Maryla Korn was born Maryla Orgel on June 10, 1938, in Kraków, Poland, to Szymon Orgel and Felicia (née Muntz). Szymon was from a family of land and mill owners in Kolbuszowa, a small town in southern Poland. Felicia came from an Orthodox Jewish family who owned shops in the main square of Kraków. They married in 1935 and soon settled in Kraków. Szymon often traveled to Kolbuszowa to help his family run their mills, while Felicia cared for Maryla.
Maryla was 15 months old on September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland, starting World War II. Sensing danger, Maryla’s father and her grandfather, Bezalel Orgel, fled to the Polish city of Tarnopol (today: Ternopil, Ukraine). Soviet troops occupied the city in mid-September. Based on his experience during World War I, Bezalel believed women and children would be safe at home.
After occupying Kraków, German authorities enacted anti-Jewish policies and measures. They confiscated Jewish-owned businesses and sold them to non-Jews. The Muntz family’s employee, Juzek Siwetski, took over their shops for safekeeping. Only weeks after Germany invaded Poland, Felicia and Maryla were evicted from their apartment. In 1940, Maryla, her mother and the extended Muntz family fled the city (probably as part of the expulsion of Jews). Eventually, they ended up 20 miles east in the Polish city of Bochnia. There they rented two rooms and a kitchen from the Hojniks, a non-Jewish family living on the outskirts of town. On several occasions the Hojniks helped hide Maryla during round-ups Germans conducted. In one instance, Maryla spent a day hiding in nearby fields with one of the Hojnik daughters.
Eventually, Nazi authorities forced Maryla and her family to move into the Bochnia ghetto. Felicia was assigned to perform forced labor in a shopping bag factory. She received meager rations. In 1942, German authorities began carrying out round-ups in the ghetto, transporting Jews to the Belzec killing center. Conditions in the ghetto were bleak. Juzek Siwetski regularly brought money and supplies, helping Maryla and Felicia survive.
In summer 1943, an underground Jewish rescue organization smuggled 5-year-old Maryla and her mother, along with 20 other people, out of the ghetto through a hole in the fence. Walking by night and seeking shelter during the day, the escapees crossed the Carpathian Mountains into Slovakia, a Nazi ally. Despite their efforts to hide, authorities detained and imprisoned them. A rescue organization assisted in their release. This organization helped them find refuge in Uszód, in Southern Hungary. Even though Hungary was also a Nazi ally at that time, the Jewish population there was relatively safe. Felicia found work on a farm.
After Germany occupied Hungary on March 19, 1944, Felicia and Maryla were on the run once again. They reached Bucharest, the capital of Romania. They were living there in late August, as Soviet troops approached the city. King Michael and Romanian opposition leaders overthrew dictator Ion Antonescu. The new government changed its allegiance, but Soviet troops still entered the city. The immediate danger was over for Maryla and Felicia.
Many of Maryla’s family members were murdered in the Holocaust, including her grandparents and many aunts and uncles.
After the war, Maryla and her mother settled in Brussels, Belgium, where Maryla attended school. In 1953, Maryla’s father joined them. Szymon had been deported to a Soviet prison camp in Siberia. In 1959, Maryla moved to Israel. During a visit to Brussels in 1961, Maryla met David Korn, whom she married three months later. They relocated to the United States, where Maryla began work as the program director of the Jewish Student Association at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Maryla and David have two children. Today, Maryla volunteers at the Museum.