least they took everything with them. But the most horrifying sight was people,
walking in single file with children and bundles, all of them poor exiles
from the nearby towns. Appalling scenes were also taking place at the police
posts. The people were being rushed to the quarantine and then to the [refugee]
centres. Our cousins were resettled from Żyrardów during that period.
It happened one day, completely unexpectedly.
The longed-for spring brought a new tragedy into the ghetto, an epidemic.
It was dreadful, as it spread at an alarming pace. My cousin, who worked as
a nurse in a hospital, brought worse and worse news every day: three, four
people in one bed, people lying one next to another on the floor, without assistance. She herself had recovered from typhus. There were several other cases of typhus in our family. We went through a very bad period because of that.
In April we moved into another flat, where we have been living ever since.
The day after the move, an elderly man visited us in the evening. He said he
was from Zduńska Wola and that his name was Głuchy. He had been sent
away from his home by the Germans several months ago. He asked us to put
him up. A first his whole story seemed suspicious to us because none of us
knew anybody by that surname. But after a while everything became clear.
After my father returned from town he also did not know who was standing
before him. But after several moments he recognised that man and the
conversation changed right away. My father was initially unable to recognise
Głuchy due to his changed appearance.
The man told us how he arrived in Warsaw. [. . .] Jews [who] remained
in Zduńska Wola. Until not long ago, they lived only [47] on designated
streets. The ghetto was closed several months ago. But the situation could
still be worse there. The worst thing was the sending of men to forced labour.
My uncle was among those sent to Poznań. All the young men were sent to
forced labour. Young women were registered too, but now it had calmed down.
Głuchy was a melamed, both recently in Zduńska Wola and before the war.
But the ban on education of boys (along with all religious practice) had already
been introduced in Zduńska Wola during our stay. But Głuchy could not give
up that occupation, which was the only source of income for his whole family.
The gendarmerie paid him several visits, but the danger always passed somehow.
Gendarmes came to his home one day last February and they found students
at his place. They could not be persuaded otherwise: they took him to
the station, beat him, and transported him to the prison in Sieradz. They then
