to alleviate the plight of people in those difficult days, they are to be held accountable.
At 5 o'clock in the morning, the German gendarmerie, the Polish police, and the Order Service closed Krochmalna Street between the cross-streets of Ciepła and Rynkowa. All residents were ordered to leave their flats. Within one hour, several thousand frightened people gathered on Market Square—women, men, and children. People were [4] overcome with panic because they were convinced that they were to be deported; there were even rumours that everyone would be shot. One participant in the operation, Mr Sz., told me that he repeatedly assured the people that it was just a bathing operation—nothing helped, though, for people were convinced that they were sentenced to death. The flats, left without any supervision, became hunting grounds for thieves. The operation was supposedly organised, but in practice it turned out to be rather chaotic. From time to time, a hundred or more people were sent to individual bathhouses. People were selected at random, whoever stood close by, men or women. By the evening, the organisers still had not managed to send everyone to the bath. The people were standing in Janasz Passage465 all night, without anything to eat, while those who had returned from the bath could not go home because the street was closed. Ciepła Street was simply overflowing with people who were waiting for a chance to return to their homes. Heavy rain started in the evening, drenching those poor people to the bone. It was only around one o'clock at night that those camping on Ciepła Street were allowed [5] to go to their houses on Krochmalna Street, and the lock-down was lifted from several houses near Rynkowa Street. The operation continued on the following day; this time those who had been waiting overnight in Janasz Passage were bathed.
The entire operation was carried out in a very ruthless manner, thus marking one of the chapters in the martyrdom of the people of the Jewish district.
(27 March 1942)
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