Kalisz, a sick man of 50, were taken out into the street, sworn at ‘in true
Polish fashion’ (the soldiers were Silesians), and accused of stealing from Poles.
A Christian from another village and Mr Najdat were also added to our group.
We stood like that from 2 to 5 p.m., when an officer arrived on a motorcycle
and we were put on trial. 10 minutes later, the officer quite politely told
us (that is, me, my brother-in-law from Kalisz and the Christian) [3] that
we were free to go but must leave the shtetl within half an hour. Mr N. was
led away behind the church walls and even before we got home, we heard
a shot — they had shot him. Without thinking for too long, we went to get
my brother-in-law, harnessed the horse and, although it was already evening
and movement was allowed only till 5 o’clock, the four of us (my brother-in-law
from the village, Waksztok, the brother-in-law from Kalisz, Sadorkiewicz,
myself and Mr Lewiński) left the village. We stayed overnight with a Christian
acquaintance in a mill. Very early in the morning [he] took me and my brother-
in-law from Kalisz, Waksztok,¹¹⁷³ to the road leading to Turek (3 km from
the town). It was raining and the journey was very difficult, especially as
I almost had to carry my brother-in-law. Outside town we saw Jews doing
gymnastics, jumping in puddles, and getting beaten. It was too late to turn
back, because the guards must have already spotted us. (Had I been alone,
I would have gone through with the Christians, but I couldn’t abandon a sick
man.) We plucked up courage and walked on boldly. When we reached the
guards, their first question was Jude? The soldiers proceeded to search us for
‘weapons.’ Out of fear, my brother-in-law took off his overcoat, his jacket and
even his shirt. I waited for an order, and I must say I didn’t do too badly
because I only had to take off my overcoat. The soldier frisked us and told us
to move along quickly, and my brother-in-law, who could barely drag his feet,
received a few blows.
[4] We arrived in Turek. Things were terrible in the shtetl. People were
being seized for labour, beaten and tortured. There was no point staying there,
but my companion was very tired. We rested at an acquaintance’s house and
set off again. On the edge of the market we were stopped by a lotnik.¹¹⁷⁴ He told
us to wait and went into a shop. Without thinking twice I grabbed my
1173 Possibly an error, since the author previously refers to Waksztok as his brother-in-law from the village.
1174 (Polish) airman.
