substantial amounts of money on the side. Those who came late or were not cunning enough, who did not have sufficient connections or contacts to engage in smuggling, agency, or bribery, those people hastily engaged in trade or manufacturing, particularly after running out of cash or savings. This means that the products that cannot be imported from beyond the wall are produced here, in the ghetto. [17] The consumer has to buy what is on the market, so [such manufacturers] produce this junk, this trash, these fakes, substitutes, and ersatz products. Food products are faked. Ersatzes of ersatzes and substitutes of substitutes are produced along with fake tobacco, cigarettes, money, etc. The products available in the sphere of culture are often similarly shoddy, cheap, surrogate, falsified. A doctor, nurse, paramedic, secret-classes teacher, course teacher, artist, singer, cabaret actor, skit writer, clerk, chemist, pharmacist, etc., etc.—in normal circumstances many would lose the right to practice their profession because of their total lack of qualifications.
And this is not because morality, particularly in public life, has become the cheapest product, one for which there is practically no demand. It is not only because hunger, lack of honest work, and the situation on the job market are pushing people onto this shady path. No, it is mostly because “in the ghetto everything is forbidden and everything is allowed.” A trademark, company name, patent, and brand offer no protection. All branches of economic life are corrupt, gangrenous, perverted. They revolve around illegal dealings, bribery, and favouritism. These are the disastrous effects of the operation of the Judenrat, which you can easily sin against when you can simply offer a bribe. Besides, who would seek justice in Polish courts, where you need to give much larger bribes?
Hence, everything is allowed, and if it is not, you do it anyway because nowadays you nonetheless risk your health, freedom, property, and life every day. They threaten you with the death penalty for trifles and on the street, by accident or due to bad luck, you often risk being beaten, detained, or sent to a camp. So what difference does it make? This is the conclusion the ghetto’s inhabitants come to concerning how, where, and what you risk. Unfortunately, there are some mitigating circumstances. Nowadays you live in constant danger, but the risk of falsification will at least bring you money for bread. And for bread [you would do anything] . . .
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