Those were the first harbingers of what awaited us. The number of those
signs was increasing.
Under the pretext of looking for foreign currency and weapons, the
Germans began to conduct searches on a large scale of Jewish homes. During
the searches, the Germans stole and looted everything that was at hand (for
instance, at J. Kraut’s they took a pot of lard and a hundred grams of tea!).
Very often they beat the people too. Yet even worse things were happening.
At 1 a.m. at Kaila Krenig’s, the Germans ordered everybody to leave the flat
with the exception of the 18-year-old daughter Gołda, whom they undressed
and tried to rape. Her screams and the equally loud accompaniment of the
entire family’s [9] lament caused the Germans to give up that plan. Yet people
are saying that at a certain Blank’s the Germans did rape a member
of his family.
On 12 February Kutno received a delegation of 10 Volksdeutsche from
our county and Gostynin County. Its members began to conduct mass requisitions
in Jewish homes for the benefit of the newly arrived colonists from
the Reich. Eighty per cent of the Jews lost their underwear, bedding, furniture
and virtually anything that could be taken away, even though many
of those things were useless for the Germans. It [even] came to it, that furniture
was chopped up and burned in stoves. Once, I had to chop up a table
of the Community chairman Falc at Geniek’s. The Poles played a rather
shameful role in that. On the one hand, they blackmailed the Jews, threatening
to inform the Germans that they had something for requisition. On the
other hand, they denounced the Jews even after they had accepted a bribe.
Two individuals stood out: former Sergeant Igielski and the leader of that
whole campaign and former municipal clerk Kwaśniewski. (Fate took a severe
revenge on the latter: two weeks later he was expelled from the town and
he could not even take his shoes.) There were many Jewish ‘finks’ too. So it is
no wonder that after several weeks of such an intensive campaign, the Kutno
Jewry was exhausted and ruined.
On 15 February many Christians, and with them the Jewish owner of
a pharmacy, Lejzor Lewin, who went missing and has not been found, were
deported from the town.
Several families were arrested on 15 May including the Kilberts, the
Rabes, and the Kronzylbers. They were then locked in the Monopol building,
[10] where they were mercilessly tortured. For instance, once Mr Rabe,
