Service on Szeryński, and finally declared that he was stepping down from his position. Various unflattering opinions circulated about Kupczykier—he was commonly called Przekupczykier.716 In my view, he is largely responsible for the organisation of the Order Service. Kupczykier’s aide was a Mr [ Moysey] Aronson. A few days ago he told me that it was during the tension between Kupczykier and Szeryński that the former put forward the idea to find a deputy for Szeryński, one who could eclipse him and take his place. By then, Lieutenant-Colonel Kon had returned from captivity. Together with Kupczykier, they decided that Kon would replace Szeryński, but Kupczykier wanted be proceed cautiously and sent Kon to Szeryński. Szeryński received Lieutenant-Colonel Kon very coldly, then gently asked him about his religion, and when Kon said he was a Roman Catholic, Szeryński is supposed to have declared: “We don’t need the likes of you.”
At one point Szeryński’s position faltered. People who had been cowardly watching the organisation and actions of the Order Service, began to speak up; some of them did so in honest indignation, others—expecting new positions to become available. The conspiracy of the Order Service officers against Szeryński was led by Mieczysław Goldsztejn, and this turned out to be the undoing of the entire operation. The conspirators included: Herc, Nowogródzki, Przeworski, and others. Mieczysław Goldsztejn asked me to persuade Berenson to lend his support. Berenson told me that he did not trust Goldsztejn and that he would give them no assistance in that regard. I explained to Goldsztejn that Berenson’s health precluded him from participating, and that, therefore, I would try to dissuade him [11] from joining. A moment later, Herc came running to me, complaining that I wanted to harm the operation. The result of their action was a memorandum which Goldsztejn submitted to Berenson, and which was to be further submitted to Czerniaków. The contents of this memorandum read as follows:
“In the interest of the Jewish people and appropriate social treatment of the tasks of the Order Service, we consider it our duty to draw attention to the need to implement the following suggestions:
1) An instruction is to be issued for the Order Service, explaining first of all its objectives and tasks, in order to emphasise the social nature of the Service as an organ of the Jewish Council and as a social care institution. Such
