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Names Not Numbers
Rita Starkman
Rita Starkman
Rita was born in Ostrowiec, Poland, on May 28, 1941, in a small city during the early years of World War II. Her birth name was Henya, and she was the youngest of three children, with an older sister and a brother. Her parents ran a candy factory, originally owned by her mother’s family, which her father had built up. Her father was fluent in several languages, including German, Polish, Yiddish, and Esperanto.
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Despite the war, the family was relatively well-off.
When Hitler invaded Poland, Jews were no longer allowed to own property. To keep the factory, Rita’s father made a deal with a German woman, transferring ownership of the factory to her. In exchange, the Germans provided sugar so he could produce candy for the German army. Meanwhile, her father secretly skimmed off extra candy and sold it on the black market to support the family.
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As the war escalated, Rita’s father secured false documents for the family, allowing them to pose as Polish citizens. Despite the establishment of a ghetto in Ostrowiec, the family was able to continue living in the factory for a time. However, by early 1942, the Germans began deporting Jews from the ghetto to Treblinka, although the Jews had no idea of the fate that awaited them there.
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Realizing the family couldn’t stay together, Rita’s father arranged for each child to be hidden by different Polish families. Her sister was placed with one family, her brother with another, and Rita, just a baby at the time, was entrusted to a family her father knew. Tragically, Rita’s sister was eventually kicked out by the Polish family due to fear of being caught hiding a Jewish child.
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She was sent to the ghetto and later murdered at Treblinka. Her brother was passed between several families before being taken in by a kind Polish woman who cared for him.
At just 14 months old, Rita was handed over to a man from the family hiding her, who took her by train to Poznan. There, she was left alone on the train and subsequently taken to the police station. A local woman, Helena, adopted her.
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Helena’s husband, a Polish resister, was later arrested and died in jail. Rita was christened Catholic and given the name Theresa. She lived with Helena and her extended family in an apartment building, growing up as a Catholic child during the war.
Meanwhile, Rita’s mother and brother survived Auschwitz, and her father survived the war as well. When the war ended, they all reunited at the factory in Ostrowiec.
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However, when her father went to reclaim Rita, Helena refused to give her up. He took the case to court and won on a technicality since it had been Helena’s husband, not Helena herself, who had adopted Rita.
In 1946, at the age of 5, Rita was taken away from Helena and learned she was Jewish. The transition was difficult for her; she initially didn’t like her biological parents and struggled with the change.
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Over time, however, she grew to love her family, including her brother. The family attempted to emigrate to Israel and Brazil, but both efforts failed. Eventually, they contacted relatives in Montreal and received sponsorship to immigrate to Canada in 1947.
Rita’s father struggled to find work in Montreal, so after three months, the family moved to Toronto, where he found a job in a candy factory before eventually opening his own.
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Rita grew up in Toronto, but Helena continued writing letters from Poland. The family felt conflicted about whether to respond, and as Rita grew older, she wanted to return to Poland. However, because her passport listed her birthplace as Poland, there was a risk she could get stuck there.
Eventually, Rita was able to return to Poland. She visited the people she had known as a child, saw Helena’s grave, and reconnected with others from her past.
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The End
Rita Starkman interview at The Leo Baeck Day School - 2023-2024
The Leo Baeck Day School
