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A
few days after they entered Wloclawek, the Germans burst into
a private house where Jews were standing in prayer on the eve
of the Day of Atonement, and ordered those present to get out
and run. Then they gave the order "Stop," but some
of the Jews did not hear this order being given and went on
running; then the Germans opened fire and killed 5 or 6 of
them. On the Day of Atonement itself the Germans burned down
the two large synagogues. The fire also spread to several
private homes. The Jews threw their possessions out [to save
them] and there they were robbed by the Polish mob. These
fires were set mostly by the men of the SS. The Jews tried to
save the burning houses. The Germans then took all the Jewish
men from one of the buildings, 26 persons, and forced them to
sign a declaration that they themselves had set fire to the
building. After the Germans had obtained this declaration they
told the men who had been arrested that they would be punished
for committing arson and could save themselves only if they
paid a ransom of 250,000 zloty. The Jewish population of
Wloclawek collected the necessary sum amongst themselves and
the men were released. They [the Germans] began to launch
hunting expeditions into the houses. They caught about 350
Jews and put some of them in barracks and some of them in the
Muehsam factory. From there they were taken out to work every
day, but given no food - only their families were
permitted to bring them food. After many pleas, those
who had been arrested were permitted, after many checkings, to
visit their homes from time to time in accordance with a
special leave-of-absence permit, in order to wash, change
their clothes, eat, and so on. The regular work of the 350 who
had been arrested did not by any means stop the abduction for
work of Jews in the streets of the city. And apart from that
there was the Jewish Council (Judenrat), which had been
appointed in place of the former Community authorities -
it would supply a certain number of Jewish workers every day,
in accordance with German demands. Those who had been taken
away and those who were abducted for work were beaten and
abused unmercifully. How they treated the Jews while they were
working is shown by the fact that one of these Jews, Jacob
Heiman, 52 years old and too weak for physical labor, was
beaten and stabbed with a dagger while he was working, and a
few days after he returned home, he died of his injuries. In
October the Germans decreed that the Jews must attach a yellow
badge to their clothes in back, and that they must not step on
the sidewalks of the street but walk in the middle of the
streets. When they had collected the ransom of 250,000 zloty
from the Jews for the imaginary arson, they imposed a new fine
on the Jewish population after a short while, of 500,000
zloty, for the imaginary offense of not obeying the ban on
using the sidewalk. The schools were closed.
A
few days after they moved into the city, the Germans closed
and confiscated the factories and stores belonging to Jews.
The Jews were required to register all their property, and a
Jew was not permitted to keep more than 200 zloty in his home
(in Warsaw 2,000 zloty). There were many cases of Jews being
beaten and tortured. They used to beat them not only during
forced labor and not only when they had some complaint, but
also for no reason at all: they would simply go up to Jews
passing in the street, cry "Zhid" and stop to
hit them....
B.
Mintz and I. Klausner, eds., Sefer ha-Zevaot
("Book of Abominations"), I, Jerusalem, 1945, p. 86.
*
From evidence given in Israel on June 7, 1940, by a woman who
left Poland at the beginning of the war. |
