The following text is not a historical study. It is a retelling of the witness’s life story based on the memories recorded in the interview. The story was processed by external collaborators of the Memory of Nations. In some cases, the short biography draws on documents made available by the Security Forces Archives, State District Archives, National Archives, or other institutions. These are used merely to complement the witness’s testimony. The referenced pages of such files are saved in the Documents section.

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Mira Zelechower-Aleksiun (* 1941)

• She was born in 1941 in a Jewish family.

• Her father was murdered by the Germans. Her mother survived the war.

• She grew up in a liberal environment and chose to convert to Catholicism.

• She was an artist and stage designer.

• She embraced the Jewish tradition through art.

• Today, she is a well-known painter, and her art is full of references to Jewish tradition and religion

Mira Zelechower-Aleksiun was born in 1941 in Millerovo in the Rostov region of the Soviet Union to a Jewish family. Her father was murdered by the Germans. After the war, she and her mother moved to Lower Silesia in Poland. Her mother then married Henryk Żelechower, a Polish Jew, and Mira took his family name. She has lived in Wrocław since 1947. She studied at the State Higher School of Fine Arts. She worked as a theatre set designer and artist. She was involved in the independent cultural movement, including as co-organiser of the ‘Droga i Prawda’ Youth Biennale in Wrocław. She grew up in a home that was not strongly Jewish. She chose Catholicism for herself and was baptised. During her first visit to Israel, she found inspiration in the Jewish tradition, which has since become an important influence on her artistic and private life. Mira Żelechower-Aleksiun is a renowned painter and is involved in the life of the Jewish community in Wrocław.