Maria Stefania Michalak was born in Poland on 5 August 1924.

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Maria showed musical talent and studied piano from the age of six. The Second World War ended her music studies as her family was ousted from their home by the Nazis and shipped to an internment camp.

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In 1942, at the age of 18, she worked with the Polish partisans as a courier and met her future husband, Stefan, who, as a former soldier, had joined the resistance. Stefan was caught by the SS and, through their association with him, Maria and her two sisters were arrested and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp for women in 1943 where they were among the fortunate to survive until their liberation in 1945.

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Maria and Stefan were married in 1946 and had their first child - a daughter. Stefan continued his clandestine work as a partisan, this time against the oppressive communist regime. It was not long before he was forced to escape from Poland or risk arrest, leaving Maria pregnant with their second child - a boy. . (Note: Stephen Michalak was born on 7 August 1916 in Poland. He died on 28 October 1999 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.)

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Having been whisked out of Europe by the U.S. Army, he settled in Saskatchewan and struggled to bring his family to Canada. Success finally came in 1957 when Maria and her two infant children arrived in this strange new country amidst what was, to them, an alien culture. The result of their reunion was a third child, their first Canadian-born son. Over time, Maria learned to love this country, and never pursued the possibility of returning to Poland for a visit.

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After seven years in Regina, the family moved to Winnipeg. Maria reinforced her love of music by becoming involved with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra Women's Committee - an organization for which she was a devoted volunteer for more than 30 years.

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Maria passed away on 26 July 2015, 10 days before her 91st birthday.

 

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Copyright: Michalak family

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