what the fact that I could not see any of my relatives meant. Suddenly, I saw
them dragging bulky baggage. I was surprised and frightened. They told me
everything, while we were heading by tram for the Łódź Fabryczna railway
station. A customs officer had walked into their compartment [and said,]
Alle Juden raus!¹²¹⁷ Their explanations and passes did not help. They had to
get off and they were commanded to set out from the Łódź Fabryczna railway
station.
I also learned about the unpleasant situation they had been involved in
back in our hometown. On Saturday my mum went to the gendarmerie to
obtain a pass and she received it. A gendarme simply threw her out of the building
and rushed her down the street with a rifle. He also announced that he
would come to requisition our flat in an hour. Therefore, mum with the children
had to quickly move to my grandfather’s. But the flat was requisitioned
upon their departure. Everybody was already very depressed due to those
experiences. Moreover [. . .] crowds waiting at the railway station. There was
no [. . .] queue. My aunt and girlfriend were helping me. [. . .] the railwaymen
several times, I showed them the pass, pointed at [. . .] with my sibling [. . .] [24]
I pleaded. They promised each time that they would be let in, in a moment. But
nothing happened. My brother was weeping. Anxious, everybody was shouting
that they did not want to go to Warsaw. It was almost 5 p.m. and they
did not want to wait without me. When it was a few minutes before 5 p.m.,
we ran — as quickly as it was possible with the baggage — to my aunt who
lived nearby. My mum and siblings spent the night there.
My aunt, my girlfriend, and I ran into the passageway at 5 o’clock on the
dot. Before my father could greet me with a reproach I told him the whole story
and that stopped him. That German was at our place and he advised us against
going anywhere. But it was too late for us to change our mind. Moreover, we
no longer had a flat. The next morning they all went with my father and me
to the railway station. We took most of the baggage from my mother, so they
did not have to carry so much. The same things were happening as the day
before. Nobody beside the departing people was let through. We kept being
chased away. Shouts, curses, blows. I ran to my mother every couple of minutes
and tried to console them, saying that they would depart soon and that
they had to be patient. Why, there were so many people waiting. The frost had
1217 (German) All Jews out!
