of the synagogue is demolished, using tar and gasoline. The Torah scrolls
and ritual objects are burnt on a pyre. The Germans turn the synagogue
into a stable.
9 Oct[ober]– registration of the Jews for labour purposes. The incorporation
of a part of Poland into the Reich, including Konin, as well as the
stabilisation of the local administration, create an atmosphere of constant
fear and panic. Assaults by the Gestapo are a particular cause of suffering.
The town lives in utter terror. One by one, people (Jews) started leaving
Konin. On 11 November there are numerous arrests of Jews (and Christians),
and no less numerous executions. On the 20th, patches are introduced.
On 29 November the first large expulsion to Ostrowiec⁸⁸⁵ takes place. Around
1,000 people were driven out in the worst conditions of bitter frost and ruthlessly
brutal treatment. Most of those who remain live as pariahs, working
for the Germans for 60–70 pfennigs a day; a small number do a little peddling,
but secretly and [. . .]. In June 1940 the Jews are expelled from the town
and the surrounding shtetls and villages. At the beginning of March 1941
they are sent via Łódź to Józefów Lubelski (43 horribly tormented martyrs
die). The largest groups of expellees — Ostrowiec, Józefów Lubelski, Warsaw.
Aleksandrów Łódzki. 4,000 Jews. 5 Sept[ember 19]39 — evacuation of
some Jews. 6 Sept[ember] –town taken by the Germans.⁸⁸⁶
ARG I 803 (Ring. I/674/14)
Description: original or duplicate, handwritten (H.W.*), ink, Yiddish,
118×215 mm, 1 sheet, 2 pages.
See also ARG I 802 (Ring. I/842), recently recognised as 3 copies of the same
document, copied by Bluma Wasser.
885 See Doc. 63.
886 It was on 7 September 1939.
