Cecylia Gębicka

Henryk Goldszmit’s mother

The daughter of Józef (Adolf) Gębicki and Mina (Emilia) neé Deitszer, born on 14 December 1853 in Kalisz; died on 11 February 1920 in Warsaw.

Cecylia Gębicka’s birth certificate

On 28 May 1874 in Kalisz, she married Józef Goldszmit and moved with her husband to Warsaw. Her parents and Cecylia’s brother also moved to Warsaw. Cecylia’s father was severely ill, and he died after a few years. Following his death in 1877, Mina (Emilia) Deitszer moved in with her daughter. As a sworn barrister, Józef earned a high income. However, the family’s financial situation changed in the 1890s. In 1892, Cecylia’s mother died, and her husband also passed away in 1896. In 1895, forced by the circumstances, Cecylia opened “lodgings for female and male Jewish students, attending or preparing for gymnasium (secondary school) or vocational training,” offering them “private classes and good care.” The lodgings were located in her flat at 18/10 Leszno Street (Izraelita 1895, No. 3). In the following years, “authorized by educational authorities,” she had a boarding house for the students of public and private schools, located at a new address, at 6/11 Nowosenatorska Street. During all that time, Cecylia lived with her son. Her next locations included: Chłodna Street (1902), 32 Elektoralna Street (1904–1905), 51 Śliska Street (1905), and 83 Wielka Street (1912).

According to Maria Falkowska’s research, after Henryk was sent to the front line of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, “Cecylia applied for the demobilization of her son twice” (Biuletyn ŻIH 1997, No. 1). During the Russo-Polish War (1919–20), Henryk, an officer of the Polish army, holding the rank of a major, contracted typhus fever while he was working at the infectious diseases hospital in the Kamionek neighbourhood, in Warsaw. When she was looking after him in his illness, his mother caught the infection and died. Her funeral took place on 13 February 1920 at the Jewish Cemetery. Her grave was not preserved.

Cecylia Gębicka and Józef Goldszmit marriage certificate