And in communist Poland she also took care of children....
In 1956, she found employment as an intendant in the crèche of the Lodz Cotton Industry Works. There were more than a hundred children there, aged from three months to three years (sic!). She worked there for a dozen or so years.
What was her life like after her release from prison?
After years of imprisonment in Fordon in Bydgoszcz, her sentence was reduced in 1989 and she regained her freedom. The last two years of her life, alone and childless, she spent in a Nursing Home (DPS) on Zarzewie in Łódź. She lived in one double room with Henryka Sikora, born in 1936, whom I reached. The ladies became friends. Pol did not say a word about her stay in the camp. She was only willing to talk about her brother, who was no longer alive. On the other hand, she did not want to say anything about either her parents or the war. In private matters, she was very secretive. Mysterious. She kept to herself. She did not use any names. When her roommate asked her why she did not marry, she would cut her off: "We won't talk about it. My fiancé died in the crash".
In relationships she was friendly, cheerful and liked by the staff. She could imitate musical instruments. " Gienia, play the mandolin", Sikora asked her, and she pretended to play a concert. She imitated sounds. She sang. She danced. Two cousins visited her. A mother and her daughter. They brought chocolate sweets, which she immediately offered.
Nursing Home in Widzew Zarzewie is beautifully situated among greenery. Eugenia Pol walked a lot. Always and everywhere alone. Back and forth. With her arms folded behind her back. Upright. Like a soldier. As if standing at attention. She used to have delusions. She would wake up at night. She talked to herself when she was asleep. Energetically, but her roommate could not understand her. Except for one short sentence: "Take that whip".
In 2003, the former wachman had an accident. A van pulled up to the DPS shop. She approached. The driver reversed and hit her. She died in hospital of brain swelling. She was buried in a grave with her parents and brother.
– interviewed by Tomasz Zbigniew Zapert
-Translated by Tomasz Krzyżanowski
TVP WEEKLY. Editorial team and jornalists
Blazej Torański is a journalist and author of the books: "The Gag. Censorship in the People's Republic of Poland', 'The Manufacturers. The Turbulent History of the Families of Łódź Industrialists", "Little Auschwitz. Children's camp in Lodz' (co-authored with Joanna Sowińska-Gogacz) and 'The executioner of Polish children'.