second bombardment, a lot of incendiary bombs were dropped, setting fire
to many houses, stables and granaries, and at night the whole shtetl was in
flames. It is difficult to describe the panic in words. The huge red tongues
of flame which, streaking across the overcast skies, had such a terrible effect on
the residents that they ran back and forth all over the shtetl like frantic, terrified
animals, not knowing what to do. People ran to hide in the fields outside
the town, and in that rush for safety everyone lost their nearest and dearest.
Mothers lost their children, wives their husbands, and in the streets the tearful
voices of little children were heard crying “Where’s my mummy? Where’s my
daddy?” followed by a woman’s desperate scream, “Where are my children?”
That night, in the glare of the burning houses, [2] everyone arrived at the same
decision. They had to leave as soon as possible, for the danger was great and near at hand. They grabbed a pillow, a blanket, stuffed a piece of bread into a pocket, and left with wife and children, commending themselves to the Almighty.
And on that night no one heard the desperate screams of a young woman
with two children, who were burnt alive. The woman had come from Mława.
The next day, Monday morning, when people got up after a nightmarish
sleepless night and looked around them, they saw that 90 per cent of the population, both Jewish and Christian, had fled. The shtetl was empty. Of the
Jewish population, only the rabbi and a few householders remained, a minyan
at most. The Mława refugees who had come to us and lived through the
storm were now a dreadful sight. They filled the synagogue, the bet hamidrash,
the Sabbath shelters, the community hall, the rabbi’s private residence,
and the empty houses of the Strzegowo locals who had fled. They lay on the
floor, crouching in terror. Their eyes told of the great suffering of all wars.
There were old people, little children, young women, old women, invalids of
all sorts, consumptives, all lying together, covered with rags. Pregnant women
with babies at their breasts summoned up saliva and moistened the dry lips
of the little ones. Jews with hands shaking with fever tossed and turned, unable
to settle down. Half-crazy people and outright lunatics ran about in the
human swamp, shouting, raving and admonishing — in a word, it was one
great symphony of human misery and grief.
At noon, when the Polish troops retreating from the broken front at Mława
passed through our shtetl, another bombardment took place. The planes fired
their machine guns at the Polish troops. Many were killed, including many
civilians walking with the troops. That day, two Strzegowo Jews were killed,
