was going on in Łódź, I arranged for her to come to us in Warsaw. Not wanting
to carry money with her on the journey, she gave it to someone in Łódź
and received a money transfer in Warsaw. As bad luck would have it, she was
given, among other things, a 50-mark banknote and forgot where she had put
it. In the meantime, an order was issued that German money was considered
as foreign currency, but the old lady forgot to exchange the banknote. Some
time later, Jewish flats in Warsaw were searched and plundered, and our turn
came too. During a search [6] the 50-mark banknote was found (among my
mother’s possessions).
The old lady’s assurances and pleas were in vain and she was arrested and
handed over to the Sondergericht. Awaiting trial, the old lady spent 6 months
and 3 weeks in Pawiak. She was finally released, but died not long afterwards.
ARG I 784 (Ring. I/441)
Description: duplicate, handwritten (CHW*), ink, Yiddish, 157×202 mm, 3 sheets,
6 pages. Attached is a note in Yiddish by Hersh Wasser: “1939. The Kalisz market
hall as a camp for Jews. Recorded by Yekhezkel Wilczyński.”
After 1 January 1941, Warsaw ghetto, author unknown, ”מלחמה נאָטיצן
וועגן קאַליש“ [War notes on Kalisz]. Fate of the Jewish population of
Kalisz from August to its expulsion in November 1939. Entry of Germans
into Brudzew. Activities of the Kalisz Labour Battalion.
[1] War notes on Kalisz
1. The beginning
In the second half of August 1939 there is already a strong war atmosphere in
town. Preparations are in full swing. In the streets and on vacant sites, they
are already digging ‘anti-aircraft trenches.’ The whole population — Jews and
Christians — is carrying out the work with great pomp and fervour. Every
day, all the groups go to their ‘sacred task’ carrying their spades, with flags,
banners and music.
