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January 1942, in Warsaw, ghetto. Anonymous testimony concerning anti-Jewish persecutions in Vilna in the first months after the outbreak of the German–Soviet war
[1] Vilna General outline until the establishment of the ghetto
In the morning of 24 June 1941, the Germans entered Vilna. They were bombing the city throughout the night of 22 September. On 23 September, it was announced that Vilna was an open city. Soviet forces left the city undisturbed by anyone, fully organised. Lorries took soldiers to Minsk, bringing fresh transports on the way back. In general, all along the section Vilna–Smargonie,499 Soviet troops retreated in an orderly manner.
The first decree setting the Jews apart from the Poles was the case of the hostages (twenty Poles, forty Jews). Another area of anti-Jewish incidents were queues for food (after the Germans had entered), whence the Jews were pushed away with shouts of Juden raus.500 The Lithuanians seized power and we saw 14or 16-year-old boys with guns, half-uniformed, deployed to maintain order in the city. This lasted several days. In the meantime, a regulation was issued to give up all radios and bicycles. The new laws primarily applied to Jews because Aryans were later given their bicycles back, while the Jews only received small compensation. Several days later, the authorities announced the first regulation [2] exclusively applied to the Jews: a restriction on freedom of movement within the city perimeter from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m., andthe obligation to wear white patches on the chest and the back (white patches with a yellow circle and “J” for “Jude” inscribed inside). The Jews of Vilna wore those patches with dignity – although some were reluctant (especially
