Who Do I Belong To? - The Story of Janina Ecker

A documentary. Janina (Halina) Ecker was born in Krakow in 1932 to Dawid and Sara Layman. She had two older brothers, Ryszard and Olek. With the outbreak of World War II and the invasion of Poland by Germany and the Soviet Union, Dawid and Ryszard escaped to Lviv, where they were apprehended by the Soviets and sent to Siberia. Janina remained in Krakow with her mother and her brother Olek. They were subjected to the harsh anti-Jewish policies of the Nazi regime. After being expelled from the city, they, together with other Jews from the district, taken to the near-by village of Gdow and from there to the town of Wieliczka. During the action in the town, her mother managed to send an urgent telegram to Polish acquaintances in Krakow, Józefa and Tadeusz Latawiec, who arrived at the place and took Janina under their care. Worrying they would be denounced, the couple moved Janina to a convent in the village of Staniątki, where she remained until the end of the war. After the war, Janina lived with the Latawiecs. Eventually, her parents and her brother Ryszard also returned to the city. In 1949 they immigrated to Israel. Janina married and worked for many years in a senior position at El Al. She has three daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She lives in Givatayim.