to come to one of the squares. After the men had assembled on the square,
which was surrounded with machine guns, the Poles were separated from the
Jews. The latter were compelled to do penal drills. At the same time posters
were put up in the city to announce that if it remains calm, the hostages (the
men assembled on the square) would be released. Otherwise, they would be
executed. Fortunately, there were no incidents and the hostages were released
within three days, with the exception of those who were detained for a longer
period of time in the newly established labour camp.
Late November 1939 brought the introduction of yellow patches in the
shape of the Star of David to be worn on the chest and on the back. For half
a million zlotys, the Jewish Community managed to obtain cancellation of
only the back patch.¹⁴²
The first winter with the Germans was a period of searches and requisitions.
The Jews were removed not only from better flats, but from the centre in
general, and they were concentrated in the worst districts of the city. Making
matters worse, the spring brought the plague of forced labour camps. The men
were seized mostly at night. The captured men were escorted onto the square
which was the assembly point. They were also mercilessly beaten. A number
of men were beaten to death. There were several forced labour camps in
the Lublin [District]. The two most infamous ones were the one in Bełżec
(12 weeks)¹⁴³ and the one in Tyszowce.¹⁴⁴ The director of the first one, Dolp,¹⁴⁵
was the real terror of Lublin. He would ‘storm out of the blue’ onto a square
or a street and open fire at the pedestrians for no reason. It is easy to guess
the fate of the forced labour camp prisoners who depended on that deviant.
On 10 March 1941 in the evening, a rumour about a planned deportation
and a round-up came from nowhere and spread in the city. Indeed,
in the morning the inhabitants of the suburbs saw a long line of peasant’s
carts. The resettlement campaign proceeded as follows: the gendarmes went
from flat to flat and seized everybody, practically only in the clothes they were
wearing. The people could take only a bundle of belongings and 20 zlotys.
142 See footnote 88.
143 The prisoners were detained for the period of 12 weeks at a time.
144 Labour camp in Bełżec, see footnote 69. Labour camp in Tyszowce, see footnote 100.
145 The Bełżec labour camp commandant was SS-Sturmbannführer Hermann Dolp. See J. Marszałek, Obozy pracy, p. 119.
