the money I had on me; fortunately, it was only 28 zlotys, and a small Jewish
calendar zum Andenken.⁶³⁴ They did not perform such a detailed body search
on us, because they could see we did not have much.
Then they asked where we wanted to go next. “To Piotrków, of course,”
I replied. But I have no idea where to go. I do not know the way because I have
never been here before. They wanted to give me the receipt I had signed but
then they changed their mind. They ordered me to get dressed to leave,
and one of them started preparing himself too. As I did not know yet
whether he would escort us to Piotrków, I asked the commander if we were
going to Piotrków. He ordered me to go with that man. When I was leaving,
“Goodnight,” I said. He replied that one should say Heil. Then we left.
It was still completely dark. It was twice as difficult for me to walk because
I was carrying the backpack. We walked and walked, and I was still uncertain
whether we were walking to Piotrków, but I was afraid to ask. Finally, I mustered
the courage. The man proved [8] very kind. He replied in German that we
were headed for Piotrków. He pointed in some direction to show where it was,
not far, but it was still an hour’s walk. [. . .] we crossed a bridge and stopped.
“Hier ist die Grenze,⁶³⁵ the border,” he said. Then he said that this was the Reich
and that on the other side it was already the General Government. The village
before us was Kamocinek. We would walk straight on [. . .] along that
path, walk through the village and keep walking until we would reach the
road. Then we would turn right and continue walking until Piotrków. I was
listening on calmly, when he suddenly said, Also – machen Sie los.⁶³⁶ Whaat??
I thought I would drop dead. In my hopeless naivety, I thought that he was
simply explaining which way we would go. Though initially it seemed strange
to me that he would escort us all the way to Piotrków. I started begging him in
German – I do not know where to go, I have never been there, I do not know
the way, I shall get lost, and please, come with me. But he kept saying that he
could not and he explained to me patiently that I had to go straight on, neither
left, nor right, [. . .] and reach the road and then turn right and go straight
to the city. He was so kind that when I begged him several more times he did
not become impatient, even once. Instead, he calmly explained the route to
634 (German) as a keepsake.
635 (German) Here is the border.
636 (German) So go, please.
