Obituary of Zofia Pietrzak

Soviet Camp Survivor and “Citizen of the World” Zofia “Zosia” Irena Pietrzak Tucson, Arizona Sept 22, 2011 Zofia Irena Pietrzak died peacefully of natural causes September 22, 2011 at her Calle Barranco Tucson, AZ residence in accordance with her wishes. Zofia was born February 17, 1926 in Rohatyn, Poland as the daughter of Michael and Helena (Krzykowska) Strzelec. She, with her older sisters, Olga and Nuna, lived on a small rural estate and attended the Piotr Skarga grammar school in Rohatyn until the outbreak of World War II. Russian occupation lead to the prompt deportation of her family to a labor camp in northern Kazakhstan in 1940. Her father, less fortunate, was among those Polish officers and government officials documented to have been executed at Katyn Forest, on April 13, 1940. Two and a half hard years of her early teens were spent in the harsh conditions of the Soviet labor camp. In 1943 she was among those Poles released by Stalin and allowed to join the Polish 2nd Corps under General Anders in support of the Allied cause. She made the treacherous journey to Iran to join the Allied Forces. As a late teen on active duty in the military women’s auxiliary, she and her sister, Nuna, attended the Polish Auxiliary Forces High School in Nazareth, Palestine. In 1944 they were stationed in Egypt where she and her sister organized shows, dances and entertainment events for troops in Egypt. She was described by her colleagues as: “The Star of the show – beautiful, elegant and witty.” It was there she met Julius Pietrzak also serving in the allied forces towards the end of the war. When the War ended she remained in the Middle East to pursue studies and a career in medicine attending the French University, Beirut. Two years later, she married her wartime sweetheart, Julius Pietrzak, in Surrey, England on September 14, 1946. She then joined Julius and many other Polish students at the University of Bologna medical school in Italy. Her priority for a family life ended her aspirations for medicine and she moved to London where her first child, Eva, was born in 1951. There she also worked as an agent for the Thomas Cook Travel Agency. In 1952, Zofia, Eva and Julius immigrated to the United States and settled in Chicago where their son, Michael, was born in 1953. The family moved to Iowa where they lived for 25 years. Zofia was a frequent lecturer at local colleges on the subject of life in labor camps in the Soviet Union. She was renown for exceptional European culinary skills and her especially artistic presentations of food during entertainment events. She enjoyed hosting foreign exchange students and promoting foreign relations, calling herself a “citizen of the world”. The most surprising, loving relationship of Zofia’s life came during her children’s LaSalle High School days, when the family adopted a foreign exchange sister, Aronita Botler Rosenblatt. The families merged and became bonded forever. Zofia and Julius moved to Tucson, AZ for their later years where “Zosia” was an active member of the Polish community and St. Cyril’s Parish. As Vice President of the Solidarity Movement in Tucson she continued her lifelong opposition to political oppression raising substantial funds helping to end communism in Poland. She was always an avid reader and traveler, anxious to meet new people and ready for a new adventure, and will be remembered mostly as a loving mother, grandmother and devoted wife. Zofia is survived by her husband of 65 years, Julius Pietrzak, MD, Tucson, AZ, her sister: Nuna (Strzelec) Zakrzewska, London, England, daughter: Eva Stefenson of Los Angeles, CA and New York City, her son: Michael Pietrzak, MD of Vail, CO, and her “adopted” daughter, Aronita Rosenblatt of Recife, Brazil. She is also survived by three grandchildren: Audrey Stefenson, McLean, VA, as well as Landis and Darek Pietrzak of Vail, CO.