young man, a Jew, was dressed in some royal robes and a crown was placed
on his head (it was a drum torn against his head), and other Jews had to play
around and dance around the ‘Jewish king’ and spit on him. The noise, startling
even for the ‘German stronghold’ famed in the city, brought to the window
our Russian friend, who was staying with us. At some point, some young
Volksdeutsche hit the ‘Jewish king’ with a tool so hard that the Jew’s face was
covered in blood. What that modern mystery play was supposed to mean,
I do not know. It shocked the Russian, and for a long time she could not calm
down, shaking with [x]⁹⁹ indignation.
Sometimes screams of pain could be heard from that facility. Once, the
screams brought our maid, who hailed from the city of Poznań, to the balcony.
Seeing some Volksdeutsche hunchback beating an elderly Jew, the maid
started screaming at the man [to stop] [8] the torment. This resulted in a ban
on going onto balconies and an order to cover windows overlooking our yard
adjacent to Katzenelson’s school.
Sometimes, roundups resulted in seizing so many people that the Jews
ran through the streets like hunted animals. One day, my wife and I had to
wander through the city until late in the evening. When we finally returned
home in the evening for dinner, we found our Poznań maid pale and in tears,
so worried was she about us. (The young woman was much attached to us,
even though she has only been in our employ for three years.) Our house
was particularly badly located. Adjacent to our house¹⁰⁰ from the Zawadzka
Street side, there was a Volksdeutsche youth centre. Opposite, at the Konstadts¹⁰¹
school, a Wehrmacht unit was stationed, and in the building of the Skorupka
high school,¹⁰² located next to our house from the Żeromskiego Street side,
there was a Red Cross car service, with several vehicles parked in our yard.
At night, cars and motorcycles came and went, particularly near Katzenelson’s
school, which upset my poor wife greatly, causing her to lose sleep. Those
roundup orgies disrupted forced labour in the city, so the gmina organised
99 [x] shock.
100 i.e. the block of flats at Zawadzka Street 45, on the corner of Żeromskiego Street. The building survived.
101 Primary school at Zawadzka Street 42, established in 1900 by the Konstadts Charitable Foundation.
102 Run by the Oświata Association, the Father S. Skorupko All-Boys Lower Secondary School was located at Żeromskiego Street 10.
