table, the other under the bed. It was beyond any doubt that the Germans saw them. However, to the great surprise of the Jews, the Germans glancedover them as if they were inanimate objects and their words could be heard: Es ist doch keiner da.215 And they went out. In contrast, the Poles, the “Todt”, the militia, and especially Lithuanians searched houses with alacrity and zeal that shocked even the Germans.
Many people had perfect hiding places ready, such as double ceilings or walls, others improvised by hiding in some room and masking the door with a closet, and so on. The most common hiding place was the attic or basement, where the Germans usually did not search.
Those who had the yellow cards that had been distributed the previous day were left alone along with listed family members. Since hardly anyone realised the situation and grasped the actual purpose of those cards, there were several tragic incidents resulting from such ignorance. Namely, many cardholders gave heed to one of the rumours circulating in Słonim that a raidwould be ordered only for men, as had already happened in July. So those men went into hiding, taking their card with them (just in case), and their families stayed. When the men returned, they would find their family gone.
In one house, all the residents hid in the attic. Among them was a woman with a child who began to cry just as two Lithuanians were searching the flats, and it would not calm down. Her companions, terrified that the cries would betray them, forced the unfortunate mother to kill the baby, threatening that otherwise they would do it. And the mother obeyed. With a terrible, haunting whisper, “Softly, softly, darling”, she grabbed the child by the neck and choked the child until it stopped breathing and died. After the deed, shefainted and woke up with a smile on her lips. She went mad.
Some hid in the basement of a church located in the ghetto and had every chance of survival, had it not been for a nun who noticed them and reported them to the Germans. The latter fired several shots inside, threw several grenades, and the surviving Jews were escorted to the assembly point.
Also, all hostages who had not been released were taken (including many members of the Judenrat), seventy children from the orphanage, all the elderlyfrom the Old People’s Home and all the patients from the hospital.
