The Daily Populous Sunday December 8th, 2024 evening edition
Authored by people.com and submitted by peoplemagazine

Sisters Helena and Barbara Stefaniak had their worlds turned upside down after the start of World War II

The sisters, who were living in Poland, were separated and put into work camps as teens, not sure they would ever see each other again

Fate had other plans, and now living in the U.S., the sisters were reunited again at 96 and 100, thanks to the non-profit Wish of a Lifetime

Helena and Barbara Stefaniak lost their mother first. Not long after, they lost their home, their freedom and each other to the outbreak of World War II.

When the sisters were old enough, their widowed father sent them to a boarding school at a convent in Warsaw, Poland. They left home together, but eventually their near four-year age gap forced them apart. In 1939, Helena started a higher level of schooling at a different location, while Barbara stayed behind to continue her classes.

That September, Poland was overtaken by the Nazis. Their home country was torn apart by raids, and one day Helena didn't return from her studies away from the convent. Soldiers had stopped her on the streets of Warsaw and checked her records. Upon seeing Helena was old enough to work, she was forced into a box car full of other Poles, carted out of the country and deposited into a forced labor camp in Augsburg, Germany.

It wasn't long before Barbara too found herself in a work camp — but not the same one as her sister. They spent about three years in separate camps until both were liberated by American intervention. Neither Helena nor Barbara knew if their sister was alive, but by miraculous word of mouth, the two reconnected in Germany.

Helena and Barbara Stefaniak. Helena and Barbara Stefaniak

"She opened up the door and closed [it]. Because when she left me, I was 16. And when she found me, I was 19 almost. I grew up. I was a woman already," Barbara, now 96, recalls to PEOPLE exclusively more than 80 years later, sitting beside her sister on a park bench during their most recent — and likely last — reunion.

The sisters immigrated to the United States separately but during the same year. Accompanied by their husbands, they settled on the East Coast in 1947, Helena in Connecticut and Barbara first in New York City, then in New Jersey. They visited each other often and re-solidified the bond that was once jeopardized in war-torn Europe. In the '70s, they even vacationed together in Poland to celebrate their roots.

In 1953, Helena welcomed a daughter, Helen Fee, who grew up and eventually crossed the country to build a life in Montana. In 2017, after both Barbara's and Helena's spouses died, Fee moved her aging mother out to live on the opposite coast, making visits between the two sisters challenging and infrequent. Helena's declining health — including the degradation of her eyesight — has rendered those in-person meetings less and less possible.

But with the aid of Wish of a Lifetime, a non-profit that helps elderly adults make their dreams a reality, the sisters were able to enjoy each other's company once again. It's bittersweet, however; Helena and Barbara tell PEOPLE that they're certain this will be their final goodbye.

"This is the last time probably we see each other," Barbara admits. Her sister agrees, "I mean, our age and our health. This is 100% the last time."

Helena adds that she does "almost" feel ready for the end of her life: "When you get of age, you ache and pains all over, you figure it's time to go," she says.

"I feel that our parents are watching over us," adds Barbara. "That's how I feel."

They're proud of what they've endured, and Helena is "excited" that at 100 years old, she's able to spend time with her sister. They're both grateful to have made up for the time they lost in the work camps, but reflecting honestly, both women say they didn't pine for each other much during those years in Germany. In reality, all they dreamt about was a life lived pain-free.

"I just wanted a rest. Work [was] so hard, I was so cold," Barbara explains. She recalls the daily routine she endured in forced labor: "We get up in the morning with empty stomach, and we go to bed with empty stomach and cold, no electricity."

In Helena's experience, the worst part was when she laid her head to bed at night.

Helena and Barbara Stefaniak on vacation in Poland in 1976. Helena and Barbara Stefaniak

"I mind the work," she notes. "But the sleeping quarters were the worst. They had no places to put us."

Life beyond the confines of their camps brought unmatched relief, and their reunion on the other side was a gift neither expected. They told other liberated Poles they were looking for each other; Barbara wrote to Helena's friends asking if they had any intel on her whereabouts, and their response guided her toward her sister.

"It was total serendipity," Fee tells PEOPLE of her mother and aunt's story.

In the years before they made their way to the United States, the duo often traveled by trains across Germany to see each other. In a fitting twist of fate, Barbara actually met her husband, an Auschwitz survivor, on one of those journeys. They struck up conversation on that commute, and their instant connection led to a 45-year marriage.

Barbara and Helena Stefaniak with a friend and Helena's daughter, Helen Fee. Wish of a Lifetime from AARP

Helena and Barbara's happy endings with their husbands and each other hardly obscures their darkest moments apart. Looking back on decades of destruction and rebuilding — of their family, of their home country — neither sister has a rose-colored recollection.

"Some people have always pleasant life. We didn't, not from 1939 to 1950. Not all of time," says Barbara. "I never thought, never, that I'd leave [the work camp]."

Helena says that given all the cards she was dealt, she wouldn't have lived any differently.

"That's life," the centenarian concludes. "And somehow, we survive."

masteremrald on December 8th, 2024 at 15:25 UTC »

Amazing to see people survive such intense hardships and still live so long.

CupidStunt13 on December 8th, 2024 at 14:56 UTC »

> "This is the last time probably we see each other," Barbara admits. Her sister agrees, "I mean, our age and our health. This is 100% the last time."

> Helena adds that she does "almost" feel ready for the end of her life: "When you get of age, you ache and pains all over, you figure it's time to go," she says.

> "I feel that our parents are watching over us," adds Barbara. "That's how I feel."

> They're proud of what they've endured, and Helena is "excited" that at 100 years old, she's able to spend time with her sister. They're both grateful to have made up for the time they lost in the work camps, but reflecting honestly, both women say they didn't pine for each other much during those years in Germany. In reality, all they dreamt about was a life lived pain-free.

Great story. Really sad that they spent such a long time apart, and just as they finally meet its soon time to go. They deserve a pain-free end of life as they wished.

peoplemagazine on December 8th, 2024 at 14:45 UTC »

Helena and Barbara Stefaniak lost their mother first. Not long after, they lost their home, their freedom and each other to the outbreak of World War II.

When the sisters were old enough, their widowed father sent them to a boarding school at a convent in Warsaw, Poland. They left home together, but eventually their near four-year age gap forced them apart. In 1939, Helena started a higher level of schooling at a different location, while Barbara stayed behind to continue her classes.

That September, Poland was overtaken by the Nazis. Their home country was torn apart by raids, and one day Helena didn't return from her studies away from the convent. Soldiers had stopped her on the streets of Warsaw and checked her records. Upon seeing Helena was old enough to work, she was forced into a box car full of other Poles, carted out of the country and deposited into a forced labor camp in Augsburg, Germany.

It wasn't long before Barbara too found herself in a work camp — but not the same one as her sister. They spent about three years in separate camps until both were liberated by American intervention. Neither Helena nor Barbara knew if their sister was alive, but by miraculous word of mouth, the two reconnected in Germany.