In the period following the establishment of the Order Service, no Regions were defined at first. Everything was concentrated in a single building at Prosta Street 12; officers were only divided into platoons. In the first [2] days of operation, constables participated in drill exercises carried out by former military officers, as well as in classes on theory. The classes were taught by a Polish police sergeant, a converted Jew, Prusak.745 He taught five or six classes, and, according to my interlocutor, they were not particularly helpful for the constables, as the classes concerned the field of criminology, with which the Order Service had very little, if anything at all, to do. The entire staff of the Order Service command consisted mainly of former police officers and former soldiers. Szeryński, for example, was a colonel in the Polish police, Lederman taught law at the police academy, Schönbach746 was a major, etc.
As regards assigning rank, it was the military past of the given officer that decided this. If someone had been a lieutenant in the Polish Army, he would usually receive a star from the Order Service as well, but there were numerous manipulations in this area and [3] very often favouritism determined the outcome. The first task of the Order Service was to guard the outlets of the recently closed Jewish district. Mr G. performed his first duty at the corner of Chłodna and Żelazna Streets, where gruesome scenes were then occurring. Since this was the only section connecting the southern and northern parts of the district, the area was very animated, and gendarmes tormented passing Jews in various ways. It was raining then, so the Jews were made to dance in puddles of water, take off their hats before the gendarmes, or do gymnastics, and the Germans were beating Jews all the while and yelling at them to run across the street faster. Crossing Chłodna Street in those days was a traumatic experience for the Jews and it took its toll on their lives and health. Officers of the Order Service who were on duty at that outlet reminded the Jews to take off their hats, told them to cross [4] Chłodna Street quickly, and regulated the traffic. Duty at the outlet lasted all day, from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., without any breaks. It was difficult duty, because constables
