That had been imposed by an order of 18 November 1939.⁵⁰ Now the order had
been changed and, instead of armbands, from 12 December we had to wear
the aforementioned patches.
Meanwhile, sensational rumours spread through the city about an intervention
by the Soviet authorities on behalf of the Jews. It was also rumoured
that the Soviets were going to allow all Jews who came from the [Soviet-] occupied
areas to return there. Needless to say, there was much celebration among
those Jews, and they anxiously awaited the day when the committee that had
been announced would come to Łódź and begin its official activity. Then, on
17 December, notices in Russian, Ukrainian and German appeared on the city
walls. They were from the Russian committee on repatriation and announced
that Russians, Ukrainians, and Byelorussians — real ones, not those of the
Mosaic faith, i.e. kromye yevreyev,⁵¹ as the Jews noted bitterly — could apply
to the committee to be repatriated to Russia. The committee operated for several
days in Klajnman’s factory on Zagajnikowa Street,⁵² and for those few
days the street was black with hordes of interested people — ahinu bnei yisrael.
⁵³ The answer they received from the committee was that the measure
did not apply to them. It applied only to 100 per cent goyim mibeten umileda,⁵⁴
but Jews born in those areas would possibly be considered at a later date. [6]
In the meantime, that tiny drop of hope grew into a torrent.
The ruthless seizure of Jews off the streets for forced labour continued
without end, and the heavy frost made strenuous work for the Germans even
harder. In addition, the Jewish gmina drew up list of Jews subject to compulsory
labour and sent them out to work in response to special demands.⁵⁵ A person
could be released from his work obligation by paying the gmina a certain
50 The author’s calculation was off by four days. The ordinance was issued on 14 November 1939 by Friedrich Übelhör, head of the Kalisz-Łódź province. It was the first such ordinance in the Third Reich.
51 (Russian) except Jews.
52 M. Klajnman’s weaving plant, Zagajnikowa Street 23.
53 (Hebrew) our fellow Jews.
54 (Hebrew) born and bred.
55 In October 1939 the Jewish Community made the German authorities a proposition regarding cooperation on recruitment of labourers. The Recruitment Bureau (Biuro Zaciągu Pracy) was established at Pomorska Street 18 and then at Południowa Street 10, initially providing 700 labourers per day and then even as many as 2,000.
