and others lying on the ground tearing up the grass, all under the supervision
of Volksdeutsche. Yet we felt relieved because we sensed that we would be
allowed to live. In the yard, 10 or 12 officers go t out of the truck and ordered
us to line up. Then they divided us [3] into two groups facing each other at
a distance of 5 or 6 paces. An officer stood in the middle and told us to put
our hats at our feet. Then he ordered us to put all our belongings in the hats,
except for glasses. He announced that anyone who hid anything would be
shot, because he was going to carry out a body search. We were then ordered
to take off our jackets and waistcoats, and loosen our collars and ties. After
everyone gave his word that all he possessed was in his hat, we were ordered
to get dressed again and line up in four rows. Then they put us back against
the wall, where we saw other detainees: a row of tram workers and ticket
inspectors, several senators, notaries, doctors (among them famous professors),
Jewish and Polish war veterans and members of various military organisations,
editors and staff of various newspapers, members of political and
commercial organisations, union secretaries, community representatives, etc.
Then some Jews and Poles were taken to clean the yard, without tools of any
kind: gathering kindling wood, tearing up grass, picking up pieces of glass, old
factory components, and so on. Suddenly I was ordered to clear away human
excrement. I picked up a piece of glass and started to clean with it, whereupon
a Volksdeutsche hit me and ordered me to clear away the filth with my
bare hands. I did that, too, and even cleaned the earth with my bare hands in
order to avoid blows. Everyone had to stand and watch without the slightest
movement. Any movement resulted in blows, especially to the head. Despite
everything, we felt relieved to see that we were going to live. Around 10 o’clock
we saw a part of the yard that was enclosed with wire. We were summoned
to the registration hall in groups of ten. There were soldiers there of different
age groups, who, as we could clearly see, felt sympathy for us. By 11 or
12 everyone was registered and we were taken to a hall, where several hundred
men from various towns and shtetls around Łódź were lying. We were
in the notorious Radogoszcz camp!
(b)
[1] My experiences in Radogoszcz.
We entered the hall. Sitting was allowed only on the straw. The dust was terrible.
In those difficult conditions, people quarrelled in order to get a better
