#56 JOE AND WANDA

Joe, Janet, Jonnie, Stevie, Joe and Wanda's daughter, and Wanda, on their 1957 visit after having moved to Chicago

The Displaced Person’s Act to give refugees a new home was passed by Congress after World War Two. Some of the victims of Nazi persecution had survived up to eight years of horrendous concentration camps or forced to work as slaves in German factories or on farms. This act allowed 205,000 D.P.’s (displaced persons) to enter the United States. These people mostly came from nations that had long been known for hard working and thrifty populations. Other countries opened their doors to these devastated people as well.

Each displaced person needed a sponsor who would provide housing and employment. Kind-hearted Mummy and Daddy volunteered to take part in this charitable program.

Joe and Wanda Bieruta came to us in the springtime, right after the end of World War Two. They were originally from Poland, which was one of the first countries that the Nazis invaded, with a brutal attack, in 1939. This young couple had been imprisoned had been in terrible camps for six years. First, they were in a horrific concentration camp. Their survival was due to the fact that they were young and strong. The Nazis moved them through various slave-labor camps to finally where they spent most of their years working hard labor on large farms. They were very fortunate that their laboring talents saved them from the death camps.

Joe and Wanda were afraid to return to their homeland. Poland, as a nation, was eliminated at the end of WWII. When the war was over, Poland became part of the Russia as the spoils of war. Joe and Wanda feared that they might face discrimination; maybe even incarceration or death.

Joe and Wanda were a handsome pair, about thirty years old, hardworking, appreciative, kind, loyal, and loved animals. When they first arrived at our home, they didn’t know a word of English. They lived in the maid’s room near our kitchen.

Wanda, a husky young woman, appeared to be overweight (in the picture) but she was hard muscle. Many times, Joe, so proud of how strong Wanda was, would tell people to poke her large buttock with their finger, expecting them to find her body to be soft. When they did poke her, they were surprised that she was solid as a rock.

Tony, Alice, and I have only a few scattered memories. During those years, Tony and I were away at school and then I got married in 1951. The next year, Jonnie was called into the Air Force, and we were sent to Morocco for two years. Alice was quite young at the time.

I remember…the very first day that Joe and Wanda arrived, Wanda noticed that the copper was tarnished (almost black) on Mummy’s set of Revere Ware pots and pans that were hanging on a rack over our kitchen stove. As soon as Wanda spotted them, she started taking them down. We didn’t know what she was going to do so we just watched. She took them outside by the hose. Collecting some sand from the side of the road she got to work. To our amazement, she powerfully scrubbed and polished them with water and sand, using only her hands, until they shone like new.

One Fourth of July, we took Joe and Wanda to a stock car race which was very loud and had scary accidents. I didn’t think they liked it much. I clearly remember that, during intermission, there was a huge fireworks display. Maybe it was from the infield of the track. As soon as the fireworks started exploding, both Joe and Wanda, dove under the bleacher seats with their hands covering their heads. Who knows what horrible bombings they suffered through during that awful war. Terrible!

Several years later, we taught Joe to drive. That was an experience! Joe had small accidents, often hitting the side of the barn. One time, when he was trying to back out of our barn, into our driveway, he stepped hard on the accelerator instead of on the brake. In his confusion, he cranked the steering wheel, backed through the flower garden and out over the four-foot stone wall, tipping down to the lower level of our lawn where the carriage house and the pond were. The car landed on its back bumper and stayed there with its hood in the air.

When we took Joe to get his license, he was naturally concerned because he couldn’t speak English very well. During the test he looked up at the auto registry clerk and said, “ Here’s five dollar…give me LICE-NESS.”

He somehow did get it that day but I don’t think that it was because of what he said. Maybe it was.

 Alice remembers…I was in kindergarten when Joe and Wanda came to live with us. Because they had been farmers, we got a cow, a wonderful gentle Jersey with lovely brown eyes.  Wanda taught me how to milk her. Then I would pour off the heavy cream and put it in the butter churn. This was a large glass container with two red paddles.  By turning the crank, for what seemed like hours, I could make the cream thicken into butter. The final step was to place the butter in a shallow bowl and then I was allowed to use a large wooden stamp to make a lovely design.  It always made me very proud to see my artistic endeavors on the dining room table. 

Tony remembers…In later years, I often thought of Joe and Wanda in the period after they left our home and moved to Chicago. Joe got work as a crane operator. I recall him saying to Daddy, probably on the phone, something like, “I got this great job. I am paid lots of money to work eight hours, and, then, I can work another eight hours and get even more money!” He steadily bought multi-family real estate and rather quickly became quite wealthy. When Joe and Wanda came east to visit us in the spring of 1957, he was driving a brand new, large, luxury car. In only the four years they had been in Chicago, their hard work had turned them into a marvelous manifestation of the “American Dream!”