The journey to Warsaw proceeded fast. We were worried that our oppressors
were following us. We arrived in the Municipal Bathhouse on Spokojna
Street. We were ordered to unload our baggage and to quickly carry it to the
square. Finally, we also had to do [5] a few drills.
That came to an end, too, and everybody hurried to reunite with their
wives and children, who had departed earlier by buses. The baggage remained
on the square without supervision or protection. Only later, did we remind
ourselves that the bundles should be marked or signed. When we saw the
attendants, they assured us that there were no thieves there.
We had to go through steaming (a second time during 24 hours) and we
started waiting outside even though it was 10 [grades] below zero.
Our group was ready as early as at 10 p.m. We were sent to a barrack on
that street, where thousands of people had been squeezed in a very large, windowless hall. We were in luck because we were escorted into the open as only
an hour later. We began our long walk to the quarantine.
The march took over an hour. It was dead silent all around us. Noisy and
quarrelsome during the day, the women grew silent. You could hear moans
and grumbling from time to time. Every now and then, [5a] somebody
fainted and had to be removed from the street. The procession stopped every
couple of minutes to take a rest. It should be stressed that the (Polish) policemen
who escorted us showed us a lot of heart. They calmed the tired and kept saying
that it was not far away. They took the bundles from those with the heaviest ones
and ordered the younger to carry them. We finally reached our destination. Just
in the door, I heard one of the policemen say, “You’ve arrived, but I wouldn’t like
to be in your shoes now.” We were to find out how very true his words were.
But I will discuss this in the next report.¹²³⁷
B. Janowski
ARG I 780 (Ring. I/821)
Description: original (handwritten, ink, 200×200 mm), duplicate (3 copies,
handwritten – JG*, pencil, 146×207 mm, minor damages and missing fragments),
Polish, 22 sheets, 27 pages. The last page is missing from the third copy. This testimony was translated into Yiddish (by Hersh Wasser?), only its p. 1 is preserved, see ARG I 781 (Ring. I/980).
Edition based on the original, 5 sheets, 10 pages.
1237 See Warsaw Ghetto. Everyday Life, Doc. 12.
