laxly guarded, and instructed the Judenrat, in case of an unwelcome visit by
armed Germans or Ukrainians, immediately to telephone in order to protect
Jews from anything evil.
Apart from that, the Judenrat introduced the rule of general labour duty
for Jews. Before the first shake-up, which ended well, about 75 per cent of
Jewish men were employed both at the railway and as manual labourers at
“Reckman” railway firm and “Ditz” poultry firm. Later, undoubtedly 80 per
cent of the entire Jewish population went to work, men and women, from
12-year-old boys and girls to old people. Working for a subsistence wage, Jews
bought themselves the right to a bare physical existence. The officials made
transparent, unambiguous indications that they were content with the situation
and that no harm would come to the Jews. [2] Every day in the early
morning hours, virtually entire kith and kin would leave the ghetto and after
work return to the narrow walls of their confines. A slave existence for a helpless,
defenceless mass. In the building of the Judenrat, a vigil was kept day and
night. As if from a watch tower, they looked out for the enemy.
On Saturday, 3 October 1942, in the evening hours, a rumour spread
across the town that about 60 freight cars were standing at the ready on
the railway. Soon the news was confirmed and aroused great distress. People
comforted themselves that no operation would take place on Sunday and by
Monday the terrible danger would perhaps once again be removed from the
community. But mortal fear entered every heart. Jews hurriedly built hideouts
for themselves. Everyone realised that the only rescue from the merciless
murderer was to bury oneself deep into the ground and remain hidden
until the deadly storm passes by. Running away to the nearby villages was,
practically speaking, not considered. On the one hand, there were draconian
laws that threatened death to all Poles who would hide Jews and, on
the other hand, if not hatred, [there was] at least disdain for the misfortune
of the Jews.³⁸² A certain incident from a few weeks earlier was still fresh in
the memory of the Jewish population. On a certain day, some Poles came to the
Jewish quarter with an intention to rob and, had it not been for the intervention
of the Germans, it would have resulted in a pogrom. Consequently,
several tens of Poles were sent to a penal camp in Majdanek near Lublin.³⁸³
382 See footnote 312.
383 See footnote 129.
