was imposed as the sign of a Jew. A week later [. . .] a Star of David (not a full
one⁹¹³), to be worn in the front only, on the right-hand side. Two and a half
months later it was changed again to a full Star of David, 15 centimetres in
diameter, to be worn on the right-hand side, front and back.
Jewish businesses — I mean the smaller ones — were not confiscated in
Kutno and no commissars were put in charge of them. Jews purchased valid
licences, first from the town council and afterwards from the Germans, and
conducted very lively trade until confinement in the ghetto.
In November a census was carried out at the order of the Gestapo, who
were passing through the town. The item headings were: (1) serial number;
(2) given name and surname; (3) place and date of birth; (4) age: under 12,
12 to 60, 60 and over; (5) sex. Heads of households also had to write at the
bottom how much cash they possessed and what their [. . .] and total assets
were worth. All these documents were passed on to the German Schutzpolizei.
It can be stated with confidence that until the end of December the situation
of the Jews was more than bearable.
At the end of December, a young 28-year-old Nazi, who came to be
known as ‘Geniek’ (for Gestapo) or ‘Nukhem,’⁹¹⁴ arrived as head of the SD
(Sicherheitsdienst)⁹¹⁵ — an archetypal modern-day murderer. He initiated the
period “Jews under Hitler.” The first thing he did was to create a Judenrat.
He demanded educated Jews. Out of 19 [. . .] only 7 remained, one of whom
fled a week later. The other six held office until the ghetto was established.
[. . .] summoned the Judenrat and made a speech to them, placing a [. . .] on the
desk. Among other things he said that he regarded it as his task to educate the
Jewish population and make it more European. Shooting hundreds of Jews was
child’s play to him. [. . .] [3] he would not resort to that means. He demanded
that the Judenrat get itself a room — a nice, clean one, of course — where
he could come to give orders, because he would certainly not come to a [. . .]
In lieu of punishment, he demanded that the house he had requisitioned for
913 A full Star of David would probably have been a piece of cloth cut into that shape; earlier it could have been a star drawn onto an armband.
914 The name Nahum as pronounced in Polish Yiddish, a pun on the Yiddish words nukh im (after him), presumably mocking his habit of ordering (in German) Nach mir! (Follow me!). See also Docs. 73–75.
915 It seems to be rather a reference to Sonderdienst. The author might have meant Selbstschutz detachments.
