All were expecting to come back, but as the years passed by, in the end, we just thought, and where do you want to return to, there is no more room for you.
Maria Chęcińska from the Mykietów family, born 15th November 1940 in Kozaki. Father Michał Mykietów, Ukrainian, married Zofia Czarniecka, who was Polish, on 8th September 1927. Father was a farmer, also working at the mine. Mother took care of the children and the household. In Kozaki Ukrainian was spoken at that time, at Maria’s home they spoke Polish. The Mykietów family celebrated traditional Polish holidays. Maria’s family was hiding Jews during the war; they had a dugout in a corn field where they would sit during the day; at night they would come to the house to eat. She leaves Kozaki with her family because of the issued order. Maria’s family left Kozaki a year later as her mother was pregnant with her sister who was born in 1945. Most families had left Kozaki a year before her family did. The journey West together with other families took several weeks and most of them eventually settled in Pyrzany. She attended school in Pyrzany where she finished 5th grade, her teacher was Maria Pająk. She got married to Kazimierz Chęciński on 26th December 1962. After getting married, she moved to Bogdaniec. She has three children. She is retired.
