amounts were about 800 zlotys, up to 40,000 zlotys, and each person was given
48 hours to pay. People came running with as much money as they had, but in
the municipality office whatever they brought was taken and they were told
to bring the rest on Monday. That same evening, as soon as night fell, gendarmes
went round town to the registered addresses of the individual contributors
and arrested everyone, 100 people in all. All night long they were
made to perform physical exercises and beaten till the blood ran. One young
man had his arm hacked to pieces. They worked on them in this way until
9 in the morning. In the morning, a senior [officer] came in and announced
that whoever gave a thousand zlotys would be released. Several wealthy men
gave 600 to 800 zlotys each, so that the last ones gave 20 zlotys. One person
even left without [paying] [6] a single grosz.
Two days later, all the Jewish shops were confiscated. Trucks came
and all the goods were removed. This went on for several days. The air was
already beginning to smell of the various tribulations in store for the Jews.
On 3 November, 18 Jews were arrested, among them the vice-chairman of
the citizens’ committee, and also about 40 Christians. Naturally, they locked
up the Jews separately, and began torturing them in the prison. It went so
far that the vice-chairman, a man of 60, was taken from his cell into the
prison yard and ordered to lie on the ground. A grave was measured out and
he was told to dig. When it was ready, he was laid inside and his feet were
chained together. Then another Jew was brought in and ordered to shovel soil
on him while he was still alive. The man lay without blinking an eye. When
the moment came to throw soil on his face, a soldier stepped forward, took the
Jew away, and started shovelling soil on the face himself. He stamped on it
with his foot until blood ran. Then he grabbed hold of the chain and pulled
him out, and he was thrown back into the cell.¹⁸⁴⁸ They made a grave on the
spot, decorated it with flowers and placed a Star of David on top, and when
women brought food they were told: “Here lies your husband, you can put it
here, he no longer needs any food.”
On 8 November, at 6.30 in the morning, SS-men entered the Jewish flats,
beating and driving everyone out into the market square until a couple of
thousand people were assembled there, old and young, women, children and
small children, some with bundles, some without, some in their dressing
1848 The same event is described in Docs. 137 and 139.
