Taking into consideration the absence of many former social activists,
it could be said that the above composition was generally rather
good. The Council of Elders worked in the former Community premises on
Kanonicka Street. Hahn was the chairman and Herman the secretary. Later
on Arkusz took over Herman’s position.
The Council was given its first task on 15 October. It had three days to
make a detailed list of all Jewish inhabitants, their property, sums of money
over 2,000 zlotys, and jewellery in Jewish possession. Lawyer Kacinel took
care of that list. 15–20 people worked shifts with him day and night non-stop
for 10 days. It should also be stressed that during that period the Germans
delivered typewriters to the Community to be used at night. The list enumerated
over 20,000 Jews.
The Germans turned to the Community with a variety of demands.
For instance, they demanded 50 bed linen sets to be delivered within
4 hours. As all merchandise of this kind had already been requisitioned
and removed from Jewish shops, the bed linen sets were taken from private
Jewish flats. Jews (Council employees) were in charge of the collection.
In some flats the owners refused to surrender those items and the people
who were collecting them (e.g. Mr Górny) had to take the bedding by force.
The Germans often demanded money from the Community, so the Ältestenrat
imposed a permanent tax on the better-off Jews and that satisfied those
demands. Councillors Cukier, Kacinel, and Szlumper were in charge of that
financial division.
The Department of Labour of the Council was its major agency.
The Germans announced that they would not capture Jews for work on the
street. Instead they would notify the Council about the number of required
labourers and the Council would deliver the labourers. The Council was
obliged to accept demands made by the higher military authorities and by the
Gestapo. [6] Each day the Department of Labour provided an average number
of 150–200 labourers, while in exceptional cases (e.g. during a march-past of
troops) it provided as many as 400 labourers. The Department of Labour sent
the orders to Jews, obliging them to work 2–3 days per week. Those unwilling
to report for work had to pay 2–3 zlotys per working day. The monthly fee was
36 zlotys. [The Department] also charged 50 groszes per day for deferment,
while a doctor’s leave (issued by the physicians belonging to the Council) cost
1 zloty per day. Many of the Jews paid to avoid work, and this way 60–70 per
