habits clashed. Human lives decomposed in that focal spot of social misery. Theft flourished there, and so did denunciations—erroneous deeds born out of desperation. In the centre Mrs D. saw the side of life that turns into a real hell. In spite of it all, she still wanted to live, to endure. Hence, she put up with her misery with dignity. Every day they received two plates of soup from a people’s kitchen. Her husband took up a temporary job and was earning enough for them to buy some bread.
In April 1940 Mrs D. was in luck. She was finally feeling well enough to begin looking for a job. She turned to directors of certain offices and to [117] her friends. And one day while she was walking down a lane through the Saxon Garden she came across her old friend, Doctor X.’s wife. The woman was looking for a nanny for her daughter, aged seven, and she was very happy when Mrs D. suggested that she would take that job.
Mrs D. came to work every day at 9 a.m., ate breakfast with the girl, and then the two of them went out for a walk. After lunch they went out again, while on rainy days they played or read indoors. At 6.30 p.m. Mrs D. ate dinner with the girl. She did not assist at tucking her in because she always had to wash, iron, or darn clothes for the child. She was so happy that she had food to eat (she often even brought something for her husband) and that she could relax emotionally in the cheerful atmosphere of her work that she almost never felt tired, even though her work was indeed exhausting. After work it was easier for her to put up with the sheer hell of spending the evening and night at the centre.
In August Mrs D. lost her job. The girl came down with a serious case of the flu and had to be taken to Otwock. Mrs D. began to starve again. She looked frantically for a job. The residents of her tenement sympathised with her and often had her work as a domestic, but they paid her little.
In the meantime November 1940 came. A ghetto was established in Warsaw. Mrs D. husband and another inhabitant of the centre began to transport furniture on a handcart. They did one “course” after another from dawn until late in the evening. Mrs D. bravely helped them, guarding the cart on the street. [118] They were faring pretty well. After the moves had ceased, Mrs D.’s husband replaced residents who had to work as per the authorities’ order. He was making 4 or 5 zlotys per day for 8 hours of hard labour. One day he returned home from work, having been injured in the leg by a crowbar. He spent several days in the centre. Later, however, when the pain worsened
