Olga Czerniejewski of Toledo died at age 92 on May 21, 2018. She was born in 1925 at her parents’ farm in Eastern Poland in 1925 and christened into the Eastern Orthodox faith. Schooled in Poland, she spoke Polish and Byelorussian.

World War II brought invasions and battles to the area from the Soviets and the Germans. Eventually, German troops forcibly took a teen-aged Olga to join other Poles in cattle cars to brutal forced farm labor in Germany. The journey took 12 days of detours. The teen was forced to learn the German language, cooking and farming methods. Olga was seriously injured and nearly died at one of the farms when she was forced improperly to ride on a tiller. She was a fighter, however, and subsequently demanded the authorities punish the farmer and assign her elsewhere. They did.

She met her husband-to-be near a relocation camp after the war. Jozef, a survivor of a concentration camp and multiple labor camps, told one of his children later, “I saw her…and she was the most beautiful woman. I had to meet her.” Her beauty, kindness and generosity were often remarked, her children remembered.

Jozef worked for UNRRA (United Nation’s Relief and Relocation Association) to help persons “displaced” by war. After meeting Jozef, Olga then took care of and taught small children orphaned or displaced by the Germans.

She converted to Catholicism, Jozef’s faith, to marry him in 1947.
They both were declared survivors of the Holocaust by the head of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC.

Two of their children were born in Southern Germany. The family emigrated in the early 1950s to make their home in the United States, where she had to learn yet another language – English, studying hard to pass the complicated test to become a citizen. They all became American citizens. Two more children were born in America.

Her own family and the family she was taken from (her parents, two brothers and a sister) were the most important to her. She was proud that her four children earned college degrees. For more than 30 years, she could not return to her birthplace. That portion of her homeland was claimed by the USSR after the war and visas there were forbidden. Finally, in 1975, the doors opened, and she travelled with her daughter to a joyous and tearful reunion. She returned in 1977 “to see my parents again before they die.” They passed away a few years later in their 90s.

Olga was a wonderful self-taught cook, making Polish, Russian, German and American foods. She also made Polish desserts that her husband and children always looked forward to. She sewed, knit, embroidered and crocheted, for her home, children, grandchildren and even her great-grandchildren. She always wanted to make sure everyone was warm enough.

Olga loved to laugh, dance and sing, and was known to throw out a cheeky, well-timed comment when with a group.

She was pre-deceased by her husband, Jozef; her parents and two brothers; and grandson Gene Helle.

She is survived by her sons, Richard (Marilyn) and Tadeusz “Ted”; daughters, Halina (Dr. Gary Sollars) Czerniejewski and Christine (Bill) Hobbs; grandchildren, Andrea (Peter) Areddy, Nathan (Jennifer), Megan (Jay) Thomas, Dr. Claire (Corey Boggs) Sollars, Kendra Sollars, Sharon (Jack) Canas; great-grandchildren, Anna, Kari and Lilli Areddy; Ainsley, Rowan and Wyatt Thomas; Brynlee Sollars-Boggs; Dyson Helle; and Caleb and Sadie Canas.

The family will receive guests on Tuesday, May 29, 2018 from 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, 5856 Heatherdowns, Toledo. The Funeral Mass will begin at 10:30 a.m. Burial will take place at Resurrection Cemetery.