(a) Date unknown, (b) After 13 May 1941, Warsaw ghetto, author(s)
unknown, two accounts under the same title: “ שערפץ ” [Sierpc], on the
fate of the Jewish population in the first months of the war.
(a)
[1] Sierpc
On the fourth day after the outbreak of war, the Jews in Sierpc began living
in pain and fear. Jewish shops started to be pillaged. The Jews were without
protection of any kind. So Jews waited for a better tomorrow, hoping the situation
would improve, until the day came when it was no longer possible to
show one’s face in the street. Any Jew found outside was seized for work, tormented terribly, and humiliated in front of the neighbours, who enjoyed the
spectacle. The long string of troubles got worse by the day, until an edict was
issued that Jews must walk only in the middle of the road, must wear special
yellow patches with the word Jude, and were not permitted to use electricity.
All Jewish shops, from small to large, were seized, even a little shop whose
entire stock was worth no more than 50 zlotys. Goods of little value, such as
toys and flowers, were thrown out into the street for Christian children. Jewish
houses were emptied of furniture, bedding, all the essentials, leaving only the
bare walls. The smallest stocks of food were taken, even 25 kg of potatoes and
½ kilo of sugar. There was no way to earn any money.
Jews understood each other, and even supported each other, until the
kehillah received an order to pay 50,000 zlotys within 24 hours, and to provide
a list of the names of Jews who failed to contribute. After strenuous intervention
by a number of people, another 24 hours’ delay was obtained, on condition
that 20,000 be paid 12 hours before the deadline. Thanks to the intensive
efforts of several people, 48,700 was collected, but after the money was paid,
the troubles only increased. An order was received to provide, within two
hours, a list of all those who had given money, with the addresses [. . .]. Being
one of those who submitted the list to the municipality [. . .] a threat that if
it did not tally — a death sentence. The [. . .] day after the list was submitted,
the people on it were sent [demands for] individual levies. A person who
had contributed a hundred zlotys was to pay a thousand. Levies of as much
as 75,000 zlotys were imposed on people who had never possessed, and never
