since they were feverishly awaiting the outbreak of war, being quite certain
that the German army would quickly occupy the territory of Poland and
provide them with a favourable opportunity to take revenge for everything.
On 1 September the German population, which constituted 57 per cent of the
overall population, stopped going out into the streets because the German
radio was constantly making announcements about mass murders by Poles.
On 3 September 1939, masses of people began to pour in from the Polish-
German border areas (Poznań, Pomerania), as well as from small towns closer
by. The human masses moved like an avalanche, in a panic, both the Jewish
and the non-Jewish population, carrying bundles which made them look like
people fleeing from a fire: one man barefoot in a fur coat, another with a flowerpot
in his hand; someone with a calf; an elegant lady running in terror with
a little dog. Those scenes had a very oppressive effect on the Jewish population
of our town. And when they heard from the incomers what had happened,
their fear grew even greater, especially [because of] the threats from
the local German population.
On 4 September, small groups and individual soldiers of the Polish
army started to appear in the town — small remnants, as it turned out, of
the Polish army that had fought on the Warta¹⁰⁸⁵ — which led the German
population to expect that the arrival of the German army was imminent.
On 5 September, at around 11 [o’clock] [2] in the evening, evacuation of the
post office and police began, and — apparently spontaneously — the Jewish
population from all corners of the town began to leave the shtetl en masse.
The road to Łódź was flooded with masses of people, some with bags on their
backs, some with pillows, pushing prams with children.
On 6 September, at 10 a.m., the first advance troops of the German army
marched in. Meanwhile, Jewish shops, storehouses and even private dwellings
were plundered. On arrival, the German advance troops were met by the
local German population with baskets of flowers and coffee and cake, and
with shouts of “Our rescuers are here!” That was when the first Jewish victim
fell, a man from Zduńska Wola, unknown to us. The town was swamped
by a sea of troops. On 8 September, the Germans burnt down the synagogue.¹⁰⁸⁶
1085 The Battle of the River Warta took place between 4 and 5 September 1939.
1086 The Great Synagogue on the corner of Piotrkowska and Warszawska Streets was erected 1897–1902. According to Shmuel Krakowski, it was burned on 11 September 1939. See
