because people in CENTOS have seen that the headmaster is right. Now we
have to make sure that the work we started doesn’t collapse. [6] We all try to
bring our house to its proper condition despite the harsh conditions, despite
the cold and hunger. We hope that together with the headmaster, with the
help of CENTOS and our patronage, we will bring the dormitory to order.
And then the opinion about our dormitory will definitely change. We take
this opportunity to thank Headmaster Sztorch for understanding us first.
We’ll try as hard as we can to help him with his work.⁸⁹
[7] J. Denda
I walk and I look
Trade is flourishing in our dormitory. Mostly candy. But also bread, pork fat,
soup, all kinds of foodstuffs. I’ve divided the dormitory into three groups:
1) those who work and have money; 2) those who do not work but receive something to eat and a few groszes from their mother or brother; 3) those who cannot work and do not have any family. About half of the residents belong to
that latter group, maybe more, mostly young. The younger ones are freezing,
shrinking, bored, they throw themselves on food, hunting for beetroot
or swede peelings, which the older ones threw on the floor, grabbing garbage
(only one piece) and collecting spilled soup from the tables after the meal (how
much is spilled there?). Those aged in-between go out and do some business,
there are about a dozen of them. The eldest ones go to the community to work,
working in different places and trading among themselves. A lot of those from
the medium and eldest group train as hairdressers’ assistants, where they
manage to get some money from tips.
But there is one thing I have noticed. Those who have nothing are not
involved in commercial or social life. Nobody sells to them, nobody buys from
them, nobody lends them, nobody shares with them. If one of those who have
something asks, he either will get it or not. And if he does not have anything,
he will certainly not get it . . . If you have something, they’ll get you some
89 Following Hajtler’s article is a picture by an unidentified author, featuring boys harnessed to a two-wheeled handcart loaded with mattresses, with a third boy pushing the cart.
