Janina Prot papers

Janina Prot (Jana) was born on February 8, 1926 in Bytom, Poland and had one brother, Tomasz Prot (b.1928). Her father, Jan Berlinerblau (1891-1956 in Warsaw, Poland) served in the First Brigade of Polish Legions during the World War I. In 1920 he completed his military service at a rank of major. He studied chemical engineering at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow and in 1923 successfully completed and defended his Ph.D. thesis in physical chemistry at Lvov Polytechnic. From 1920-1921 he studied and graduated from a Military Academy in Warsaw. 1924 he became the technical director of explosives factory in Krywałda and in 1926 he became the director of State Manufacturing Plant of Explosives in Pionki (Państwowa Wytwórnia Prochu i Materiałów Wybuchowych). Jan Berlinerblau started to use the name “Prot” during his military service in the Polish Legion and in 1919 he officially changed his name. In 1917 Jan married Zofia Dejches and both converted to Catholicism at that time, but divorced around 1930. In 1939, Jan was mobilized to the Polish Army and after his return from the September campaign he managed to flee Poland to England via Hungary and France. In England he continued to work as ammunition production expert and after the war he completed his Ph.D. in physical chemistry at the Edinburgh University. He taught chemistry in a college near London until his retirement. Zofia Dejches Prot graduated from the Jagiellonian University with a degree in biology. At the outbreak of the war Zofia, Jana, and Tomasz lived in Warsaw but soon after they moved to Laski where Zofia worked in the Institute for the Blind managed by the nuns of a Franciscan order. The nuns arranged for false papers for Zofia under the name, Kossouth. In 1941 Jana moved to Warsaw and lived with a Polish family: Franciszek and Maria Kielan. Jana was an active member of the Polish underground – “Szare Szeregi” and during the Polish Warsaw uprising in August 1944. Jana participated in battles as a soldier of “Armia Krajowa” (Home Army) until the end of September, at which time she was deported to Pruszków. Jana escaped from the train and managed to reach Krakow where she worked as a nurse taking care of refugees from Warsaw. At that time Jana’s mother and brother were deported from Warsaw as well and reached Bochnia and later found Jana in Krakow. On January 17, 1945 they were liberated by the Red Army in Krakow. A few months after the liberation the family settled in Wroclaw where Jana attended medical school. She graduated in September 1951. A year later she married her fellow student, Ignacy Wald, a Polish Jew who survived the war in the USSR. Their daughter, Anna, was born in 1958 and their son, Jan, in 1964. In 1971 Jana and her family immigrated to the United States and settled in the Boston area. She became a certified physician and practiced medicine.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Janina Prot donated the collection to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1999.