“They have been here only several days and they are already showing what
they are capable of.” The fire intensifies by the hour. Nobody thinks about
food. The flames seem to be hypnotising. One cannot divert one’s gaze from
them. Suddenly, the rooftops of two buildings adjacent to the synagogue catch
fire. The people rush to help. The residents throw bedding out the windows.
The endangered buildings are saved, but an hour later all the male Jewish residents of these buildings are arrested for sabotage. Evening is nearing. The fire
subsides. Only the bare, smoke-blackened walls testify that a synagogue used
to be there. But the Jewish inhabitants of Włocławek cannot rest. We are
about to sit down to supper when our maid rushes in, panting. “Sir! Sir! Hide
away at once, please. They are combing out men. Mr Tomaszewski¹⁰⁴⁷ (before
the war the editor of ABC, after the Germans’ arrival in Włocławek the editor
of Leslauer Bote, executed on 11 November 1939) said that you should hide
away at once.” We were paralysed with fear. Hide? Where? It is dangerous to
hide in the flat. We do not have [5] a key to the attic. Besides, they could look
there too. Where? Helpless, we look around the room. Should we go into our
Christian neighbours’ flat? But this is impossible too. In the flat below lives
lawyer G.¹⁰⁴⁸ (He escaped prior to 11 November and arrest warrants were issued
against him.) He will not let me in because he is an anti-Semite. Besides, he
fears for his own life. Pharmacist Dz.¹⁰⁴⁹ upstairs is afraid too. (He was killed
in Dachau.) Mr Tomaszewski is our only hope. During our discussion, the
editor himself comes in with an excellent idea. He suggests that my father
go down into the cellar beneath the editorial office,¹⁰⁵⁰ where old papers are
stored. In the meantime we can hear a constantly intensifying noise. There
is no time to think. My father rushes down the kitchen stairs, without even
his coat. Our maid follows him to lock the door behind him. My mother is
sick so I stay by her bed. We wait, our hearts pounding. We can hear hoarse
voices in the staircase and the tread of heavy boots. We can clearly hear [the
1047 Wacław Tomaszewski, owner of a printing house in Włocławek, editor and publisher of ABC dla Włocławka i Kujaw.
1048 In 1939 there were three Polish lawyers in Włocławek whose surnames began with the letter “G”: Józef Gąsior (Brzeska Street 16), Jan Feliks Gostomski (3 Maja Street 25), and Kazimierz Grendyszyński (Cyganka Street 26). It seems that the author meant the third one.
1049 Stanisław Dziekanowski (1874–1842), owner of a pharmacy in Włocławek on Cyganka Street 24, died in Dachau 19 January 1942.
1050 The editorial office of ABC dla Włocławka i Kujaw was located at Cyganka Street 26.
