We opened our shops immediately, despite the lack of goods. We sold out
what we had. Note: When Reyzl was leaving [14a] for Łódź, she cooked us a pot
of rice with milk which we ate for breakfast and in midday. We also bought
a kilo of wild pears for 15 groszes. In the evening, after closing our shutters,
we felt hungry and ate bread and butter. We had a quarter of a glass of milk,
so we made four cups of coffee with it, but it tasted very good. Thus, the day
passed quietly. It’s now 7:30 and I’m writing the account of the day. Hershl
Pietrkowski and his wife Frumet have come with the children, because they
thought it was miserable to sit at home or go to bed too early, and my wife Reyzl
and my son Chaiml have stayed the night in Łódź. So, we’re sitting together and
I’m writing, and my neighbour Frumet asks me whether I’m writing a letter
to Australia or to my suppliers. When I explain to her what I’m writing,
she marvels at what I’m doing. We sat together till 8:30 and only went to
bed when the neighbours’ children grew sleepy. The night passed peacefully.
Thursday, 21 September. Got up very early. People were already being
seized for work, but by a miracle Leybl and I were not taken. By 9:30 Reyzl
wasn’t back [15] from Łódź, so we breakfasted on bread, butter, and coffee.
We earned very little because we had nothing to sell. At 4 p.m. an officer
came demanding varnish. When I said I had no varnish left, he searched
my shop and, finding none, threatened to close my shop if I didn’t find him
some. I asked Mrs Wolpert to speak up for me to the officer, but she walked
away. Finally, after much pleading, they listened to me and went to Shloyme
the Redhead, where they obtained some varnish. Only then did they leave
me alone. At precisely 7 p.m. Reyzl arrived from Łódź with Sender Szumiraj.
She had paid 9 zlotys for haberdashery and brought home some merchandise
which she had obtained with great difficulty and for which she had paid 25 per
cent extra. She told of the hardship facing people in Łódź: a 2 kilo [bread] loaf
cost 1.80, meat cost 3 zlotys a kilo, potatoes cost 3 zlotys for 25 kilos[?], but
people had to get up at 5 a.m. to begin queueing. Sugar could not be bought
at any price. And as if this were not enough, Jews were tormented by being
singled out and seized for work. People told of cases where Jews were forced
to pull their tales-kotn over their heads and then be photographed and made to
laugh at the game. What’s more, our brother-in-law Yekhezkl from Zgierz and
his son Shmuel Leyb received such beatings on the way to Łódź that they had
to go to a doctor. Not a single man showed himself on the street, and all the
shops were closed.
