in themselves. They did not mix in with the local Jews and kept themselves
completely apart. Up to 30 per cent of this group were born as Christians, and
only their parents or ancestors had a connection with Jews.⁵⁰⁷ An even greater
number themselves converted to Christianity. Of the small number who had
remained Jews, many had already severed all ties with the Jewish community.
Obviously, this group considered Polish Jewry their personal misfortune. Were
it not for the Polish Jews, or indeed the Jews in general, the great misfortune of
deportation would not have befallen them. They considered themselves great
patriots and hoped that their situation would improve and become independent
of the fate of the Jews.⁵⁰⁸ The Old Man⁵⁰⁹ (Rumkowski) told them that they
must submit to all his orders. He would make no exceptions. Anyone failing
to submit would receive the appropriate punishment. Of that group, eleven
thousand were deported,⁵¹⁰ more than four thousand remained in the ghetto,
and the rest died. The overall population did not decline because Jews arrived
from the surrounding shtetls: Pabianice, Ozorków, Stryków, Brzeziny, etc.⁵¹¹
All those aged 10 to 60 and certified as fit for work were settled in the ghetto.
The rest, including the children and the elderly, were deported, and it is not
known what happened to them.
The ghetto is completely sealed off, and nothing gets in from outside.
I often met with the Old Man. He, and he alone, is responsible for the fact
that smuggling is absolutely impossible. In his opinion, the smuggling of
food products must not be allowed because it would lead to a situation in
which some people had more to eat than others. Food provisions must be
(4,999), four from Berlin (4,173, including 122 from Emden), two from Cologne (2,012), one from Frankfurt am Main (1,186), one from Hamburg (1,063), one from Düsseldorf (1,007), one from Luxembourg (512) — for a total of 19,951 people; cf. APŁ, PSŻ, 863, statistical data regarding Western European Jews resettled into the ghetto.
507 In 1942 there were approximately 300 Christians in the ghetto.
508 Cf. Ewa Wiatr, “Knights of the Iron Cross in the Łódź Ghetto,” Holocaust Studies and Materials. Journal of the Polish Center for Holocaust Research (2013), pp. 326–339.
509 In the original Yiddish der alter, the Old Man, a derisive nickname for Rumkowski frequently used by the inhabitants of the Łódź ghetto.
510 Jews from Western Europe were deported to Chełmno nad Nerem/Kulmhof during 4–5 May 1942. The deportees were unemployed individuals and their number was indeed 11,000.
511 The deportations mentioned by the author took place in May, when some 7,000 people arrived.
