PARENTS WHO RAISED MARIUS: Jan Bartlomej Loeffler and Kazimiera Eleonora Loeffler nee Czapinska

MARIUS' STORY:
I was born at the Santa Sofia Hospital (Szpital Swietej Zofi) in Warszawa on July 21^st 1930, the son of a young unmarried Jewish girl. I was given over to a family named Loeffler. It seems likely the Loeffler family had Jewish roots, but they were not known as Jews, a fact that saved us during Holocaust. Was I legally adopted? Was this a secret arrangement between my birth mother's family and the Loeffler family? I don't know.

As a 5 month old baby I was baptized in Santa Teresa Catholic Church, in the third military district in Warszawa. At that time my father was working at the Ministry of Defense and we were living in an apartment belonging to the military establishment. My parents had a daughter, Barbara, born in 1923, who became my sister. It was after my mother had given birth to a stillborn son they decided that I would be their son in 1930.

It seems likely that from the time I came to the Loeffler family, my maternal grandparents (the parents of my biological mother) in some way kept in contact with the Loeffler family and probably also supported us. I had a Nanny who was completely devoted to my upbringing, and often got toys and clothes my sister Barbara was not allowed, making Barbara very jealous.

The strangest result of this "unseen" relationship happened shortly before the ghetto in Warszawa started. A young Jewish family moved to the apartment next to my Loeffler family at Krasinskiego ulica 29 apartment 7 in the Zoliborz suburb in Warszawa. This couple had a son about two or three years younger than me. There was a strong connection between our families – the Jewish neighbor visited our home often with her son, looking at me with very loving eyes. I enjoyed playing with the son. After a few weeks, the Jewish family had to move into the ghetto but we still kept in contact with them for some time through the telephone. Then the telephone went silent.

Much later my adoptive parents told me that the woman was my biological mother and the little boy my half brother.

Will I be able to find the identity of my biological family – my mother, my half brother, my grandparents and other relatives?

MARIUS ADOPTED?
If Marius was indeed adopted back in 1930, what were the laws concerning the registration of such an adoption in Warszawa at the time? If the legal files survived World War Two, where should one look for his adoption files?

A SECRET ARRANGEMENT BETWEEN TWO FAMILIES?
Have you heard about other cases where a child born out of wedlock was secretly given to another family at the hospital and listed officially as the son of this new family? In other words, would it be possible to pull off such an arrangement at any hospital in Warszawa back in 1930?

SEARCHING FOR MARIUS' BIRTH CERTIFICATE
Did the birth registers for boys born July 21^st 1930 at the Santa Sofia Hospital in Warszawa survive the war? Are these registers at the local Urzad Stanu Cywilnego? Do you have any knowledge about the following matter: If a child was born in 1930 in Warszawa and given up for adoption shortly after birth, how would his birth be registered at the hospital? Twice – once giving his biological mother's name and the second time giving the names of his adoptive parents? Or could it be that there would only be one registration – that of him being the son of the Loeffler couple? How would the civil registers of the Urzad Stanu Cywilnego register the birth of a child given up for adoption?

MARIUS' MOTHER
Searching for the birth certificate of Marius' biological mother
According to what Marius was told, his biological mother was 15 or 16 at the time she gave birth to him. This would mean she was born around 1913 – 1915. Marius was also told she came from an affluent Jewish family in Warszawa that had planned for her to get married to the son of another Jewish family. The unplanned pregnancy towards the end of 1929 must have turned those plans around.

Searching for the marriage certificate of Marius' biological mother
One or two years after Marius was born and given to the Loeffler family, his biological mother married. Whom did she marry? Was it the intended bridegroom or was it somebody else? It is likely that the marriage took place in 1931 – 1932 in Warszawa. There was at least a religious Jewish ceremony; perhaps also a civil ceremony.

MARIUS' HALF BROTHER
Searching for the birth certificate of Marius' half brother
In her Jewish marriage, Marius' biological mother gave birth to a son, probably in 1932 or 1933. She does not seem to have given birth to any other child till 1940.

THE GHETTO IN WARSZAWA
According to Pinkas Hakehillot published by Yad Vashem, the construction of the ghetto in Warszawa was started in the beginning of 1940, finished in the summer of 1940 and closed on November 1940.

A JEWISH FAMILY LIVING IN ULICA KRASINSKIEGO 29 APARTMENT Nr 7 IN WARSZAWA IN 1940
In 1940 the Loeffler family lived in a Warszawa suburb called Zoliborz on ulica Krasinskiego 29, when a Jewish family moved into the apartment next to the Loeffler family. The Jewish family lived there for some weeks before they had to move into the Ghetto. Marius who had become a good friend of the son in the Jewish family kept contact with the family inside the ghetto for a few months. Then the telephone went silent.

THE PARENTS WHO RAISED MARIUS: KAZIMERA ELEONORA AND JAN BARTLOMIEJ LOEFFLER
Marius' father was Jan Bartlomiej Loeffler, born 1900, and his mother was Kazimiera Eleonora Loeffler nee Czapinska. The couple also had a daughter named Barbara who was born in 1923. Some time between 1924 and July 1930 the couple had a stillborn son.
In 1930 Marius became their son.
In 1935 Jan Loeffler had to change jobs because of health problems and was then employed by a Jewish firm named Glocer and Son with an office at Napoleon Square 2 in Warszawa. This firm represented American and German office machines.

Jan Loeffler's father was Franciszek Loeffler, a member of PPS (Polish Socialist Party) and a parliamentarian in addition to his job as a banking officer. Franciszek Loeffler became a member of first Polish Parliament after Poland regained independence in 1918. His wife, name was Jadwiga nee Jokiel . Did the Loeffler family have Jewish roots? Marius strongly believes so and wants to understand why the Loeffler family was chosen by his biological family to take care of him and bring him up.