The bag

The envelope bag sewn from cotton canvas in purple. It is made from a rectangular piece of fabric that has been folded in half and machine stitched along two opposite edges. The bag is equilateral and does not have a flap. It is decorated with machine embroidery (white thread). The central area is decorated with rhythmic embroidery in the form of two rectangles (the smaller one inside and the larger one outside). The seam is additionally secured with embroidery of the same design. The edges are decorated (frayed) . The shape and pattern on the fabric suggest that the bag was made of treadle.

The story of Toni Lechtman and her fellow prisoners shows how important psychological support is for survival in such difficult conditions. The presence of someone with whom one can experience moments of unimaginable humiliation together helps to not get dizzy.

Years later, Wera Lechtman said: mum was lucky that she spent those first 3 years in prison with Ewa [Piwińska] and Halina Zakrzewska. I cannot imagine that she would have survived the prison in both mental and physical health if she had not sat with these two women.

Tonia Lechtman wrote in her memoirs: I met extraordinary women in prison. Our political views turned out to be completely invalid. I, for example, still believed that communism was the best solution for the world, and I did not hide it.

During the first years after their release from prison Tonia Lechtman, Halina Zakrzewska and Ewa Piwińska often met. Wera Lechtman recalled: they talked incessantly about the prison. It started with some conversations, and then there were performances by Ewa. I remember the moment when she stood on a stool to show how Różański entered the cell, grabbed them by the hair and shook his head. And they burst out laughing.

Despite the support of her family and reliving her memories together, Tonia Lechtman underwent psychiatric treatment after her release from prison (when she had already got a flat in Warsaw). She was recommended treatment with insulin shocks. She was so weak after them that her daughter had to pick her up after school.

Marta Frączkiewicz