conditions. Thousands of Jews abandoned their possessions and started to
flee from the town. They fled aimlessly, wherever their legs carried them...
Following this, another order was issued forbidding Jews to walk on the
pavement, only in the middle of the street! Despite the fact that the Jews
quickly complied with the order, the commandant of the town (formerly the
commandant of Dachau) imposed a second levy of 200,000 zlotys because
the Jews had failed to obey the injunction immediately. It had to be paid
within a few days, failing which the hostages would be shot. This levy, too,
was collected and paid by the Jews.
Before the Jews had a chance to catch their breath after the second levy,
a further order was issued compelling them to wear a yellow patch in the
shape of half a Star of David on their backs.¹⁰⁶⁹
[3] This yellow patch had to be worn by everyone, and right away! — even
by babies when carried in the street. Two days after this order was issued,
a further order came out stating that for failing to comply with the order
immediately, the Jews had to pay a levy of 300,000 zlotys, otherwise all Jews
would have to leave the town within an hour. In truth, the Jewish population
no longer had the possibility of paying, because all financial resources
had been exhausted by the confiscation of their houses, bank accounts, possessions, shops and homes, the constant plundering, and the payment of two
levies. It is also worth mentioning that the wealthy Jews for the most part
were no longer in the town — they had long since fled!
At that time, people began to run away. The flight assumed mass proportions.
Everyone who still had the strength took flight. The community grew
smaller by the hour, as exemplified by the following fact: Jews had to supply
three to five hundred volunteers for labour every day, and that had been
done, but after the third levy was imposed, only a few dozen reported for work,
because there were no longer any young people in the town; everyone had fled...
There were also some stubborn Jews who were not willing to give a single
grosz or to leave the town voluntarily. Many of them are still holding out
in the town (ghetto) to this day. The third levy was not paid to the full hundred
per cent, because there was not enough money. The Germans deigned
to accept what they were given, 125,000 zlotys!
1069 The explanation is in Doc. 76, these were patches in form of triangles. Hans Cramer issued the ordinance on the marking of Jews on 24 October 1939.
