The outbreak of the Soviet–German war¹²²
It was on 22 April 1941.¹²³ When I went out into the street ther e was a commotion.
People were standing around in small groups listening to a man reading.
I learned that Russia had entered the war. I was very happy, as were all the
Jews. I heard that there would be news at 8 o’clock. I ran up to the loudspeaker
to hear a bit of news. I heard a whistle and the police chased us: it was a nalot.¹²⁴
I ran home. I waited for a few minutes at home and heard a strange whistle.
The nalot had been called off. I heard that the Russians had won. I was very
happy. The next day when I heard a whistle I knew that it was an nalot, but it
was called off after a few minutes. Night fell and I went to bed. I was woken up
by a louder noise which was repeated. I understood that we were being bombed,
and in the morning I found out that the railway bridge, the citadel and Fort
Bema had been bombed. Russia’s victory was the help we Jews needed. This is
what the (first) days of war were like.
Warsaw, 30 A[pril 1941] Cheniek Zygielman
[1] When Russia entered the war, Jewish joy¹²⁵ got stronger, but the price of
foodstuffs rose even higher. A week later, I was standing by a loudspeaker
and I heard the announcer mock the Russians, saying that when they entered
Bialystok, they bought nocne¹²⁶ gowns as balowe¹²⁷ dresses and that when they
saw lep,¹²⁸ they began to lick (it). However [1v] the loudspeaker did not say that
when the Germans saw the Russian tanks, they thought that they were houses.
122 In a different handwriting.
123 Error on author’s part, also below the text.
124 (Polish) air raid. The first Soviet air raid on Warsaw took place on 23 June 1941. See Czerniaków, Dziennik, p. 195.
125 In the Yiddish original, there is frayhayt (freedom) clearly by mistake instead of freyd or freylekhkayt (joy).
126 (Polish) of the night.
127 (Polish) for a ball.
128 (Polish) flypaper.
