representatives of industry and trade were also arrested. The Community
took care of deportees, providing them with money in the amount that was
allowed (20 zlotys per person).¹³⁹
[37] From our house, unexpectedly, it was not a Jew who was deported,
but a Polish pharmacist.¹⁴⁰ Both he and his wife and children were very kind
and helpful, they let us sneak into the house through the pharmacy, they took
their Jewish neighbours’ belongings for safekeeping, including my winter coat.
Although one day I had a nasty surprise when I found a sign that read ‘Aryan
dwelling of the pharmacy owner’ on the pharmacist’s door, which emphasised
that the two neighbouring flats were not Aryan, but I did not blame the pharmacist;
I knew he wanted to avoid unwanted visitors coming to his home. One day the Germans arrested a well-known Endek, pharmacist Rembieliński,¹⁴¹ who was a friend of our neighbour. This upset our neighbour’s wife, who feared that her husband could meet a similar fate. In the evening, she came by to talk to us, sharing her concerns and advising me to collect my coat. Her concerns were vindicated, because the following day the Germans arrived early in the morning, ordered them to get ready to leave, took them to the camp at Łąkowa Street¹⁴² two hours later, and sealed the flat and the pharmacy. From there, the pharmacist and his family were sent to Kraków. The pharmacist’s wife was willing to do us a personal favour. In view of the fact that we often received visits from our Russian friend, which might seem conspicuous to our ‘hippo’ (Hilfspolizei) neighbours, the pharmacist’s wife agreed that in the event of a ‘hippo’ investigation, Mrs X could say that she came to visit the pharmacist — therefore, I introduced the two women to each other. As regards Aryan guests, twice we received a visit from my long-time friend, a distinguished Łódź artist — the painter Karol Hiller with his wife. Besides, one day a Volksdeutsche woman of my wife’s acquaintance [38] unexpectedly visited us, which had consequences crucial for us, which I shall describe elsewhere.
All the above practices and regulations of the German authorities caused
constant tension within the Jewish population, which intensified as a result
of a wave of rumours that often were impossible to control. More and more
139 See Doc. 1.
140 Adam Borkowski.
141 Robert Rembieliński ran a pharmacy at Andrzeja Street 28 in Łódź.
142 There was a transit camp on Łąkowa Street. The other camps were located on Kopernika, Strzelców Kaniowskich, and Żeligowskiego Streets.
