THE FUSE

Twas the afternoon before Christmas and through in the kitchen, a creature was stirring: a pot of barszcz czerwony. Nestled snug in her bed (to continue borrowing from the classic Christmas poem) in an adjoining room is Danuta Miloszewski, 96 years old. One of not-too-many still-living “Polish children of Oudtshoorn”, Danuta represents an extraordinary WW2 story that few visitors to Oudtshoorn, few South Africans, few Poles, know about.