On 18 September, the SS arrived in town. Their first visit was to the chairman
of the kehillah and the gabaim of the prayer houses. They quickly sealed
off the prayer houses and made the chairman and gabaim responsible for the
seals; they were instructed to report twice a day, in the morning and in
the evening. Naturally, every time they came, they were made to wash and
clean the ubikacje. Whenever the fancy took them, the SS led them into a stable
and told them to turn and face the wall. [3] Then they readied their weapons
to scare them into thinking they were about to be shot. They got so used to
this play-acting that once, as they stood facing the wall and the senior [officer]
asked them, “Who wants to say goodbye to his family?”, they coolly replied
that it was not necessary. It was at that time that the yagon ve-anaha¹⁸⁴⁵ of
seizure for labour, beatings and confiscation of goods began. Some members
of the Polish underworld took part in the seizure of Jews for labour, repeatedly
pointing out that ‘that one is a Jude.” In the beginning, they believed the
Germans had come only because of us, to separate us out.
22 September was Yom Kippur. At dawn, soldiers were already running
around dragging Jews out for work. It was raining, and the Jews had to stand
in their shirtsleeves and sweep the streets. A large number was taken to the
SS under a hail of blows and abuse. They were made to work until eight in
the evening. On 26 September a hundred unmarried men were seized in an
obława. They were put in the town prison¹⁸⁴⁶ and the next morning they were
sent no one knows where. A few weeks later, we found out that they were on
Russian territory.
On 27 September, around midnight, people in neighbouring houses
noticed movement outside the synagogue. Several taksówki drew up, bringing
important people. The synagogue was unlocked and they went inside.
The neighbours couldn’t see what they were doing in there. This went on until
2 a.m., when suddenly the whole town was lit up by flames from the burning
synagogue. People ran out of their houses, wanting to save the synagogue, but
the patrol making its rounds in the town would not let people out, shouting
that before 6 a.m. it was forbidden [4] to set foot in the street. Nevertheless,
1845 (Hebrew) pain and sorrow; from the eleventh blessing of the Shemoneh Esrei (Eighteen [Benedictions]), recited as part of the Amidah, the central prayer of the Jewish liturgy. (Isaiah 35:10).
1846 The prison was located in the former Benedictine convent. It was in operation until 1945.
