per an ordinance of the authorities. They then went into the flat, searched every nook and cranny, and conducted a body search of the household members. Mrs G.’s sister was so overcome by fear of the German threats that she informed them about the diamonds and dollars sewn up in [her?] belt. Mrs G. and her parents managed to keep more composure but it did not save them from losing a significant amount of their valuables. That visit was the when Mrs G. first felt the impact of a German fist.
The Germans returned after some time and stole more possessions. Mrs G.’s parents lost their savings, without which they were unable to keep their business going. They had to look for secondary sources of income in order to get by. For some time the restaurant continued to function only as a cover-up for various illegal transactions. It was frequented by Jews and Aryans. Mrs G., who was working as a waitress at her parents’ restaurant, became the mainspring for that channel of earning money. [126] She had to take all possible protective measures, as the restaurant was visited by various individuals, including German agents and Jewish Gestapo functionaries, and that made her unable to further develop her activity. Visits of Germans that had life-threatening consequences boosted Mrs G.’s inborn impudence and courage to take risks. From then on her commercial activity intensified. Moreover, the fact that she engaged in a close relationship with Mr J, who moved in with them at that time, significantly contributed to her financial success. Mr J. often went to the Reich with diamonds, jewellery, and gold he got from Mrs G., which her friends had given her on consignment. Mrs G. acted as a middleman in the sale of goods brought by Mr J. Mrs G.’s parents also greatly benefited from her relationship with Mr J. He supplied the restaurant with products he brought from abroad or obtained through his contacts with influential Germans. Mrs G.’s parents paid much less than they would have had they bought the products themselves, provided that they would have got them at all.
Whenever Mr J. was in Warsaw Mrs G. spent her free time with him. Mrs G. tried to make their intimate relationship seem like a polite intimacy between flatmates but her conduct was too unrestrained for those around her to believe that illusion. The whole tenement knew from the tenement superintendent that Mrs G. often came back with Mr J. at midnight or early in the morning. She was in a “jolly mood [127] and intoxicated with vodka.” Indeed, they used to go to the cinema or restaurants, or drive to Podkowa Leśna (a locality an hour’s drive from Warsaw). They had similar rakish inclinations
