on corners, at gates, or on sidewalks. They stand, wait, search, nose about, track, and follow. Traders, merchants, [. . .], spongers, frauds, cheats, porters, thieves, pimps, and prostitutes—they all share one desire: to earn enough for bread. There are so many of them on every street, particularly on corners and at crossroads, that you cannot get rid of them. Proportionally too many of them, ten times more than before the war.
The third plague is denunciation and spying. There are legions of professional snoops in every milieu. Among the young and women. [. . .] Among intellectuals and the proletariat. Among German, Polish, Warsaw, Łódź, and provincial Jews. Among religious Jews and the meches.83 This plague has penetrated all milieux. They became engaged in this disgraceful service not only for money [. . .], but also because of their desire for profits and their being used to light work [. . .]. This plague is so widespread that people distrust these poorest [. . .] there are also amateur denunciators who denounce out of [. . .] out of envy, of rivalry, of anger, or out of zealousness [. . .].
[. . .] there is also the fourth plague: blackmail. [. . .]. Blackmailers roam about along the ghetto walls and blackmail policemen, [. . .]. The latter offer them bribes without a word [5] because they know that it is better not to mess with professional blackmailers, for they never fail to carry out their threats. Blackmailers blackmail corrupted clerks, speculators, former officers,84 repatriates from Russia,85 and anybody whom the authorities could detain for any reason whatsoever. Many of them are members of the Order Service, operating in cooperation with the Polish police. “You’ve come from Lvov or Vilna? Pay up, or I’ll denounce you.” “You haven’t registered as an officer? Pay up!” “You’ve entered the ghetto without a pass. Pay up!” “You’ve listened to the bulletin.86 Pay up!” And they pay, often more than once for the same offense.
