quarter, where the mayor of Krakow, Jacek Majchrowski, awarded her a medal for her service to the city, where she lives. Many people, including the fellow Auschwitz survivors and people from Jewish community were there to celebrate with bouquets of flowers.

Stella was seated on a chair along with Dr. Skotnicki, who wrote a book called Oskar Schindler : In the Eyes of Cracowian Jews Rescued by Him(2008). Stella had knee operation recently and stayed seated for the entire ceremony.

But she looked very youthful and healthy. She had a bright make-up emphasizing her round eyes and full body of brown hair. She was dressed in elegant black pants suits, looking energetic and ready for action. But her friend, Niusia Horowitz (105th entry), who was also there, whispered to me that she is actually not in a good health. Nuisia said she is two years younger than Stella. She, too, was beautifully dressed with white blouse and jewelry, nicely coiffed jet-black hair. I thought these ladies were looking great.

When I mentioned that impression of mine to the center director, Ewa, she lowered her voice and told me that survivors always try to look youthful and healthy, since they had to do the same when they were in the concentration camps for fear of being selected out to death. I remember in Steven Spielberg's film Schindler's List, a woman pricks her finger tip to squeeze blood to smear it on her pale cheek so that she looks healthy. Ewa said that Stella actually encountered Dr. Mengele, a notorious Nazi doctor in Auschwitz, and she is still afraid of doctor's white gowns.

I felt a chill in my spine. How many people in the world are living with such unspeakable experiences? Unfortunately many and probably still to come. I admire people who have courage to speak up and tell what they had been through.

Stella wrote a book called A Girl from Schindler's List in 1991 and the book was translated into ten languages including Japanese, titled「鳥のいない空」.