ignition that lice could easily move to other things and hide from gas later), but my conscience as an ordinary worker, and even a “sulphur handler”, was clear after I reported my observations to the appropriate people. It was all the clearer, since if you were working in the brigades, you had to leave your conscience in the pocket of the coat left [7] in the “undressing room” before the work, lest it interfered with the simplest duties.
It was a much more serious matter when sulphur was not ignited or very little of it was used. In such a case, if we are to believe those who describe lice as creatures which enjoy “sightseeing tours”, the threat of lice getting on clean laundry is not much exaggerated. It is already very unpleasant, but it would be a real tragedy if among the items placed into the chamber there was the bedding of a person infected with typhoid. The case at Pawia Street 65 (described above) may serve as illustration.
In early June, a meeting was held of 12 future brigade leaders, including myself, with Dr. G.—physician and head of the brigades. At the meeting, I learned that there was not enough sulphur even on the Aryan side, and that the Department of Health had managed to purchase one batch with great difficulty. Incidentally, one of those present tried to ignite it and said that despite his intensive efforts and liberal application of denatured alcohol, the material kept going out.
A few days later, on 11 June, I was working in the tenement house at Pawia Street 63. I was unpleasantly surprised when, as the sulphur handler, I was given crude sulphur from the new batch, which had been determined to be absolutely unsuitable for our use. [8] I did, however, receive a supplement in the form of nitrate, and it prompted me to fix the gases by mixing sulphur with saltpetre and dousing it generously with denatured alcohol. I was notified some time later that there was no gas in the chamber I had recently “ignited”. I opened the chamber and found that the sulphur was extinguished, and the gas was barely perceptible. In the sulphur tin, almost all the material had remained unburned.
In the presence of the brigade doctor, Dr. G., and director K., I lit the sulphur again. We watched it for a long time. It turned out that the flame was clearly prone to go out. However, I was given an order to seal the chamber and leave it to its fate. The tenement at Pawia 63 is like a deep and narrow well. There are four staircases with dozens of flats, where more than 500 tenants are living. Dirt, poverty, and vermin! Two flats were closed due to typhoid,
