Object numberM2010/001:009
DescriptionEight-page typed testimony of Samuel Zughaft from Tarnow recorded in the Refugee House in Bucharest on 25 July 1945 by Jadwiga Sapera. The eyewitness describes what happened to the Jews in Tarnow; Grunow, head of the Gestapo, who shot girls in the back. He describes registration and receiving of life saving stamps, the forming of the Judenrat, executions in the cemetery, Aktions, arrival in Plaszow, building barracks, a hanging he witnessed of 6 boys who escaped and were caught, Chilewicz who tormented and beat them. He describes a punishment called "bum whacking", being sent to Grossrosen and then a concentration camp in Langenbielau. Zughaft describes how difficult it was for persons hiding: "The Germans were accompanied by Jewish police whose task was to point out to them the bunkers and there were rewards such as the policeman could save his entire family from being transported for uncovering a bunker, and a civilian could save one person and himself if he betrayed (exposed) 50 persons who were hiding".
Jadwiga Sapera was born Hermina Silberfeld, to Polish Jews Nathan Silberfeld and Anna (nee Hollander) on 27 November 1914 in Miskolc, Hungary. In 1918, the family returned to their home in Stary Sacz, Poland. Hermina attended a convent, which gave her a knowledge of German and Catholicism that was helpful for her survival. In 1942, Hermina attained false identification papers of a Polish-Catholic woman, Jadwiga Eleonora Jarzemiszewska. As Jadwiga she was able to find new accommodation and work, and at the end of 1942, moved to Krakow to better safeguard her secret. In 1943 she moved to Warsaw and then to Budapest, until liberation. After the war she kept the name Jadwiga and got work in Bucharest typing the testimonies of concentration camp survivors for the Association of Polish Jewish Refugees. She found out her father had died of hunger and disease, but her mother and brother survived. She was reunited with them in Poland. She lived in Katowice with her husband Jan Sapera who she met and married in 1946. They immigrated to Australia in 1958 with their three children. In the last decade of her life she re-adopted her Jewish name Hermina.
Jadwiga Sapera was born Hermina Silberfeld, to Polish Jews Nathan Silberfeld and Anna (nee Hollander) on 27 November 1914 in Miskolc, Hungary. In 1918, the family returned to their home in Stary Sacz, Poland. Hermina attended a convent, which gave her a knowledge of German and Catholicism that was helpful for her survival. In 1942, Hermina attained false identification papers of a Polish-Catholic woman, Jadwiga Eleonora Jarzemiszewska. As Jadwiga she was able to find new accommodation and work, and at the end of 1942, moved to Krakow to better safeguard her secret. In 1943 she moved to Warsaw and then to Budapest, until liberation. After the war she kept the name Jadwiga and got work in Bucharest typing the testimonies of concentration camp survivors for the Association of Polish Jewish Refugees. She found out her father had died of hunger and disease, but her mother and brother survived. She was reunited with them in Poland. She lived in Katowice with her husband Jan Sapera who she met and married in 1946. They immigrated to Australia in 1958 with their three children. In the last decade of her life she re-adopted her Jewish name Hermina.
Production date 1945
Subjecttestimonies, resistance, survivors, survival, eyewitness accounts, deportation, Judenrat
Object nametestimonies
Materialpaper
Dimensions
- width: 210.00 mm
height: 300.00 mm
Language
- Polish Testimony 9
This record of testimony was accepted in the Refugee House in Oradea Mare Zarda St. 9 on the day 25 July 1945. With the aim of submitting this testimony presents himself: ZUGHAFT SAMUEL. Date of birth 6/11/1919 in TARNOW
And gives the following account:
From TARNOW
It began with being picked on in the streets when the Germans entered. Later it became progressively worse. People were being caught and pulled off the streets for work: loading trucks in a goods station or carrying heavy objects. Often Jews never returned from work, and later on one had ever heard anything from them. New edicts (regulations) were being put out constantly: walking on certain side of the streets, but no walking on the main streets; the wearing of arm bands was obligatory from the first week. On the 8th of July all the synagogues were burnt down.
The Judenrat was established after the Germans entered. At the beginning the head of the Judenrat was Dr. Goldberg and later Volkmann became the head and his deputy was Lehrhaupt. The tasks of the Judenrat became progressively harder. The German assignments were directed to the Judenrat and they had to satisfy all their needs.
There was no peace in the City. Two Gestapo with their click, a Pole Nowak and a German Von Malstki marauded through the streets and dwellings. One day in 1940 they barged into a home and carried out a massacre and as a result 6 Jews had to be taken to the hospital and two of them died. The aim of the raid on the home was robbery of valuable goods. These incidents occurred very frequent and by surprise. One morning I heard that there are 50 corpses in the City. At night the Gestapo barged into various homes, pulled out the inhabitants on to the streets and shot them to death. On the 8th of December at 8 in the morning a police vehicle arrived and began collecting from the streets Jewish pedestrians. They were kept in goal for three months and later they were sent to Aushwitz where they perished.
In 1940 the deputies of the head of the Gestapo were: Grunow, and Jnck, a Pole, who from time to time arrived into Jewish districts. They were specialists in Aryan papers (documents) during the existence of the ghetto. Those caught with Aryan documents were brought into the ghetto and after getting out of the cab or car they shot the victim in the back. To one beautiful girl who was caught with Aryan Grunow said “Du bist sehr schon, du bleibst leben” (you are very beautiful, you will remain alive). With joy the girl thanked him and kissed his hands. She, however, did not even manage to make it to the gate when she fell from his bullet. It happened that before the girls were shot they were raped.
When we arrived from work we usually brought with us food. Searches were carried out typically by Grunow and he paid particular attention that nothing was broken and that all the products were given over to him. Once when one of the women tried to throw a chicken over the fence Grunow shot her on the spot.
There were frequent incidents when the Kapo was given information about who has valuable possessions and money. The Gestapo would then arrive (Grunow, Jeck, Huppert, Haase and Zimmerman). They would turn the entire home upside down and the person about whom this information was given would never be let out of goal.
Before the war the overall number of inhabitants in Tarnow was 60,000 of which around 36,000 were Jews. At present only 300 – 400 Jews remain in Tarnow. Despite all of these German and Gestapo antics I saw that as long as we were in Tarnow it was still good for us. There was no shortage of food. The first displacement occurred in 1942.
From the year 1941- 1942 I worked for the Judenrat as a medic (orderly). At that time in Tarnow there was an epidemic of typhus and my task was to delouse people. We also had to assist us the Polish police and our task was to daily go to the houses in the various districts and inspect (check) that they were clean. If I found out that someone was infested with lice they had to undergo a thorough disinfection/delousing and they were recorded on file and every week they had to regularly report to the inspectors. We inspected many – the epidemic increased.
We counted on the occurrence of the next displacement but no one knew what that meant and in what manner will it be carried out. During the previous displacement all the administrative officials were taken to the Judenrat and kept there overnight. At 11 o’clock at night the Judenrat received a letter from the Gestapo with the order that the next day registrations have to be carried out in the City. Every one whether they were healthy or sick had for this purpose two schools assigned where they had to report and a melde-karte would be stamped. We went out at night after receiving orders from the clerks, divided us into areas and announced orders. For not presenting for registration the penalty was death. Registrations occurred the following day, lasting an entire day, carried out by the Gestapo, which gave out two types of stamps: one was a round one with the letter K and the second one, a round one with a swastika and written on it SICHERHEITS POLIZEI NEBENSTELLE TARNOW. As it turned out the second stamp meant that the individual would remain in the city and the first stamp meant death/Kugel.
The displacement was carried out in the following way: Two months prior to the displacement occurring under the order of the Germans the Judenrat set up a Jewish police. It consisted of 100 young Jewish boys who reported themselves for this voluntarily and were chosen by the Judenrat. On the 11th of June 1942 from 6 in the morning the Jewish police began to walk around with Arbeitsamt lists. On this list were only those who were recorded in the Arbeitsamt as arbeitsungahig (unfit for work). Besides these, those who had a stamp with the letter K were also to be displaced. It also occurred that those that had a good stamp, that with a swastika, were not protected from displacement if they were noted on the arbeitsamt list as arbeitsunfahig (unfit for work).
Policemen would come around and ordered people to get ready to leave in half an hour. People were permitted to take with them everything, whatever they wanted and could. According to a set time policemen would arrive again and took people to the market place. From the market place a vehicle would take the people to the Jewish cemetery where they were shot to death. During the night the cemetery was lit up with reflectors. The shooting (execution) took place in the following way:
The first layer (layer of people) entered the grave and were shot with machine guns. The handlers (crew) made up of a number of persons laid out the corpses in a sardine like system (pattern) pouring lime on the corpses and then covered them with sand and they followed by a second layer of people who were executed. Several incidents occurred when during the laying out (arranging) of the corpses policeman noticed a wounded person instead of a corpse. He was taken to a repeated execution by shooting. There were also however other incidents where a person would aloud ask for mercy and was told by the policemen to run away. He (the escapee) would hide in the depth of the cemetery during the entire period of the action. The graves were growing in numbers. During the 8 days of action three graves came into being with 4000 persons in each grave, mainly children, women and the elderly, the majority being the elderly. In spite of the shootings in the cemetery the Jewish population did not realise the terrible situation they were in. Many thought that the shootings were carried out to frighten them. There was an incident where one Jew had asked a policeman that he save him, he didn’t want to be “displaced”. The policeman replied that he couldn’t do anything about this and that he has to also let go of his own parents. I was a witness to that incident and I saw the parents of this policeman who cried like a small child. If he didn’t carry out his duty he was threatened with the death penalty by the Germans. This policeman however certainly realised that his parents were going to their death. Overall a good stamp shielded the “displaced” person and his family. Later, however, at the end of the week when the action was ending the Gestapo were entering homes and were pulling out whoever they came upon irrespective whether they had a good stamp or a bad stamp. In this action a particular German brigade also took part called “Judenvernichtungsgruppe” who travelled around the entire region.
My family was made up of my mother and father. My father died during the war in 1940 in a hospital and I remained with my mother. During the war in order to show our income from which we were living my mother set up a business related to electricity and she managed to notify the authorities that I worked for her. I was assured with work and registered with Arbeitsamt. Concurrently I worked in the Judenrat. During the displacement I together with my mother hid in a bunker and only after four days we came out. My mother managed to obtain through the president of the Judenrat a good stamp for herself and for me as officers (being functionaries of the Judenrat) and we safely stayed in our homes. During our stay in the bunker I saw how the Germans from the Judenvernichtungsgruppe were cutting off heads of Jews even with axes. During the last days they didn’t even transport Jews to the cemetery but were shooting people on the street. Around 1000 corpses were lying in the streets.
The action ended after 8 days. Later two grave diggers were clearing the corpses off the streets and buried them in a separate grave in the cemetery.
After the action a new registration with Arbeitsamt occurred. Around 20,000 Jews remained. Many before the action hid in the villages and hiding places. In a short period of time a Jewish quarter was set up. We were given 2 weeks time period to move (relocate) with our belongings and furniture. The traffic movement was great and the haste was big. Work posts were beginning to be organised. There was a shortage of people for work because the best work-force were not alive anymore. Many women began to work. Six months passed with relative peace. There were single incidents of someone being shot dead by Grunow who from time to time visited our region.
The second displacement began from this, that at 11 o-clock at night before the day of displacement OD men were sent out throughout the entire district to every home with the aim of taking from everyone their Meldekarte which had to be newly stamped by the Gestapo. People were distressed (nervous). It was not known what was coming next. It was expected something would occur which was similar to what occurred the first time. The next day Gestapo organised Meldekarten but not everyone received a stamp in it, but it was known that the Jewish police got their Meldenkarten stamped and they got the stamps for their families. When the Gestapo left the Jewish population becoming distressed attacked on mass the Judenrat tearing off from every Meldekarte photographs, scratched out (deleted) family names and changed personal details. Throughout the building documents were strewn around even in the street my meldekarte was found among other ones which was without a stamp. The next day a displacement occurred. Everyone without exception had to go to the Madeburaki square. My mother and I were sitting in the bunker. Suddenly an acquaintance of mine came to us and announced that at the square young people are receiving stamps but they are not subjected to displacement. I had no willingness to go, however my mother talked me into it and I went. I became overcome with huge fear from the scenery which presented itself in front of my eyes: In the square young people, old people men, women and children with mothers were on their knees (kneeling down). There were those who did not have the stamps. Those who had the stamps were standing separately, and those who had the stamps and wanted to go together with their parents were lined up in a row on a street in the direction of the square. Before the resettlement a rumour was going around that the action did not mean death, only departure for work. However, anything would set off among Jews great worry, so this rumour consoled us that our life is not being threatened with danger. On the corner of the square stood a table with two Gestapo who stamped the documents of the boys standing in a queue. The older people did not dare to come up. I joined the queue but I noticed that not everyone was being given a stamp. I realised that this was a set-up (a trap). At the beginning all the young boys were getting the stamps, but later I saw that an increasingly greater number of youth had to kneel down and they progressively filled up the area of the square. I was overcome with a bad feeling. The surrounding Polish police kept the order. I noticed a familiar policeman and whispered to him “save me”. He replied “run away as quickly as you can”. I did not give him the opportunity to repeat himself. I moved back surreptitiously and I got away.
As I later found out, the giving of stamps was stopped, those in the queue were surrounded and they were added to the group that was kneeling, who were being transported. Half an hour later patrols began to enter homes searching for those in hiding. The Germans were accompanied by Jewish police whose task was to point out to them the bunkers and there were rewards such as the policeman could save his entire family from being transported for uncovering a bunker, and a civilian could save one person and himself if he betrayed (exposed) 50 persons who were hiding. Those gathered in the square stood for the whole day without eating. This was around 3 months after the first displacement. It was only in the evening that the transport was taken to the station and those with stamps were ordered to go home.
The next day everyone with stamps were banished into the square. They had to parade in line next to the table. This was an ambush on the children. During the parade the children were taken out, but mothers were allowed to go together with the children. Mothers did not want to surrender the children and went with them but there were incidents of fathers surrendering their children. Two incidents occurred during which the Gestapo would say to the young fathers: you are young, you can stay but you have to surrender your child. The young Jewish man slapped the Gestapo’s face, but he was immediately shot dead. The children with the mothers were sent by wagons to outside the City but I don’t know exactly what happened to them, whether they were shot dead outside the city, or taken to the trains.
The remaining people in the square had to cross to the other side of the ghetto, meaning to the left quarter (Szpitalna Street divided the ghetto into two parts). This was a new ambush on the hiding bunkers. I was with my mother on the right side of the ghetto hidden in the bunker. I was warned quite early about this change and during the night we crossed to the other side as the following day would have been too late. The following day the Jewish police were carrying out controls, and here and there the hidden were uncovered and on the same day the second action ended.
This action was carried out by the local Gestapo and the Krakow Gestapo headed by Grunow with the assistance of the Polish and Jewish police. Again 8,000 Jews disappeared. I heard that the train travelled towards the direction of Belzec and children with mothers were shot dead the following day outside the city on the Zbylitowska mountain. Some people from the train transport (perhaps a dozen) managed to jump off the train when it passed Jaroslaw and arrived to the ghetto.
Again 6 months passed peacefully, meaning that there was no massive action. However, there were individual incidents such as catching someone with Aryan papers, or discovering that someone possessed some currency and so on. The victims perished immediately in the cemetery. The persons were undressed naked and shot to death.
Work continued normally. I worked in a tailor’s workshop and my mother worked with me. There were army workshops. We were sewing (making) uniforms for the German army who were on the Russian front. The uniforms were two-sided: one side was white for winter and the other side was green for summer.
Following the second displacement registrations began just like after the first displacement. Only those who could report themselves for this registration were those who had stamps from the first and second resettlement or had both stamps together. There were many people who did not have these stamps but more importantly they didn’t have the second stamp. The Judenrat wanted to help these people and at their risk they sent out a request to certain commissioners of German work posts so as to intervene with the Gestapo with the aim of obtaining stamps for those who did not have them. It was explained to them that these people admittedly were in hiding but they are first-rate specialists and are essential to the carrying on with the workshops. Overall the commissioners were accommodating (kind hearted) but they were being bribed with payment, that is they were well paid by the Judenrat, with our money which we happily contributed because this was a matter of life. The commissioners intervened and we were succeeded. But this time the Germans used a deception. The new stamps were blue but the previous ones (the ones in the past) were navy. Therefore in this way they had precise evidence as to who was illegal until now.
Finally the third displacement occurred. Everyone was at work and no one knew about this surprise. It was again carried out by the Gestapo with Grunow as its head (leader) and assisted by the Jewish Police. The Polish police did not now enjoy the trust of the Germans and had the task of guarding the perimeter around the ghetto. Each action was carried out in a different manner and also occurred differently to the previous one. All those who were working remained at their work place, and those that remained in the ghetto were taken to the Magdeburaki square and were escorted to the train station. Very few people managed (had enough time) to hide.
The contingent had to have 6000 persons but in the ghetto there were fewer numbers but the contingent had to be fulfilled. Grunow walked around the ghetto together with Binnenstock searching for people, but then he realised that at various work posts there are those people who have blue stamps who are “offenders” from the first and second action. These should have been transported. They walked from factory to factory and took people away. My mother and I did not have the black stamps but luck was on our side, namely because the head OD Binnenstock who accompanied Grunow had his own family employed in our factory (which was the furthest, most remotely situated away from the city) and wanting to protect them from the action because they didn’t have good (the correct) stamps, they bypassed us and in this 150 people from this factory were saved and among those were Binnenstock brother-in-law with his child and his brother. This was the only incident that a young child was allocated for work. The third displacement ended and the transport reportedly travelled to Belzec.
Six thousand Jews remained in Tarnow – all workers. The factories had kitchens that cooked for us from an allocation to us ration of food. We did not get paid for working but money was given to kitchen related things, but the money was still not enough. We were selling things to the Aryans who were coming to the factory and we were paying additionally to the kitchen 20 zloty per week and as a result the dinners were better. Jews ran the kitchens. During Pesach the dinners were even kosher. This lasted until 1st September 1943.
Already on the eve of the new action people were saying (it was said) that something bad is coming upon us but we did not know that this will suddenly occur. Barricades came up. At 5 in the morning the entire ghetto was surrounded. All people from the work posts had to come out to the Magdeburski square in an orderly manner, four people at a time in the same way as if they were going to their work posts. Over a dozen taxis arrived from Krakow and among them was the head of the Jerozolimska camp Hauptsturmfuhrer Geth. Over a dozen vehicles then arrived into the ghetto with ammunition but mainly with dynamite. Geth wandered around all the work posts and enquired what type of workshops they were and for whom they work. Those working in work posts as labourers were going over to one side of the square, and artisans (craftsman) were going to the other side. Old people who were earlier whittled away from the work posts were joined with (allocated to) the labourers. Next a selection was carried out from among the artisans and mainly those who were specialist workmen from before the war were ordered to present themselves. The workmen who were specialists (professionals) during the war were separated to go to the other side. Geth seeing the misuse of the rules (his orders) himself began the segregation and in this way through sheer luck my mother remained with me as a specialist artisan.
During the segregation the Gestapo used dogs that were especially trained to bait us. Geth spoke to the specialist artisans in a polite manner “Ihr fahrt alle zumir nach Plaszow dort wwerdet ihr arbeiten, es wird euch gut gehen. Aber whs dem, der kein Vorkriegfachman ist derwird hangen”. (“You are travelling to Plaszow, there you will work. It will be good for you there, but beware, those who were not specialist artisans from before the war will be hanged”)
Geth very much wanted to have professionals who were the best tailors and furriers because by setting up a good work post in Plaszow this would shield him from going to the front. He was the brother-in-law of the SS chief of Polizeifuhrer Schermer. The artisans (professionals) remained the whole night on the Magdebur Square and the next day we were transported to the station. We walked to the station through closed off streets between two rows of machine guns aimed towards our side (towards us) guarded by SS youth. We numbered only 1700. The others a day before were taken to Auschwitz. The news about them was very bad. Apparently their transport arrived to its destination, Auschwitz after four days. The majority suffocated and the head of the Auschwitz camp gave the order to take everyone to the ovens.
Before the liquidation of the Tarnow ghetto around 150 peopled remained. These were Jews mainly who arrived from N. Sacha so called Katastrophenkolonne and before the liquidation of the ghetto they were employed as street cleaners and cleaners of public places. Part of the Judenrat left with us and part of the Judenrat including its head and several administrative workers remained behind. Part orf the Jewish police remained with the Judenrat. Part travelled with us and the remainder were taken to Auszwic the previous day.
We arrived at Plaszow at 10 at night. The impression was distressing. The city was lit up with reflectors as if it was done for our reception. But however it wasn’t like this at all. This was a camp on Jerozolimska street Plaszow, then numbered around 15000 Jews, women and men as well as Poles (Poles were interned there for escaping from Germany, not fulfilling quotas for collection, helping Jews, stealing, drunkenness etc.).
There were around 100 wooden barracks. The camp was surrounded by electrified barbed wire. There were also towers all around manned by guards with reflectors lighting up as I recall the entire camp. The camp was guarded by Ukrainians. At that time the camp was Zwengsarbeitslager. The head of the camp was a certain Chilewicz, a Jew, and Geth was Lagerfuhrer. Chilewicz was a terrible person.
At night, upon our arrival we were taken into (admitted) to the Empfangslager, meaning two barracks to stay in for the first night. Men were separated from the women. In the morning a pronouncement was made that we have to go for registration. This occurred in a different barrack and under the guise of registrations which occurred only the following day, a personal search was conducted. All our belongings and valuables were taken away, clothing was searched and even women had to undress naked if they were suspected. If anyone was found with hidden money or valuables they were beaten terribly, sometimes till they became unconscious. The searches and beatings were carried out only by Krakow Jewish police. The next day after the searches we went for registration and delicing, our clothes were painted in red ladder patterns and already we became citizens of the camp. We slept on wooden two level bunks without any covering. We slept for 4 weeks without any blankets and without straw mattresses, on bare wooden boards. Especially we from Tarnow were badly treated.
Plaszow for me was hell and heaven. At the beginning there wasn’t a day without victims. If anyone ran away from the camp, there were 1000 victims for one. Selections were occurring every week in the presence of Dr Gross, a Jew from Krakow( he is currently in a Krakow prison sentenced for 10 years). He was the chief doctor in the Plaszow hospital. If for example a certain contingent of people was to be given up a Zählapel (roll call) would occur at the square and in front of us would appear Dr Gross with Untersturmfuhrer Johman (Jochmann) who carried out the selection. Dr Gross would walk up to the victim, take him/her out of the row (line up) and stand him/her aside. It only sufficed not to be shaven or wear torn clothes or didn’t stand straight to be chosen as part of the contingent of people to be given up.
The food was terrible. One bread per week and one soup daily which could not be eaten and had to last for our nutrition. We were loosing our strength. We were not permitted to receive parcels from the outside. We worked in tailoring and furrier workshops and some carried out black work that is building barracks, work that was the most dangerous. The group that worked building barracks was called “Barakenbaugruppe”.
One day Geth gave an order that during a 10 day period a certain number of barracks had to be built. If a certain number of barracks was not completed the entire group would be put to death. People were decimated, for the smallest transgressions.
People were hanged. A girl for attempting to escape was sentenced for hanging. Three attempts were made to hang her. Every time the rope tore. The girl then called out “Herr Lagerfuhrer ich will leben ich bin jung” (Mr Camp commander I want to live I am young) but he yelled out “hangen” (to be hanged) and the order was carried out.
Two months later when the camp was changed to KL the situation considerably improved with respect to food and the way we were treated. On the first of November came an order from Berlin that prisoners are not to be shot. On that day my mother was compulsorily displaced from the camp to Skarzysko.
We were receiving more food, 25 dekagram daily and sometimes half a loaf. We even began to receive packages from JUSU through the Red Cross and we even began to earn money. There were for example those, mainly people from Krakow through naturally illegal means were receiving money and packages from Poles from the City and were able to pay those who were carrying out for them duties, cleaning the barracks, replacing them at work when quotas were being collected etc. Towards the end when the liquidation of KL occurred people were permitted to go to the City. When however the front was closing in (getting nearer) all the Poles were released from KL (concentration camp) who up to this time worked in the best work posts in the City. These work posts had to be filled in and in this way I obtained a very good position TWL (Truppenwirtschaftslager) – Army supply depot - on Grzegorzecka st. where there were warehouses with provisions for the entire CG.
I was there an ordinary worker. Bringing things to the camp was very difficult because everything was taken away from us but sometimes the SS guards could be bribed (Ukrainians were not there anymore) in this way we were able to help our brothers in the camp. At a particular time 300 boys were sent to a salt mine to Wieliczki and out of these 6 escaped. They were caught and sent back to the camp and they were sentenced to hang. They were all hanged on the one gallows and all of us had to march next to them and watch.
Chilewicz behaved towards us badly in the camp. He tormented and beat us though he didn’t have to. He was making for us “glasses” meaning he was giving up black eyes from beatings. He got on with Geth very well and was very sincere towards him. Geth in order to convince him of his kindness used a particular trick: he talked his driver into selling to Chilewicz a weapon and proposed that he escapes with his wife (his wife was a Lageralteste in the women’s camp– a camp elder; camp senior, a ‘trusty’ of a camp; a relatively privileged position). Naturally the driver was privy to the entire matter and spoke to Chilewicz about this. Geth expected that Chilewicz will believe him about the aim of escaping and gave him this opportunity till the same evening. Chilewicz, however, did not relate this proposition that the shoefer made to him regarding the escape to Geth and in this way he provided evidence of his insincerity. The next day he was shot dead with his wife, with his niece and with a certain Filkelstein who belonged to this partnersh
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Mrs Jadwiga Sapera