and a list of fees for co-workers of Oyneg Shabes.³⁹ Another example is
the account from Końskowola, whose author was a Jewish policeman from the
Warsaw ghetto; the document is only preserved in a draft form, as a survey
filled in according to the Oyneg Shabes template (Doc. 49). Most of the original
notes were not preserved.
Many accounts are preceded by the profile of the author, formulated by
the interviewer.⁴⁰ Frequently, the text contains short descriptions of the situation
of the interlocutors, notes on their emotional reactions during the conversation,
and comments by third parties.⁴¹ Some documents are dated, but it
is uncertain whether these are the date of the interview, date of preparation of
the final text, or date of copying the original. Some are in several copies, often
written with carbon paper; the intention was apparently to hide each copy in
a different place, though this could not be achieved.
Authors of the accounts are usually unknown, or with very few detailed
personal data. Sometimes authors signed documents with a pseudonym or
initials. Sometimes the content of the account helps to establish the given
name of the author. The safety of individuals did not allow to give out more
information. The text by Hanna Lewkowicz of Kosów Lacki is interesting in
this respect. The handwritten original was completed, probably by Szmuel
Bresław,⁴² with personal details and several additional comments. However,
the Oyneg Shabes copyist did not include the personal details in the copy,
even though he copied other comments (Doc. 166).
Most accounts were submitted by Jews resettled to the Warsaw ghetto
from the counties of Warsaw, Grójec, Łowicz, and Sochaczew in the Warsaw
District. The first wave of resettlement was in the winter and spring of 1941,
39 See Doc. 16 which contains only the part pertaining to Lublin; for the list of fees, see Oyneg Shabes. People and Works, Doc. 7.
40 Such as Doc. 37: “My interlocutor is a 19-year-old boy. A refugee from Włocławek who came to Warsaw at the beginning of the war. He lived there with his family under difficult conditions; in May 1941, with the help of a friend working in the Judenrat in Hrubieszów, he went to work on a farm and received employment on a property about 50 km away from Hrubieszów, in Dłużniów.”
41 “No,” her husband interrupts, [“I] was forced to leave Warsaw because of the exorbitant prices [. . .]” or in Doc. 174: “(the wife, who is sitting nearby, starts to cry even more)”.
42 Shmuel Bresław (1920–1942), pre-war member of Hashomer Hatzair; in the Warsaw ghetto he cooperated with Oyneg Shabes, recorded the news broadcasted by the clandestine press; he was member of the ŻOB; he was shot on a street in the ghetto on 3 September 1942.
