Roger Deusny, a stoker in a brick factory. He was the most eager to beat the Jews.
Among the Jews there were operators, for instance Fas and Szer,⁹³⁷ who released
people in cooperation with the Germans and in return for big sums of money.
Of course, there was an instance that they took the money but did nothing.
The number of the Jews in the camp decreased day by day. The remaining
Jews had no money or connections to escape. But they had stolen backpacks
with their companion’s possessions; some people did not fail to steal
from their companions in distress. Many months after closing the camp,
the Jewish police retrieved objects stolen during the stay in the camp. In the
end, the authorities dissolved the camp, as they did not know what to do
with the people.
It is interesting that several days after the rush some Germans from Łódź
came to the municipality. This also casts some light as to who was behind it
all. Those Germans might have been from the SS or SA as they were wearing
brown uniforms and bands with swastikas on their sleeves. They arrived in
the municipality and demanded to see the Community chairman. They asked
him detailed questions regarding the rush to Stryków. When did it take place?
How many people left? They were surprised by that incident about which they
had no idea. They came three times to conduct investigations. (14) It was then
apparent that the whole uproar was the local Germans’ doing. This is how the
infamous rush to Stryków, which deprived people of life and property, ended.
It was Easter 1940. After all those experiences everybody was happy to
have a roof over their head and nobody wanted to know the news, buzzing
like troublesome flies.
New gendarmerie arrived from Skierniewice. People were saying that the
Skierniewice inhabitants were happy to be rid of them. Their reputation could
not be worse. People talked mostly about the gendarme whom Jews used to
call “Szmul.” He owed his nickname to the fact that each Jew he apprehended
and asked about his name had to answer that his name was Szmul. The gendarme
would not accept any other Jewish name and whenever he got a different
answer he would beat the man who provided it. The new gendarmerie
went to the Community offices first thing after its arrival. It demanded beds,
straw mattresses, tables, chairs, etc. for their quarters. It even asked for net
curtains to hang in the windows.
937 Leyzer Fas and Abram Szer.
