passengers, people rented carts and bought horses, and they all fled in panicked
fear of the possibility of the G[ermans]’¹⁸⁵⁶ entry. About three weeks
later, however, almost all of them returned, devastated, tired, and having lost
a significant portion of their property.
Meanwhile, around 6 September the G[ermans] had marched into
town. They took hostages and began roundups [5] for forced labour; they
took women too, regardless of their age or looks! The Jews had to wear yellow
patches marked Jude and they had to walk on the roadway instead of on
the sidewalk. One levy was collected, but when another, much higher one
was demanded which could not be fulfilled, as every slightly better-off individual
had to pay 10,000 zlotys — all Jewish stores and warehouses began to
be requisitioned, all of the merchandise appropriated. And then one morning,
it was on 9 September,¹⁸⁵⁷ out of the blue, all Jews were ordered to leave
the town. As ordered, they assembled on the market square with their bundles;
they were not allowed to take much with. Then a fire brigade orchestra
came to escort those poor souls to the railway station to the accompaniment
of music. They were loaded like cattle into freight cars and sent off [6] to the
Pomiechówek station, and from there on foot to Jabłonna. [8] cThis extraordinary
fact shall provide a lot of material [. . .] to write about because it is akin
to the painting Wędrówka Żydów [wandering of the Jews] by Jewish painter
Hi.¹⁸⁵⁸ As early as at 7 a.m. [. . .] they ran like hounds to all Jewish flats, calling
on the Jews to assemble on the market square within 10 minutes under
threat of death, allowing them to take only the bare minimum from their
homes. Unaware of what it [9] was about and not sensing such a tragedy, the
Sierpc Jews took very few things indeed, salvaging just a fraction of their
property. On the market square they were arranged into rows and ordered
to march towards the station. The parade depicted in the Wędrówka Żydów
painting is led by an old man carrying Torah scrolls, whereas here in Sierpc
(and this must be emphasised) the parade was led by an old man with a long
white beard, holding a newborn in his arms. That was to symbolise that
1856 The author sometimes uses initials for the word “Germans” and for the names Sierpc, Lubicz, Hernes.
1857 The expulsion took place on 8 November, affecting approximately 75 per cent of the Jewish population. See Żydzi w rejencji, p. 65.
1858 Reference to Samuel Hirszenberg’s painting Wygnańcy [The expelled], 1896–1904.
