I was born

in Chełm, a small town in the Lublin province. The family manor house belonging to my grandfather Mieczysław Żółciński was situated in the nearby village of Sobibór on the Chełm-Włodawa railway line. It was there my mother Anna, my uncle Zygmunt and aunt Irena were born.

During WWII the Germans set up a death camp in the vicinity of Sobibór. Approximately a quarter of million Jews and around a thousand Poles were murdered there.

Books and stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer give a colorful account of Jewish life and culture in pre-war Lublin province. According to Yiddish folklore, Chełm is a legendary town of fools