easily obtained passes to depart in all possible directions. I left Koło the day
before the resettlement (24 November) and went to Żychlin.
The whole thing was just beginning in Żychlin. The street roundups,
beatings, and other forms of oppression were in an embryonic stage at that
time. Nonetheless, sensing that something was afoot, I left Żychlin and
arrived in Łowicz on 15 December. At the railway station I had a very unpleasant
meeting with a Gestapo functionary, who took away my pass and threatened
to shoot me if I returned.⁸⁶⁰
With the issue of the ordinance introducing registration for forced
labour, I was appointed a member of the Registration Commission by the
Judenrat in early March. I worked there until 25 March 1940, when I was
appointed director of the newly-established Jewish Order Service.⁸⁶¹ The epidemic
of typhus spreading mostly among the refugees was why the authorities
ordered the organisation of the Jewish Service. The epidemic was the reason
for the closure of the district (inhabited predominantly but not exclusively
by Jews) where the disease was spreading the most rapidly. The Jewish policemen
were to substitute for the Polish policemen there. Initially, the Order
Service had 20 members. Later on, their number increased to 41, including
3 commanding officers (Weinsztok, Zylberberg, and Neuman), plus the secretary
and his assistant. The ‘Jewish police’ was directly subordinate to the
gendarmerie commanding officer Steudinger, who was a very humane and
decent man. In fact, however, it had to carry out all the orders of the Judenrat,
as it was a mere tool in their hands. Its powers included writing reports and,
860 Author’s remark: “(I will not discuss the history of Łowicz during the period when the speaker was staying there. But as he was the [deputy] chief of the Jewish Order Service in that town I tried to sound him out regarding certain shady activities of that institution and its backstage machinations. My efforts remained unsuccessful as the speaker provided very scarce information and even tried to exonerate both the Order Service leadership and the Łowicz Judenrat. Therefore, this testimony will be not only highly incomplete, but also subjective.)”
861 Issued on 14 May 1940, the “Ordinance Regarding the Residential Area for the Jews” mentions the establishment of the order service for the purpose of helping to implement the county governor’s ordinances. It is possible that the order service had been operational before that date. The chief was Josel Weinsztok, a Łowicz resident, former sportsman, and pre-war owner of a mill. The next deputy (after Neuman) was M. Zylberberg, whose father was a rich sugar manufacturer from Łowicz. See: Dzieje ludności żydowskiej w Łowiczu, vol. 1, p. 116.
