However, it did not last long. Persecutions of the Jews began, as well as
roundups for forced labour, requisitions of merchandise and domestic appliances,
etc. Almost every hour brought something new: new restrictions, new
repressions. The Jews were afraid to go to work and they closed their shops, yet
under pressure from the authorities, they were obliged to open them again.
A few Jews who had worked in municipal institutions for a relatively long
time were fired immediately without any severance pay.
During that period, the economic life consisted in selling everything
one had in stock, while all production ceased. This situation made many Jews
leave for Warsaw and East Prussia (Süd-Ostpreußen) and civil administration¹⁶⁶⁶
was established in the city. That was the beginning of a new chapter in the
history of the P[łoc]k Jews.
On 15 October 1939, ten well-known and wealthy Jews were summoned
to the Landrat [7] and told that the Jews were not abiding by the official regulations,
that they were concealing merchandise or selling it at exorbitant
prices, and consequently, they had several hours to pay a one-million-zloty
levy. In addition, three of the men summoned were detained as a guarantee
that that order would be carried out, whereas the rest were released to collect
the specified sum on time. The hostages were kept in prison, beaten and
abused. They were made to jump over one another and were treated in an
inhumane way. It was simply impossible to collect such a large sum of money
from the impoverished Jewish population, even given unlimited time, particularly
when the majority of wealthy Jews had already left the city. When
the sum was not delivered on time, the number of hostages was increased.
Superhuman efforts were made to collect as much money as possible: everyone
brought everything they had. That way, [8] the Jews managed to collect
180,000 zlotys in cash and valuables worth 20,000 zlotys. After a few days’
negotiations, the authorities accepted the sum and they also received portfolios
worth half a million zlotys stored in three Jewish banks that operated
in the town. Only then were the hostages released and the portfolios
were taken to the KKO,¹⁶⁶⁷ where a commissioner, acting on behalf of the
[German] authorities, cashed bills of exchange if the issuer or guarantor
were Jewish.
1666 See introduction.
1667 See footnote 176.
