Edek's mother is Margrit Balicki. Margrit is taken to a slave labor camp by the Nazis after they burn down the family home. The Nazis believe that the Poles are racially inferior and fit only to work as slaves for their alleged superiors, and Margrit is just one of millions of such workers forced to toil for their German overlords in truly unspeakable conditions.

Thankfully, Margrit survives her terrible ordeal and is finally reunited with her family at the end of the war. As one would expect, however, she's been damaged by her hellish experiences of life in a Nazi labor camp, both mentally and physically. Nevertheless, she's alive and able to rebuild family life with her husband and her children in a safe country, free from persecution.