Helena Przyborowska was born in Warsaw, Poland, on November 8, 1921. She was almost eighteen when the Nazis invaded Poland. Helena was not Jewish, but she still felt the harsh effects of the occupation.
In January 1943, Helena was arrested by the Nazis. The exact reason is unknown. Millions of Poles were killed during the Holocaust, and many were arrested simply because they were ethnic Poles.
Helena was sent to Auschwitz on January 19, 1943. When she arrived, she was photographed, tattooed, had her head shaved, and was given a prisoner uniform. She was assigned the number 29898. Helena was forced to do hard labor in the camp. She likely worked extremely hard but was given very little food. The living conditions were terrible, with almost no clean water or proper sanitation.
On October 16, 1943, Helena died in the camp because of the harsh conditions. She was only twenty-one years old.