conclusion is that politics is a superior matter whose objectives remain concealed but which required implementation. The two nations are equal in terms of their … inferiority to the German race, which they must serve on an equal basis. With the current political situation, the Germans have more trust for Ukrainians even though they scorn them more than the Poles.
Meanwhile, diverse news is coming from the front line. Anyhow, it is already certain that the Blitzkrieg has failed, that the war shall drag on, who knows, perhaps even throughout the winter, and that for now Kiev, Odessa, and Leningrad are not in danger.
[32] 6 August. Stabilisation of the Jewish role. There is no hope for a change of the situation. After the contribution, the Jewish plight stabilises and all perspectives of ghetto life open up. The situation becomes worse each day and all rumours, even the gloomiest ones, prove to be true. Even though there are still no ordinances regarding [establishment of] the ghetto, the requisitions (or actually the throwing out of Jews from flats) and confiscations (or actually robbery of furniture, etc.) have already begun. The chain becomes tighter and the persecutions worsen. Civilians and Gestapo functionaries, soldiers and gendarmes, or Germans and Ukrainians come in and requisition flats, rooms, furniture, furnishings, carpets, valuables, underwear, clothes, footwear, and food. The Germans appropriate the modern villa district after evicting the Poles and Ukrainians, who in turn receive permission to throw out any Jew from his home. In consequence the Jews are being thrown out of their homes by the Germans, Ukrainians, and Poles. It is not clear to whom it is best to leave your flat and furniture.
The Community has begun its operation and it is also requisitioning flats and furniture for the Germans. Sometimes the Germans allow seven days for moving and at other times only two hours. It remains unknown which streets will be available for the Jews. So the prices of flats in the centre of the Jewish district rise. Renting a room from the owner costs a hundred roubles, but a middleman charges a thousand. The hyenas and jackals are running rampant everywhere. The Jews soon came to realise how to make Geschefts: they are offering flats and furniture to the Germans and showing them rich Jews’ furnishings. They are already changing, restructuring, adapting to the new conditions, preying wherever they can, acting as middlemen, offering all kinds of services, forgetting everything they did during the Bolshevik administration and what awaits them and other Jews under the German occupation.
LVO V AN D SOUTH EASTERN REGIONS [ 31] 441
