Many children arrived without parents, having got lost on the way. They did not know what had happened to them, if they were dead or alive. Masses of people arrived—hungry, ragged, and wounded. Many had discarded their baggage on the way and focused purely on survival. They all found shelter in centres established ad hoc in public institutions, schools, and cinemas. They slept on the floor, covered with what was left of their clothing. Most of them had neither relatives in Warsaw nor money to check into a hotel. Hence, they were sleeping in gates, staircases, [5] or basements of larger buildings. This was the first influx of war victims from the civilian frontline.
Refugees began to stream in during the first days of September. A kitchen and a sanitary centre were soon established at Nalewki Street 23, still in early September. The social conscience of many residents of the tenement reacted to the human suffering and misery like a sensitive seismograph reacts to an earthquake. The initiative to open the kitchen and the sanitary centre came from misters Kahan, Szczerański, Elenberg, Mordka Haberman, Izydor Haberman, and many others.
This was the initial, heroic period in the history of the House Committee at Nalewki Street 23. A period of unwritten laws and spontaneous work for the well-being of others; a period of the spontaneous will to help those in need—a will that enthused the more passive elements or made them stay out of sight, ashamed; a period of “blessed [6] chaos,” where the unchecked authority of individuals harnessed and organised hundreds of people for their collective safety and to protect their lives and property.
The kitchen worked from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., serving lunch to refugees, soldiers, Jews, and Christians. One thousand lunches were served every day. The ladies cooked in the kitchens in several centres. Mr Mordka Haberman was the host, while Mr Izydor Haberman was the director. Mrs Frenkel was particularly hard-working.
By 11 September, a total of 1,057 zlotys had been collected by the tenement’s “patriciate,” as it was called. It was difficult to convince some of the residents that our campaign was the right thing to do. They donated money, but later they rebelled. Their campaign was unsuccessful, though. Such was the will of the majority. It was decided that the collected money would be spent on products such as rice, potatoes, peas, etc. The products were stored in a single secure place.
