Heavens to Bessie: The Weird, Wonderful Story of a Girl and Her Cow

by Dan Mazur

heading towards Warsaw and the Hinglots’ tiny village would probably be next. Frightened by the news, all the children immediately finished packing as fast as they could. They didn’t even have a chance to change out of their nightclothes. “Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!” Mr. Hinglot ordered the children.

  A truck pulled up to the Hinglot house as the driver started honking his horn impatiently. Mr. Hinglot started to load up the truck with help from his friend Danusz and a couple of other men. Mrs. Hinglot helped the children into the truck but she only counted seven children. Johanna was missing. Mrs. Hinglot began to panic as she called out for her daughter. Mr. Hinglot told his wife to get in the truck as he would go find Johanna. He had a pretty good idea where to find his daughter.

  Johanna was hiding in the barn with Bessie and the other animals. She hid behind the cows hoping her father wouldn’t see her. She couldn’t leave her best friend behind or the rest of the animals. What would happen to them if she left them all alone? She tried to hold the barn door closed so her father couldn’t get in but was Mr. Hinglot stormed inside overwhelmed by feelings of fear and exasperation.

  “Johanna, we have to go!” Mr. Hinglot bellowed.

  “No!” Johanna responded in a rare act of defiance against her father. She had never spoken out like that before to anyone.

  “I can’t leave the animals behind. I can’t leave my Bessie behind.”

  Overcome by his daughter’s devotion to these animals, a teary-eyed Mr. Hinglot picked up his daughter who fought with all of her might to escape from his grasp. She briefly got away and was able to give Bessie one last kiss and hug before Mr. Hinglot scooped her up and ran over to the truck to be with the rest of her family.

  Johanna was inconsolable sobbing as the truck began to pull away from the farm. She screamed, “Bessie!”, “Bessie!” before collapsing into her mother’s arms.

  She took one last look at the farm where she had enjoyed some of the happiest times of her life and then broke down in tears again. The tiny farm began to look smaller and smaller in the distance as they drove away.

  After a long, exhausting ride, the Hinglots and a few other families arrived in the city of Danzig. From there they would board one of many boats waiting at the ports on the Baltic Sea. There were so many people there and everyone was scared and confused. Johanna had never seen such a big crowd in all of her life. It felt like all of Poland had gathered on the docks.

  Some families didn’t have time to properly pack as their clothing and other items were spilling out of their suitcases and onto the ground. Mr. and Mrs. Hinglot made sure that the girls all held each other’s hands so nobody would get lost in the frenzied mob of people that were screaming and running around.

  The men made sure that all of the women and children had boarded the boats before they joined them. Johanna had never been on a boat before and felt queasy from the boat rocking back and forth. Soon the boat was packed with families all looking to escape from Poland before war broke out in their country.

  The boat was overly crowded, hot, and noisy. Women were crying, babies were screaming, and there was a bad smell that made everyone ill. Johanna had no idea where they were going. She just sat there helplessly watching the rest of the families bringing their belongings onto the ship. Several people headed to the other side of the ship to take one last look at their homeland. Sadly, many of them would never see Poland again. Grown men wept openly as the ship left the dock including Mr. Hinglot who buried his face in his hands and cried.

  Johanna asked her Mom where they were going and Mrs. Hinglot told her they were heading to Canada. They would be safe there and it was one of the few countries that would take in such a large number of people. “Canada”? Johanna thought to herself, “Where is that”? Poland was the only place she had ever known. She knew nothing about Canada other than that it was very far away.

  The boat trip was awful for everyone on board. At times, it was either too hot or too cold. Nobody could get comfortable and when the boat hit some choppy water, a lot of people became sea sick. Many people became ill from lack of food or came down with the flu or other ailments. It was impossible to sleep with so many people on board. There was always somebody moaning in pain, somebody crying, and old man snoring, or a heated argument between family members. And there was an unpleasant stench that lingered in the air during the entire trip.

  During the quieter moments when some of the passengers started to drift off to sleep, Johanna would think about her happy days on the farm and her sweet Bessie. Not knowing what was going to happen to Bessie made her sad. She felt so helpless. She was miles away from her home, her farm, and her cow. In an attempt to take her mind off of things, she started to sew a scarf that she had planned to give Bessie when winter came around. Every time she tried to begin to sew, she was unable to concentrate and had to stop. She was able to find a tiny bit of happiness during this miserable time by feeding some of the stale food to the mice that scurried about on the ship.

  After weeks at sea, feeling tired, weak, and homesick, the Hinglots finally arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Having been at sea for so long, they were barely able to walk when their feet hit the ground. They were greeted by a nice man who lived in Halifax. He was offering people from other countries who arrived in Canada to come stay with him and his wife.

  The Hinglots spent the next couple of nights in a boarding house with another Polish family. It was comforting for them to have someone who spoke the same language as them in this strange new environment. Johanna’s parents were able to speak Polish to the other adults while some of the girls made friends with their children. The accommodations were not the best as there wasn’t much furniture and the beds were lumpy and uncomfortable. But anything would’ve been better than that dark, cramped, uncomfortable voyage on which they had embarked. The Hinglots were just glad to be on solid ground for the first time in weeks, to be safe, healthy, and together as a family

  After dinner, the children headed off to bed in their temporary home. They were exhausted from everything they had been through the past few weeks. Johanna couldn’t sleep however as he tossed and turned kicking her covers onto the floor. She was in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar country and it left her feeling overwhelmed. She didn’t know anybody here and she didn’t really try to make friends with the other children in the house.

  After holding in her emotions for most of the journey to Canada, Johanna broke down and started to cry. She cried for Bessie and for the life she had to leave behind. She still didn’t understand why they had to leave their farm. She was too young to understand what war was and the danger that her family was in. She desperately wanted to go home but knew that it wasn’t going to happen.

  A couple of her sisters, Steffi and Emilia, tried to comfort their little sister but were unsuccessful. They were just as upset as Johanna and had trouble hiding their emotions as well. Tears stained their cheeks as well as they cuddled with Johanna. Seeing his sister in distress, Albert came up to Johanna and kissed her on the cheek, put his hand on her shoulder and said, “We’ll be okay Johanna.”

  As the only male child and the youngest of eight, Albert rarely spoke. This sweet gesture temporarily put Johanna and the other girls at ease. She hugged her brother and gave him a peck on the cheek.” He immediately made a strange face and wiped his cheek with his hand. With seven older sisters, Albert was always getting kisses on the cheek and he really didn’t like it.

  By the end of the week, it was time for the Hinglots to leave for a city called Winnipeg. This was going to be their new home for the next few years at least. Mr. Hinglot didn’t know much about the city other than he heard that it was very cold. He had a job waiting for him there and apparently there were a few Polish families who had settled in Winnipeg. After years of having a set routine, being in a foreign country was incredibly daunting for the entire family. Hearing that there would be some fellow Polish folks in the area was actually quite comforting though.

 
Johanna really enjoyed the train ride to Winnipeg. She had never been on a train before in her life. Actually none of the Hinglot children had so this experience was new and exciting for all of them. The whole family wanted to take in as much of the scenery as they could during their train trip. They all took turns pressing their faces against the train’s windows taking in as much of the Canadian landscape as they could. A few random strangers waved to them as they passed by so Johanna waved back. “What a polite country” she thought.

  When they arrived at their destination, Mr. Hinglot was both surprised and elated to be greeted by his old friend Danusz and his son Frank. The two men embraced as tears streamed down their cheeks. Frank was Johanna’s age and had been to the Hinglot house a few times during their Sunday dinners. He smiled at Johanna who felt a little embarrassed and hid behind her sisters. Danusz hugged and kissed Mrs. Hinglot and helped the family with their bags. Johanna tried to take in as much of her new surroundings as she could. This city was a lot busier and noisier than what she was used to back in Poland.

  Mr. Hinglot found employment at a local factory where other recent immigrants from European were working. He worked in a textile