Early in the morning, the survivors began to arrive. Residents of
Piotrkowska Street who had escaped death ran to their friends and acquaintances
in the ghetto and recounted the gruesome details of the mass slaughter
that had taken place that night. They told them that many refugees had been
sent to their relatives in the ghetto in the middle of the night. However, those
who could not produce the name of someone in the ghetto were held until
early in the morning in the Bałucki Marketplace, after which the German
authorities transferred them to the [2] gmina, which lodged them temporarily
in the synagogue.
All day Thursday there was talk of a further final evacuation of the
Jews from Piotrkowska Street. There were nevertheless still optimists who
convinced themselves that a shred of hope remained, but the terrible night
of 7 to 8 March was even more harrowing and horrific!
On Friday morning, more dreadful news began to arrive concerning the
evacuation of the whole of Piotrkowska Street as far as Wolności Square, and
of Kościuszki Avenue. The same stereotypical drama was played out in every
building: the SS and SA thugs entered every building and flat and ordered all
present to leave instantly and go down to the courtyard. Anyone failing to
obey the order quickly enough was shot on the spot — stood up against the
wall and given a bullet in the head. Nothing helped: neither being ill — those
animals shot the sick on the spot — nor even a glejt³³⁵ from some German
department or other. Then the crowd of people herded together in the courtyard
was separated into three groups: men in the first group, women in the
second, and children in the third. The bodies of the dead remained lying in
their flats, which the criminals had locked, taking the keys with them.
That night several hundred people were shot, mostly men. A few cases:
at Piotrkowska Street 41 — eight people. The building belongs to a German
woman who was living there herself. The murderers locked her in her flat
to prevent her from seeing what was happening. The stróżka³³⁶ was also
a German. They ordered her to scrub the stairs clean of the blood that had been
spilt and told her to keep her mouth shut or she would also get a bullet in the
head. When the SS murderers separated the children’s group in the courtyard,
a small child began to cry, screaming “Mummy, Mummy!” One SA man was
335 (Polish, from German) safe conduct.
336 (Polish) concierge, caretaker.
