to the NKVD building at 7 Lenin Street. They promised us that we would be given travel permits. The whole mass of refugees came with us. Only some of them had the courage to enter the building of the “dreaded” NKVD. The rest got scared, wavered on the threshold, and drew back. The first thing that hap-pened to us was that they locked us up, 150 of us, in one room. Before that, we witnessed the following incident. A Jew and a Russian came in. The Jew slapped the Russian, and the latter started yelling. The Jew declared that the Russian had insulted him in the street, calling him a yid. I don’t know what happened to them afterwards.
We were held there all day without food. In the middle of the night, they took us up to the third floor. One by one, we were taken into a roomand interrogated. Those brought out again looked flushed and distraught. They were taken downstairs and we weren’t allowed near them. We didn’tknow what they had said. (In actual fact, they were taken out into the street and released.) [39] We resolved to stay firm and not to crack. My turn came. I went in. There were ten men sitting in the room. I was told to sit down as well. They all wrote something down. Everyone stared at me. It was horrible. It felt like they intended to devour me. In fact, they were out to confuse me. I was asked whether I belonged to any party. I replied firmly that I did not. Another one of them repeated the question. His tone of voice and his eyes shook me and cut me through with fear and trembling. It was made clear to me that if I didn’t want to be sent to Siberia, I had better return to work. They spoke in Russian. I also replied in Russian, “Sibir tozhe dlya lyudei” (Siberia is also for people).310 I was taken to another room, where a Jewish NKVD official ordered me to sign a printed document. I asked what it said. At first, he wouldn’t answer and told me to sign it. I refused. Then he told me it was an undertaking to leave Minsk within 24 hours. I refused to sign it and insisted that I wouldn’t leave Minsk unless I was allowed to travel to Białystok. He saidhe didn’t need my signature: Budet khuzhe.311 I was led out. “Maybe they’re sending me to Siberia”, I thought. In the end, I was taken out into the streetand released. I could go wherever I wanted.
