OSTRÓW MAZOWIECKA COUNTY
WYSZKÓW
Date unknown, Warsaw ghetto, [Chana Reichman]. “Rozmowa z 15-letnią
panienką wygnaną z Wyszkowa” [Conversation with a 15-year-old girl
expelled from Wyszków], recorded by Yekhiel Górny. Evaluation of the
contacts with Poles, account of the deportation of Jews from Wyszków.
[1] Conversation with a 15-year-old girl expelled from Wyszków
Until the outbreak of the war the Poles lived quite friendly with the Jews, even
though from time to time there were some anti-Semitic incidents incited by
the endeks. Jews constituted a majority in Wyszków; there were approximately
5,000 of them, while the number of Poles was 2,000 (but the vicinity around
the town was exclusively Polish).
During the bombing in September 1939, the Poles and Jews kept together.
They sheltered in cellars together. After the Germans seized Wyszków on
10 September 1939, the Poles distanced themselves from the Jews and kept
away from them.
The Germans began to persecute the Jews the moment they marched
into the town. They captured them to forced labour, robbed them, and took
away their money and valuables. The first thing they did was to set ablaze
the synagogue, which had survived the bombing [2] intact. The young boy
who took out the Torah scrolls to save them was severely beaten up. All of
the sacred books and the Torah scrolls were burned Those who hid in cellars
in fear of the Germans were shot regardless of age and sex. Among them was
a woman with two children (one was six months old and the other a year
and a half). The German who was to kill her said that he sympathised with
her, but must carry out his order. He shot her in the leg so as not to kill her.
But another soldier finished her off. All old men were shot. Many Jews were
gathered in the public bathhouse, which they used as a shelter. The Germans
ordered everybody to leave and threatened to shoot those on whom they
would find money, dollars, or gold. The men were ordered [3] to form groups
