Sister Helen, the SS nurse, insisted that a window be left wide open, even in the winter. Hanna Wasilczenko, the mother of Witold Grzegorz, was horrified when she heard that the babies were left alone at night, so she stole the Kinderzimmer key – apparently with Zdenka’s help – and broke in one night to see her baby boy. ‘It was a dreadful sight. At first it was quite dark but when I managed to turn on a light I saw vermin of all sorts jumping on the beds and inside the noses and ears of the babies. Most of the babies were naked because their blankets had come off. They were crying of hunger
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