been covered in ashes — people’s faces became grey, smiles froze on people’s
pale lips, which instead of talking, started to whisper involuntarily. A variety
of news [14] spread in a flash round the town, causing commotion and
panic. The LOPP siren tore the air, filling already petrified hearts with anxiety.
Trade was in the biggest turmoil: prices of imported goods tripled, salt
reached 3 zlotys per kilogram. Merchants hid their goods, only to put them
up for sale at a discount several days later in fear that Germans would requisition
all their goods anyway — and they were right.
Each day brought something new. On Friday, 1 September, the enemy
bombed the town, particularly the railway, to damage it and break the connection
with Warsaw. There was no anti-aircraft defence whatsoever and the people
were hiding in cellars and talking politics. The Polish army [15] was moving
towards Pomerania. People distributed food among the soldiers. On Saturday,
2 September, the population of Pomerania started to flee however they could:
on carts and by crowded trains. Food and water ran out. Right away two aid
committees, a Polish and a Jewish one, were established, and anti-Semitism
disappeared. Women ran along streets, picking up loaves of bread, fruits, and
tomatoes thrown through windows and balconies. Shops offered soda water,
kvass, etc. Everything was taken to the station and distributed among the refugees
regardless of their faith. The great wandering started. Day and night,
carts were rolling and rolling, sometimes cars flashed by: everyone was going
to Włocławek. On the night from Saturday to Sunday, Polish forces began to
retreat; the whole camp was coming back, with thousands of people [16] trailing
along behind. Lipno inhabitants were more and more gripped with fear
of the enemy. Therefore, following the example of inhabitants of the nearby
towns, Lipno inhabitants also started to buy and rent carts and horses and
pack their things to leave. One mother told me: “I am sending my daughters
with the camp because I am frightened. When they leave, I will be calmer.”
On Sunday, 3 September, the authorities left the town, so the municipality
offices became deserted. Mayor Mr Uz.¹⁴³³ made a witty and wise choice
to appoint as his deputy a Lutheran, Mr Cz. He was very loyal and treated
all people equally, regardless of their faith: he issued passes, certificates, etc.
People were still passing through Lipno, while its inhabitants [17] were leaving
too. Broken-hearted, my husband and I observed how people were destroying
1433 Zygmunt Uzarowicz (1892–1942), mayor of Lipno from 1924, died in Buchenwald.
