satisfaction “at least there would be one Jew fewer in Łódź.” My father got the
sledge right away on Brzezińska Street. Of course, the peasant kept assuring
him that they would reach Koluszki fast and without problems. It was perhaps
due to his carelessness that they came across a gendarmerie post in Brzeziny.
The search was very brutal. It was assisted mostly by local Germans, who kept
suggesting various forms of harassment. The Germans even emptied the sack
of noodles my father had with him. They searched it to check if he had hidden
anything in it. They found a larger sum [. . .] on a certain woman. They
did not limit themselves to taking it and arresting [31] her. They also administered
a larger number of blows and kicks to her. The people were let go after
the search. They went the rest of the way without any major obstacles.
By contrast, the way back was terrible. At the train station in Koluszki,
the officers separated all the Jews from the other disembarking passengers.
They then arranged them in a row and set dogs on them. My father managed
to slip out and flee. But he could see from a distance what happened next.
The people were ordered to shout: Wir Juden sind die grössten Feinde Adolf
Hitlers! Wir Juden haben den Krieg gewollt!¹²³⁰ They were then beaten for having
wanted the war. Those who did not chant were beaten too. When it finally
came to an end my father hired a sledge with a group of people. But they were
stopped by customs officers near Gałkówek. The officers got on the sledge and
went with them to a station in a former school building. On the way one of the
officers asked a certain woman if she liked them and if she prayed for them.
Terrified, the woman of course began to assure him that she liked them and
that she prayed for them every day. The Germans then laughed and said that
she could not like them (Du kannst doch nicht uns gern haben, du musst uns
feindselig sein)¹²³¹ and that she surely prayed for their misfortune. In the classroom
everybody had their IDs and money taken away. My father lost about
a dozen marks. After a thorough body search, during which the people were
stripped naked from head to toe, the Germans began to make fun of the representatives of the ‘chosen people,’ as they put it. They began to nudge, beat,
and kick them, spit on them, curse them, and hurl abuse on them, [32] Schau
mal, Emil, so sehen die Söhne des ausgewählten Volkes aus!¹²³² A certain higher
1230 (German) We, Jews, are the biggest enemies of Adolf Hitler! We, Jews, wanted the war!
1231 (German) Why, you cannot like us. You must have a hostile attitude toward us.
1232 (German) Emil, look, this is what the sons of the chosen people look like!
