שודיק םשה.672 The majority, however, and this concerns owners of furs of higher value, tried to get them to the other side, or sold them to Poles, who came to the ghetto in crowds to buy such items on the afternoon of 26 December and on the following days. Especially on the last day of fur requisition, that is 28 December, the ghetto was a sight to behold. There were swarms of Polish policemen, as well as [7] various men and women without armbands. Furs were sold for a mere song, items worth 10–15,000 zlotys went for 1000 zlotys, or even cheaper. Smuggling a fur to the other side cost 100–200 zlotys and more. Prices on the basic necessities in the ghetto increased significantly at that time. This was explained by the fact that no goods were being smuggled in, as all smugglers were busy transporting furs. On Wołówka673 and Grzybowska Street, furs were sold practically in the open. There were fur sellers in the streets as well. This open fur trade probably gave rise to the news (which I have not confirmed) that it was announced by megaphones that it was a punishable offence to buy fur from a Jew, and that there were more gendarmes in the streets. The Order Service was alerted in full force to bring in fur traders. However, I have not heard of any complaint concerning extortions on these grounds. District commander Lejkin addressed the division which was to be involved in this operation, explaining to constables that it was in the interests of the Jews [8] to hand over their furs, since otherwise, if the quota of fur set by the Germans were not delivered, a contribution would be imposed on the ghetto. In addition, he went on to say that if the quota were exceeded, there was hope that the Order Service might be allowed to keep their furs. Because of such information, as well as because of news that the Order Service allegedly could keep furs in Łódź and other cities, the Order Service handed their furs over at the last moment, on the evening of 28 December. On 28 December at noon, the queue to hand over furs was already very long. It was very cold; people waited for hours. The collection took place at two locations, Grzybowska Street 26 and 27. The collection went like this: the official taking a fur wrote out a receipt with the items being handed over, without going into any details. Collected furs were first put into bags, and then tied together with a duplicate of the receipt.
