[1941], Warsaw ghetto, Arnold Flejszer, “W okupowanej Łodzi” [In occupied
Łódź]. Testimony of a prewar Łódź clerk about the first months of the
occupation in Łódź.
[1] In occupied Łódź
I have already discussed the journey from Łódź to Warsaw and back which I was
forced to make in early September 1939.⁹⁰ These recollections and remarks are
regarding my stay in occupied Łódź from mid-September to mid-December 1939.
I am writing down these recollections here in the Warsaw ghetto, from
memory, without any newspapers or even notes.
Having gone relatively quickly per pedes apostolorum⁹¹ from Łódź to
Warsaw and back, I bathed and went to bed, where I lay for three days to rest
my legs.
On the day after my return to Łódź, Mrs X., a typical Russian woman
and my Polish friend’s wife, came running to us to inquire whether I had
already returned from the unexpected labour in Brzeziny Łódzkie. When
she saw me, she was overjoyed. Until my departure from Łódź she visited us
relatively frequently, bringing us food, taking some of our things for safekeeping,
and consoling us at those difficult moments. Afterwards, she kept
visiting my wife until her departure from Łódź. I am pleased to mention that
friend of ours, and her religious, even mystical, nature. Supporting us morally,
Mrs X. not only fulfilled the obligation of friendship, bu t also the imperative
of Christian love of your neighbour, protesting with her deeds against
the exclusion of the Jews as some kind of pariahs of the twentieth century.
[2] Our Russian friend was profoundly affected by the tragedy which befell
the civilised world, and she was particularly bothered by the enigmatic position
of Soviet Russia, the Soviet government, and even modern Russia tout court.⁹²
Mrs X. sincerely bemoaned the statute implemented by the occupiers for the
90 See Doc. 4.
91 (Latin) following in the steps of the Apostles; here: on foot. It is approximately 240 kilometres round trip.
92 (French) simply.
