Rzeszów, Poland (Pages 336-349)

Hava Wuszka Jolles, A Girl Who Fought
by Menachem Levenstein

Translated by Sara Mages

The young women, who were dressed in rags, rubbed their eyes. They were blinded by the rays of the morning sun. The air was sharp and cold.

They just came out of a dark damp cell, number 15, in the prison's basement. There were over twenty young women there. Some were fighters in the Jewish resistance of Krakow Ghetto. They were captured and imprisoned after a row of daring actions which caused heavy losses to the Germans

They knew where they were being taken. To the “death hill” of Plaszow concentration camp, from which no one returned.

The column moved slowly. The SS guard, who led the column, shouted: Fast! Fast! The column slowed its progress until it stopped. A peasant's wagon rolled slowly towards the column. The second S.S. man, who stood at the rear, froze in his position.

The girls listened carefully, waiting for the agreed signal. But it wasn't late to come. The familiar voice of Hava Jolles pierced the silence. The girls leaped in all directions. Shots, screams, the first bullet missed, the second bullet hit Hava. With her shout she gave the signal for the escape, and thus, she directed the full attention of the German guards towards her - and fell bleeding profusely. Four girls managed to escape, the rest were killed or captured.

Hava has come a long way in the three and a half years since she graduated, at the age of sixteen and a half, from the trade school in her birthplace Rzeszów. She was born on 5 October 1923, the youngest daughter to Mendel-Menachem and Tehila from the Eckstein family.

She had been orphaned from her father at the age of seven, and her older brothers and sisters scattered in all directions. Some wandered to a place of Torah, and some left for distant lands. Today, out of five brothers and sisters, only her older sister Chaya, who immigrated to Israel in 1933, is still alive. Hava remained with her mother and both of them lived with her grandfather, R' Mordechai Eckstein.

Hava joined “Hashomer Hatzair” movement at an early age. “I study during the day, and the night is dedicated to the movement's nest” - she wrote to her sister in Israel. In her last letter she writes: “I finished school with honors and I was sent to a youth camp for the summer months…”

She was sixteen when the Nazis invaded Poland. Few are the details about her activities during the first two years of the war. Obviously, she continued with the battle for existence together with the rest of the Jews. The Nazi beast began to tighten its death trap on the Jews of Poland. Her family - mother, old grandmother, sister and brothers - disappeared, one by one, and perished in the death camps.

One of her brothers headed eastward and tried to flee to Russia, but all traces of him were lost. Hava knew how to evade the Germans and moved to the Arian side. She didn't only save her life, but also the life of other Jews. Young men and women, who owe her their life, live in Israel. She smuggled them out of the ghetto to hiding places in the Arian side.

She brought my niece Gizla to our hiding place, sat and ate with us. We found out that her name was Wuszka Jolles. She got up and left - and we haven't heard from her again. It turns out, that thanks to her courage she managed to slip away from all the Aktziot that were carried out in the ghetto.

Hava transferred her main activity to nearby Krakow. As a member of “Hashomer Hatzair” she was immediately recruited to the resistance which was led by: Heshek [Zvi] Bauminger (the organization's leader), Benek (Binjamin) Halbreich (operation officer) and Salk Schein (treasurer and provider of forged documents, today he lives in Petah Tikva). For security reasons the resistance was organized in groups of five. Hava has been appointed as the headquarters' liaison.

To understand the significance of the role of a liaison, it's necessary to review the conditions which existed in the locations where she operated. The Jews were concentrated in a narrow ghetto with two gates. They were allowed to enter and leave with a permit, and only during daylight hours. Also in the city the Germans could arrest a person at any moment, and traveling from city to city was very dangerous. The Jews were forbidden to travel. Permits were inspected at the entrance to the train station. and spot checks were conducted in the cars. The Germans searched for everything: smuggled food, escaped prisoners of war, people without work certificates and without travel permits. A Jew that was caught - was taken into custody, and if he was lucky - he was executed on the spot. A Jew, who was suspected of being a member of an underground organization, was interrogated at length, and severely tortured before his execution.

And here is Hava, a Jewish woman without an “Aryan appearance,” leaves the ghetto in the morning, carrying leaflets, weapons, the organization's newsletter, firebombs, and at times, a smuggled child that a hiding place was found for him outside the ghetto. She boards the train in Krakow. She sits in the car, the leaflets and her purse next to her - a pistol and a grenade on her body. Around her Polish men and women, their eyes are prying, at any moment someone might recognize her. The train stops in Bochnia. Policemen enter the car. Documents are checked. This time they didn't search. Arriving to Rzeszów and descending with tension. Somehow she also walks out of here safely, and now, quickly - to the ghetto. To look if someone was following her. To slip unnoticed to the secret address. Deliver the material. An action was planned for that evening - and its success depends on the firebomb that Hava is bringing. Shalom (Parizk) Globerman, today a resident of Tel-Aviv, is telling: “These bombs were made by a physicist, who was with the fighters in Krakow, from primitive materials. A cardboard box the size of a shoe box, filled with shredded films. There was a hole in the box. The box was brought to the sabotage area together with a bottle of acid that was mixed with another substance. When the acid consumed the paper and dripped into the film, it burst into flames, and a garage or an officers' club went up in flames.” And Hava brings the material to Rzeszów, Bochnia and closer locations. The journey to Rzeszów is about 129km. It's necessary to return soon, because the searches will intensify after the operation. Dozens of journeys - thousands of kilometers, a week pursues a week, a month pursues a month. Each note needs to be delivered to a neighboring town - thousands of seconds, and each one of them means the danger of torture and threat of death.

The mother, the family - all have already disappeared. The goal now - to hit the Germans. To fulfill a duty - and to see a friend, Moshe Traum, for which, in this cauldron, a romantic corner is reserved in the heart of an 18 year old girl.

Years later, Pessia Warshawsky (today a member of Kibbutz Aylon) says, that Hava (Wuszka as she was called by her friends) was born for these roles. “She had an abundance of inner confidence which radiated around her.” She was quick and knew how to avoid danger. She was caught a number of times - but with an amazing speed she managed to distract her captures and slip from their hands.

She also participated in offensive operations. In the book “Jewish Partisans” Volume B (page 154), we find “…Two Gestapo detectives sat and drank in a tavern on 4 Jalana Street. The fighters Laban, Libeskind, Hava Jolles and Faiz'ka ambushed them and shot them. They attacked the cash register at the Bochnia strain station. We need both, money and German victims…”

In the hours between missions, she sat together with the members of the headquarters, Heshek Bauminger, Benek Halbreich and Schein, in the attic which served as the headquarters, a place of residence and a hiding place. She prepared meals and helped with everything that was needed.

At any time of danger - Salk Schein is telling - when the Germans increased their searches, the members of the headquarters, even those with “Aryan appearance” didn't dare to go out. It it was necessary to arrange urgent matters in the city, Hava set off, day and night.

The relationship between them and the Jews weren't without friction. Most of the Jews in the ghetto, especially the older ones - opposed their activities. They feared that these operations may bring the end closer. However, there wasn't a total unity among the members of the underground. The “Akiva” organization had its own active underground, and the members of “Hashomer Hatzair” - had their own organization. Hava was the liaison between the two organizations, and passed information and plans of action for the joint activities. She also connected between the organization and the P.P.R (the Polish revolutionary party).

Pesia Warschawski is adding: “Hava had a direct access to people. She was tall, broad-shouldered, her face was round, and she had lively big eyes. Her maturity was felt immediately despite her young face. She was articulate and wise. She didn't suffer from false illusions, which characterize people in a state of hopelessness. She was a realistic in her character, and together with it, she was subjected to the feelings of love and longing of a young woman. Those around her felt her inner strength which radiated around her.”

After the organizational activity, which began in the first months of 1942, and a series of acts of sabotage on installations and the killing of individual Germans for more than half a year, it was decided on a turning point in the underground's activity. The relationship between “Akiva” and “Hashomer Hatzair” was tightened towards larger operations. The boldest operation took place on 22 December 1942, at the dawn of Christmas. On a single night several cafés and officers clubs were attacked. Blue and white flags were hoisted on the bridges of the city of Krakow. Firefighters were dispatched to remote corners of the city. The main action was in Cyganeria Café. The place was bombarded with grenades and bombs- and many senior German officers were killed. This activity aggravated the situation, and the Germans set out to eliminate the underground. Many members were arrested, some of them as a result of denunciations. The commanders were captured. The underground activity concentrated mainly in self-preservation. Hava moved to Kalwaria, and continued with the clandestine work together with Gustek Deutscher. They managed to carry on for three more months. In March 1943, they were caught and thrown to Montelupich prison. We can read full details about the prison and life in “Justyna's Diary”^[1] (published by Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House).

Hava was in jail for almost month. On 29 April 1943, the girls were intended for a “transport” to an unknown direction. The members of the underground organizations, and also most of the fighters, decided on the last action - perhaps the last in their life… During the transfer, when they'll lead us from Helclow to the courtyard of Montelupich prison, to transport us to “Plaszow's hill” for extermination, they will encounter an unexpected obstacle: in the alley, in front of the prison, we will break into the end of the street, a place of normal traffic. The Germans would open fire at us and chase us. They will kill us in the streets. But the city will know that we didn't walk like sheep to the slaughter. It will be told through the city that Jewish women dared to “rebel openly before their death…” (from the words of Eugenia Meltzer, “Jewish Partisan” Volume 2 page 161).

Pesia Warschawski is telling: “after it was decided to escape, a question arose, who will give the signal. The success of the entire operation depended on the signal. The person who would give the signal will draw the attention of the guards to her. The signal had to be strong and loud, and heard throughout the column of 30 girls. Hava stood up and said: “I will give the signal…” Pesia Warschawski remained in jail, she wasn't sent in this transport. Through the small window she could see how the column stopped, heard Hava's shout, and saw the girls scattered to the barrage of gun fire and the screams that filled the street. At nightfall Pesia heard a knock on the cell's window. One of the guards (whose entire family was in a concentration camp) whispered excitedly: “I must tell you about the escape.” I wasn't on duty and watched the column. Suddenly, the big Jewish girl gave a signal, and all of them started to run. The big girl, who gave the signal, was shot and fell first.”

In this manner, Hava, granddaughter of Motish and Ita Eckstein, fell on the pavement of Helclow Street, and she was nineteen and a half years old.

Rzeszów in 1946
by Marcus Dornfest

Translated by Sara Mages

In 1946, the truth was revealed in all of its horrors. I didn't delude myself, I knew that everyone perished. Yet, I longed to reach Rzeszów, my birthplace.

Here is the deserted square (Rynek) with the Town Hall clock tower. Poor Nathan Hoffan used to stand here for hours, looking at the hands of the clock, and find it difficult to determine the time. Along the streets, rows of Jewish homes turned into a heap of rubble. Even our meager house was destroyed, and in its place a road leads to the Vislok River. In house number 4, in two rooms on the ground floor, which used to be a fabric store, the Rzeszów's committee just opened its office. It serves as a temporary shelter for Holocaust survivors, residents of Rzeszów, who returned to the city.

For lack of financial means to continue my journey westward, and without a clear prospect for my future, I began working for the security service. Once, when I sat in my office immersed in my work - a work that I didn't enjoy because I had to discover the fate of my former friends during the mass imprisonments, torture and extermination - the door opened and a young handsome officer entered the room. With a smile on his lips he threw several pictures on my desk and said “this is for you!”

Without glancing at them I asked him for the nature of the pictures, “The Secret Service arrested an SS man and found these photos in his possession. Do you want to know who is photographed in them?” I didn't respond to his question, and when I turned my eyes to the pictures I was shocked. The officer's face, which saw me shocked and moved, grew serious. “These are Rzeszów's people, it happened in the forests near Glogow, do you recognize them?” I couldn't answer this question because the power of speech was taken from me. The images in the photos weren't familiar to me because they were taken by an amateur and weren't clear.

There is no need to describe the difficult ordeal that was caused me as a result of my meeting with the murderer, the SS man. He squirmed during the investigation and avoided giving answers. He repeated the song that he carried out his superiors orders. He explained what was shown in the pictures, even though it was easy to understand their content. In the pictures it was possible to see “our people” climbing on the trucks that led them the forests, the Polish policemen who downloaded them from the trucks, removed their clothes, and helped them to dig pits…

Rzeszów's Rebellious Daughter
(A chapter of memories from Auschwitz)
by M. Weinstein-Lazer - Tel-Aviv

Translated by Sara Mages

January 1944. At that time I worked the night shift at the “Union” munitions factory. It was during the worst selections. My three sisters (Chava, Rozia and Rachel) were sent to the gas chambers. Right now it's difficult to write about these things. It happened in one of the evenings of the month of February. Our company marched as usual to our work place, and here, trucks filled with people passed before us in the direction of the crematorium. In an instant, their naked bodies flickered in the headlights, and disappeared. We heard heartbreaking cries. I knew that my three sisters were transferred in one of these trucks.

The men, who sang “Hatikva,” were transferred in another truck. This melody penetrated deep into my soul, and didn't leave me for a moment, day or night, in my dreams and when I was awake. It accompanied me on my way to work and back. One Sunday, Ela Gartner walked over to me and told me that she wanted to talk to me. It was the first time that I saw her. I walked out to the yard with her, and she told me: you lost three sisters, and I can tell you how you can avenge their blood. You work in the manufacturing of explosives, which are necessary for us. Who are you? - I asked. Ela answered me that she would give me the information if I agree to cooperate with her. I agreed. A few hours later she presented Rozka Robota and another young blonde girl whose name I no longer remember. Both of them worked in the dressing rooms.

Rozka told me the plans of the “special company” (“Sonderkommando”) without giving me the names of the members. After we plotted the plan for the next few days, I left them and returned to the hut with Ela. I didn't believe that it could be possible to fulfill these plans, in my opinion, it seemed impossible to raise a rebellion in Auschwitz. But I had nothing to lose. Two days later, when I returned to the camp from the factory, I've already had the first batch in my pocket - a packet of gunpowder. It was just an experience, because we weren't sure if the “special company” could benefit from this stuff.

A few days later we received a positive response, and I was asked to provide the maximum quantity of gunpowder. It wasn't an easy matter. The foreman grumbled that we wasted a lot of powder. He started to weigh the powder in the saucers, and knew how many cartridges we could fill with the amount of powder that was given to us. But, I secretly took a teaspoon or two from every saucer, and put it into the packet in my pocket. Five young women worked with me. Regina Sapir sat next to me. I knew her well, and knew that I could trust her. I told her why we need this powder, and she immediately agreed to cooperate. She even got angry that I didn't tell her earlier. Out of all the girls I only trusted Ester Weisblum (Astosha). And indeed, later on she proved herself with her actions, initiative and cleverness. She took out the powder straight from the fireproof box. This box stood in the next room and the keys were always in the foreman's hands, but sometimes he left the keys on the table, or left the box open. Astosha used these opportunities skillfully. After the night shift at the explosives warehouse was eliminated, I was transferred to work at the spraying warehouse, and all the burden of removing the powder fell on shoulders of Regina and Astosha. Only sometimes I was able to help them to transport the powder from the factory to the camp. Henia Weisblum, Astosha's sister, also helped us.

Searches and inspections were conducted every day when we entered and left the factory. The most severe inspections were the personal searches at the entrance to the camp. More than once we had to carefully disperse the powder on the sand. It was particularly difficult to get rid of the powder in the form of solid grains, since we had to crumble it with our fingers. The heart throbbed like a hammer, and the Germans sniffed around us like dogs. At the camp we gave the material to Ela who passed it to Rozka in the “dressing room,” and she gave it to the “special company.” From them I learnt that the “company” opened a small factory in which they cast cartridges and filled them with the powder that we provided. There was also a contact with the underground, and the entire enterprise was managed by a Russian Jew, an officer in the Soviet Army, whose name I don't know.

A few weeks later the “Union” factory was transferred to another camp, and the contact with it was severed. I will restrict myself and tell the facts relating to our friends.

After the extermination of the members of the “special company,” the Germans discovered their ammunition factory. It became clear to them that the gunpowder was stolen from the “Union” factory. Bur since none of the members of the “special company” was alive, the Germans searched in all directions. One day they arrested two workers at the explosives warehouse: Regina and Astosha, but they didn't reveal anything. They stood bravely against the interrogators who tortured them, and didn't break down. The Germans took brutal measures but failed to get anything out of them. They brought them to the crematoriums and threatened to burn them if they won't give the names of their partners, and promised to release them if they would give the names of the guilty. These two brave young women didn't admit to anything, or gave anyone away. A few days later they returned to work beaten, wounded, bruised and bloody, like they had come from another world. We didn't recognize their faces. They avoided all contact with the other workers, because they felt that they were being watched.

“We were in hell, don't approach us because they are following us” - Regina told me the day after she returned. Much later, and with great difficulties, we were able to learn from her the details of the brutal investigation. We thought that with that the matter ended, but to our sorrow, a bitter disappointment awaited us.

Because of a silly incident they fell again into the hands of the German executioners. This time they paid with their life for their courage and the weakness of others.

Even today, twenty years later, my hands are shaking as I write these words. Again, I am reliving the nightmare, and I can't grasp the chain of circumstances. In Birkenau, two women slept on the same bunk with Ela and me. One of them was X. Once, during a search, they found forbidden items that belonged to X. She was arrested. Ela was arrested on the day she was released. X was transferred to an easy job, but Ela was taken to an atrocious and cruel interrogation. Ela wasn't able to face this terrible investigation, and after three days of torture she gave the Germans the names of Astosha, Regina and Rozka, but this trio stood bravely in front of their interrogators to the last moment of their life. The Germans didn't get a single word out of them. All four were sentenced to death by hanging, and the sentence was carried out.

I didn't decorate my memories with the fruit of imagination. I only gave the facts and the absolute truth.

Gola (Golda) Mire, an Anti-Nazi Fighter
by Dr. Moshe Yaari Wald

Translated by Sara Mages

I didn't know Gola Mire, but I've heard from our townspeople, the survivors of the ghettos and the camps, about her glowing personality, her desire to help those who suffer, her struggle with the enemies of the Jewish people, her efforts to break the fetters of evil, her heroism in the clandestine war against the German occupiers, her torture, and about the organization of the Krakow Ghetto uprising together with her friends: Justyna [Gusta Dawidson Draenger], Dolek Liebeskind and his friends from all the youth movements. Her friends asked me to dedicate an article in the Yizkor Book to the heroine of our city, and I turned to them and also to her mother Gizla who lives in Netanya. Their answer was, that they couldn't express and describe her personality, in her life and her death. Finally, her friend Rivka Kuper, a member of Kibbutz Degania Bet, responded to my request. According to our conversation and a letter from Gola's brother, a member of Moshav Beit HaLevi, I'm writing this short article.

I knew her mother's family. Her mother was the daughter of Leib Landman from Rzeszów, who owned a warehouse for the export of feathers. It was an observant family. Gola was born in 1911, grew in our city, and graduated high school as an exceptional student. She was gracious, pleasant, wise and gentle. Her anti-Semitic teachers also admired her, because a pure soul and a clean conscience resided in her, and the spirit of poetry pulsed in her. At that time, she still belonged to “Hashomer Hatzair” movement. She spent several hours a day tutoring the children of the rich, and dedicated her income to outstanding students of the poor, to enable them to continue their studies.

In 1929 her parents immigrated to Belgium, however, upon the movement's request, Gola moved to Lvov to work in the main leadership of “Hashomer Hatzair.”

It was in the 1930s. The Nazi beast grew stronger in Germany and undermined the foundations of the Weimar Republic. The anti-Semitism of the Sanatzia [the government of Joseph Pilsudski between the First and Second World Wars] raged in Poland. In Israel, the British government slowly slowly emptied the content of the Balfour Declaration from its anti-Jewish interpretation, and issued decrees on immigration. The desperate Jewish youth, who was thirsty for redemption, was confused and many lost their patience and faith, and as in the days of the Messianic movement of Shabbetai Tzvi, many expected the Messiah and immediate redemption. The light of the communist doctrine, which came from Moscow, blinded the eyes of the best intellectual youth of all nations, especially our youth, until some of them realized that this God had failed. I remember the period of André Gide, Artúr Kösztler, Stephen Harold Spender, Albert Camus and others, who returned disappointed from Moscow. At that time, there was a struggle in “Hashomer Hatzair” between those who were loyal to Zion and the followers of the Communist party. In 1932, Gola left the movement together with her husband, Alexander Hausman from Przemyśl, and joined the PPR (the communist labor party) in Lvov. At that time, Gola earned her livelihood working at the “Kontakt” electronic factory. She wrote articles and pamphlets until she was arrested. At the trial, which took place in Przemyśl, she appeared without a counsel. She was a remarkable speaker and the judges were spellbound by her words. Yet, they sentenced her for 12 years of hard labor, and transferred her to Bydgoszcz prison near the German border. When the war between Poland and Germany broke out the prison guards fled, Gola and her friends broke the gate and headed westward until they reached Bialystok which was in Russian hands. The communists transferred her to Lvov where she met her husband. From Lvov she wrote letters in Hebrew to her brother Yosef, who lived in Kibbutz Ein HaMifratz and later moved to Moshav Beit HaLevi. The Ukrainians ruled Lvov, and Gola and her husband were accepted with joy to the “Kontakt” factory where they worked during the Polish rule. Gola continued to study at the Polytechnic, and was appointed as a justice of the peace

in the communist regime. In 1941, the war broke out again and Germany invaded Russia. Gola was at the last months of her pregnancy and remained in Lvov. Her husband joined the retreating Russians and all traces of him were lost. Gola, lonely, hungry and hunted, delivered her baby in the basement where she hid from German informers. A short time later she was able to contact her family in Krakow, and they sent a Christian friend to bring her and her baby to Krakow's Jewish quarter. It was in the winter of 1941. The difficult journey and the hardship weakened the young mother. She arrived to Krakow with wounded feet, exhausted and weary, and a critically ill baby who died several days later. The devoted mother, who retired from her political work to take care of her baby, slowly recovered and rejoined the underground. She wrote poems in Hebrew, Yiddish and Polish, and a few of them were published in the “Partisans Book.” In the resistance she was known by the name of “Lidka.”

Krakow's Jews were locked in a ghetto. The Jewish youth, who was educated in various youth movements, united for action. The common destiny united - Aharon (Dolek) Liebeskind, Rivka Kuper, “Justyna” (Gusta Dawidson), Shimshon Draenger (Simek) from the “Akivah,” Heshek [Zvi] Bauminger from “Hashomer Hatzair,” Avraham “Laban” Leibowich from “Dror-Freiheit,” and Gola Mire from the communist party. The fighting group organized acts of sabotage against the Germans. Near Plaszow they derailed a train which carried ammunition to the eastern front. On Christmas 1942, they threw bombs and grenades into restaurants where the Germans celebrated. Gola also contacted ghettos in other cities (including Rzeszów). She was captured at the PPR printing office because of a denunciation, and was sent to Montelupich prison. There, the Gestapo beat her for 14 days and kept her in a dark cell. Gola wasn't broken in spirit. She threw words of scorn at their faces and ended: “your defeat will come soon.”

In May 1943, Gola was taken, together with Justyna and the rest of the members, from the prison for a transfer to Auschwitz. Together with Justyna she organized a mass escape during the “transport.” There were 30 girls in this transport. The girls escaped, but didn't get far because the Germans hunted them. Gola was shot and killed during the escape, and Justyna managed to escape. She operated in the forests together with six members of the ground until she was caught and executed in November 1943. Out of the 30 girls only one managed to stay alive and reach Israel. She is Genia Meltzer Schonefeld from Krakow.

Gola's struggle against the Nazis was also appreciated by the Polish ruling circles. After the defeat of Germany, the Polish government posthumously awarded her its highest decoration for military valor [the Order Virtuti Militari].

The victories of the Germans, their advance to the east, greatly depressed the Poles and even more so the Jews, although they did not remove from their hearts the belief in the final defeat of Hitler. The anxiety increased and grew because of the frequent news about the death of the prisoners being taken to the camps. The anxiety grew, lest the Germans, heady with the victory, would start oppressing and persecuting the two nations they hated, the Poles and the Jews. The fate of the Jews of Rzeszów, in comparison to the fate of the Jews of the villages and small towns, was more difficult, because the Jews of the rural environment had more mobility, and were not under the constant supervision of the occupiers, and due to their poverty, they did not serve as a target for extortion by the Germans. Even the good relations with the Polish surroundings eased the conditions of existence for them, and because of that the Jews of the surroundings were able to offer help to their brothers in the big city.

The Jews in Rzeszów began to accumulate firewood for the winter and the Jews of the provincial towns helped them with this. After a long lull, the third attack, which was to be the last, began on the front. On August 7, 1941, the Germans published in the newspapers with red headlines and triumphal fanfares sensational news about a decisive defeat of the Russian forces: 895 thousand soldiers, 13,145 tanks, 10,348 cannons, 9,082 airplanes were captured. Fear and trembling gripped the people of the town. However, after a while, the intelligent readers calmed down, and especially the Jews with analytical minds, trained by the interpretation of the Talmud, found many contradictions in the newspapers, and concluded from this that the announcements of many victories meant victories on paper, the purpose of which was to raise the “morale” in the German home front. Although the Russian army suffered a defeat, it was still powerful. The Jews and the Poles understood this, but did the Germans also recognize this? Nevertheless, there was some unrest among the Germans.

August 16, 1941. We learned of Roosevelt's statement implying that America would enter the war. The mood was improving, Hitler promised to end the grueling battle in 72 days, and the deadline had already passed. The Jews did not lose their hope that salvation would come, and they started telling jokes and jests among themselves, such as: “A Jew returns from hard work, his eye is swollen, his cheek is injured, his leg is lame. How are you? his friend asks him in fear. Excellent! The Jew answers him. Hitler surrounded himself with sorcerers especially at the beginning of the war against Russia, and here Hitler learned about a Rabbi, Ba'al Mofet (a Tzadik with magical powers). He invited him and they asked angrily: “Who will win the war?" “Achse” (the axis powers), answered the Rabbi. “And who will lose?” “ID” (the Jews) answered the Rabbi. Hitler was happy and yelled at the Rabbi: “You can go”.

The Rabbi returned to his congregation, who were full of curiosity and tension, and told them what Hitler's questions were and what his answer was. The Jews raised a shout and sighed: Rabbi. Rabbi, will Achse win and ID lose? Sha, Sha, the Rabbi calmed down the members of his congregation. As I said, Achse will win, that is – A for America, CH for China, S for the Soviet and E for England; ID will lose – that is – I for Italy and D for Deutschland. The Jewish jokes were common and very successful.

A year has passed since the German attack on the Soviets, the Germans somewhat eased up their pressure on the Jews, except for cases of robbery, kidnappings for work. But against this the Jews defended themselves by giving bribes. In those days Jewish jokes and pranks became very popular. And here is one of them: “Hitler ordered to bring before him once again the above-mentioned Rabbi “Ba'al HaMofet”, and this time entered into a friendly conversation with him on the subject of “Moses' wand. The Rabbi enthusiastically told him about the miracles and wonders that Moses did with his magic wand: He brought water out of the rock, split the Red Sea and passed with his people on land. Hitler was all agitated, and as if by the way asked the Rabbi: “Well, where is the wand today?” And the Rabbi answered with a smile: “The wand is now in the British Museum at London”.

The third year of the war. There were some Jews whoso status was quite well, but most of the Jews lived in dire poverty. Against a background of poverty and degeneration, one could see walking skeletons, wrapped in tattered clothes. The new aristocracy

stood out - the “Judenrat”, these were the businessmen and officials of the congregation, who received unlimited power on behalf of the German “Gestapo”.

The military situation in the East worsened. In mid-August, the Germans began to evacuate the population from towns and villages, and the Jews were the first to be evacuated. The Jews from the town of Rzeszów, that half of its inhabitants were German colonists, who settled in it back in the 18th century, were transferred to G³ogów and Sokolov, and their agricultural property and cattle were confiscated.

August 13. “Good” news. There is a growing hope that the war will come to an end in the spring. The defeat of the Germans will be similar to Napoleon's defeat in Moscow in 1813. The German army is semi-starved. German soldiers openly rob the Jews, rob them of their clothes, watches, and sell them or exchange them for food. A Jew who complains about this leaves beaten, exits by tooth and nail. The officers no longer control their soldiers.

September 24. News arrived of German successes in the east. The economic oppression increased. Burdensome restrictions have been imposed mainly on Jews, and their situation is getting worse. Rumors spread that the Germans were plotting to evict the Poles from the modern part of the town - from 3 of May, Jagilonska, Zamkova streets - and transfer them to a Jewish quarter, and the Jews would be transferred to huts outside the city. Since usually such rumors were proved to be true in the end, the Jews walked around bareheaded and despairing, feeling the danger that awaited them.

During these days, Hungarian battalions passed through Rzeszów to the front, and they showed a friendly attitude towards the Jews.

October 3, 1941. Today, between 9-10, German battalions, who came to rest, arrived from the front and surrounded the town's center. A curfew was declared, and no one was allowed to go out into the street. Fear fell upon mankind, and they fluttered like birds in a trap. Suddenly, German policemen and gendarmes appeared and began their inspection: checking documents, goods, etc., and it immediately became clear what the Germans' purpose was: robbing the Jews. The police broke into the Jewish homes and mercilessly took money, jewelry, furs, shoes, underwear, pillows and blankets, etc., and loaded everything onto carts. Jews, who tried to protect their property, were beaten. The soldiers themselves were passive, as if it was unbecoming for a soldier to participate in such deplorable act.

October 14. Today the Germans again took the bedding from the Jews, to send to the German soldiers, who are freezing in the cold in Russia. Extorting from the Jews at every turn. When a Jew appears on the street and buys something before 11 o'clock, or if he goes out during the day, a German or a local policeman (“granatobi”) immediately catches him and fines him from 5 to 100 zlotys. For a small fine they give a receipt, but if it's a heavy fine, they take it to themselves. The Jews from the town of Kolbushov were put in G³ogów while the expats, who were brought from the west, were transferred to huts in Rzeszów. These people are a threat, and certain death is expected of them.

October 16. The vague prophecy about the imprisonment of the Jews in the ghetto is coming true. Only now are the Jews admitting that they did not believe that this would come true and thought that the ghetto matter was only a threat, for extortion purposes, since in case the Jews refused to pay the fines, they used to threaten to close them in the ghetto. Now the Germans no longer talk about the ghetto and don't demand money. Despite the cold, builders feverishly erect walls and close entrances, open exits, and this is all at the expense of the Jewish community.

Mortality among the Jews, especially among the poor, is high, mainly due to hunger.

Dr. Ihuz has returned to Rzeszów. They are renovating a palace for him on Dombrovsky Street. Changes are being made to the entire street. They carve out and pave, and again the work is done by Jewish boys and girls. In the mud, rain, and cold, they work until they are exhausted, when they are dirty with mud to a speck. Everyone knows that he is an erotomaniac, crazy. When he sees a young Jewish woman, he orders her to be brought before him, so as to punish her for some offense. He usually whips her himself or watches his followers whip her. Everyone is afraid to go to work on this street. With the arrival of Ihuz, accelerated preparations were made for the establishment of the ghetto. Despite that, they say, that the matter was postponed for a while for the payment of a large sum. Life in the shadow of constant fear is nothing but a nightmare, a corridor to hell.

November 1941. The works in the “Ihuz neighborhood” are progressing rapidly. They even paint the shops and the houses; the workers are mostly from the poor - the wealthy are freed for money. When someone remarked to one German, that the poor mostly suffer, and they do not endanger the “Reich”, while the rich evade, the German replied: “their turn will come too”.

Worrying news came from the east. There the Germans conduct a mass slaughter of Jews, supposedly for collaborating with the Soviets. It is said that twelve thousand Jews were killed in Stanis³awów for the murder of a German officer, and thousands of Jews were murdered in Kolomyia. News arrived about the murder of Rzeszów Jews, who were kidnapped for public works. There is crying and mourning among the Jews, the mood is like in a cemetery. Anxiety on the next day. A few days ago, the Germans brought a well-dressed Jew to the forest near the village of Bavitza and shot him. They hung him on a tree and set a sign: “Jew - criminal lawyer”. Isn't this Dr. Bronislav Brauner, a well-known Jewish lawyer, who returned to Rzeszów from Lviv in an illegal way?

Autumn. A typical Polish autumn. It was precisely in this season that Ihuz felt like starting public works, after they had done nothing during the summer months. He creates torture for humans! It seems that he does this on purpose, to torture them. Ihuz gave the order to re-dig Atmanska Street. There are quite a few lunatics like Dr. Ihuz among the German rulers.

November 11. After the Jews were evicted from their apartments in the town's center, many families moved to Orzshkova Street. There they felt to a certain extent at ease, because they disappeared from the sight of their pursuers, and they had the opportunity to establish trade relations and buy food needs, since the street is located in the middle of the town on the east side. And now rumors spread that they would be moved from this area.

A few weeks ago, even before Ihuz returned, the Jews paid a sum of 30,000 zlotys, to postpone the imprisonment of the Jews in the ghetto until spring. However, Ihuz broke the promise, and announced that the works were getting closer and closer to completion.

November 14. Exciting news arrived about the losses of the Germans at the front, at the gates of Moscow. The Poles are happy. Trains full of frozen soldiers pass through Rzeszów to the west. Only the Jews cannot rejoice. The nightmare of being imprisoned in the ghetto haunts them. The terrible day is getting closer and there is no escape.

The houses in the “rink” (the town's square) were divided into a Jewish side and an “Aryan” side. The ghetto area is surrounded by high walls, here and there, there are gates left in them. Several families are pushed into one room, and there begins the fight for a place inside the room. Many are happy if they find a place for a bed. Some sell their furniture for half price, and if there are no buyers - they abandon them, and then the municipality takes it. Anyone observing these actions from the outside sees clearly that the goal is to destroy and kill the Jews, and before destroying them - to humiliate them, to subject them to sadistic torture. It seems that torturing a Jew is a mental need for the Germans. When you speak with a Jew, you hear from him that he only asks God to be able to endure and live until the spring, and then the defeat of the Germans will come, but it is doubtful whether he will live until then - he concludes sadly. Troubles always come together: the frost has hit the potatoes and hunger is at the door.

November 17. The fate of the ghetto is on the line: the Jews are once again trying to postpone their imprisonment in the ghetto with money. It turns out that the Jews had a supporter. It was the commissar of the municipality, Dr. Hiller, a resident of Vienna. He was neither anti-Semitic nor anti-Hitlerist and did not submit to the governor. As a typical Viennese, he loved a merry life, amusements, and the Jews received an attentive ear from him. When Dr. Ihuz, a cruel Jews hater, learned of this, Dr. Hiller was forced, according to his recommendation, to leave Rzeszów. Even the garrison commander could cancel the decree of establishing the ghetto, because the main transportation road from east to west passed through the ghetto. Even the Jews who housed army officers in their apartments were also ordered to move to the Jewish quarter. The running around began. Everyone began to panic and buy groceries. At the corner of Stary Rynek, the old square next to Mickiewicz Street, and on Galenzewski Street, next to the new square, Nowy Rynek, giant gates have been erected, that will be open day and night for the transport of the army, and for that purpose, guards were placed there. The military headquarters opposed to the establishment of the ghetto in the middle of the transportation road. The deputy commander especially opposed to it, since the commander himself was on vacation, and Mr. Soltner, who was in charge of Jewish affairs in the municipality of the town and was probably bribed with a considerable amount, also opposed to it.

A serious conflict broke out between the army commander and Dr. Ihuz, but Dr. Ihuz won: the deputy commander of the army and Mr. Soltner were transferred from Rzeszów, and the commander himself was later forced to leave the town. Only one Jewish woman remained outside the ghetto, with whom the commander lived and with whom he left his portfolio of papers and scientific research for safekeeping. A final meeting in the matter of the ghetto was scheduled for the 18th of the month, and the Jews waited for this date, as if it was a life-or-death verdict.

November 20. At this meeting, a big fight broke out between the Germans. The Jews learned about it from their supporters. But there was no consolation for the Jews, as the date of incarceration in the ghetto was set there: December 29. The Jews started selling everything they own and buying food.

On November 24, a farewell dinner was held for Dr. Hiller and Soltner, in the presence of Dr. Ihuz, who gave a speech full of irony in their honor. Dr. Hiller, a man of culture, thanked the Polish officials for their cooperation.

November 29. The ghetto has not yet been closed. It is said that between Ihuz and the military commander things came to a serious conflict, and perhaps this is the reason why the ghetto gates have not yet been locked.

The Germans are cold in Russia, and once again they brutally confiscating from the Jews bedding, blankets, etc., and leaving with them dirty coverings. The sanitary conditions in the ghetto are terrible, but this does not worry the members of the “supreme race”.

December 6. The closing date of the ghetto has not yet been determined. Again, they are talking about bribery, and that the matter will be postponed until the spring.

December 9. Companies of Jewish working women arrived to clear the snow that covered the roads. Beautiful Jewish girls, tastefully dressed. The Germans looked with a smile at this spectacle.

December 16. In the morning, a German policeman stopped a wagon going to Tichin. In the wagon sat a Jewish woman with a package of food. The policeman took the Jewish woman down, shot her and killed her immediately. That afternoon, a German soldier transported a duck across the Wis³ok River. The boat capsized and the soldier drowned. The Jews said that this was a punishment from heaven for killing the Jewess from Tichin.

December 18. Today there is a rumor that the ghetto will be closed only to Jews, non-Jews will be able to enter. A Jewish orderly service (Yidishar Ardnungs Dinst) was established, that is, Jewish police.

December 21. Tonight, the ghetto is closed, the “Aryans” get permits to pass through the ghetto, it is closed only to Jews.

Upon entering Rzeszów on September 9, 1939, the Germans attacked early in the morning. There were two main synagogues in the town, one in the old town from the beginning of the 17th century, the other from the 18th century in the new town. (By the way, the Jews mistakenly believed that the new preceded the old and that it is six hundred years old). For several days the Germans destroyed and ruined everything that was inside the synagogues, which had been created over the generations. Precious and ancient sacred vessels, which the Jews had guarded with devotion for generations, were lost: candlesticks, chandeliers, Torah decorations, silver and gold vessels, masterpieces of marvelous art - all these were looted as spoils of war. The buildings were turned into stables, and as the front moved away - into warehouses.

The two main buildings changed their original shape over the generations by adding buildings of various charitable and artistic societies (the synagogue of the tailors, the porters, clerks, etc.), as a result the style of the building changed, which expanded and reached Mitskevitch St.

Another sub-building in the narrow passage from Mitskevitch St. to Zaromsky St. was completely destroyed in the fall of 1939. Other buildings that reached up to Mitskevitch St. (Beit Midrash, Kloise) were destroyed in the fall of 1940 and in the fall of 1941. The main part of the original synagogue with an additional ancient building has been preserved to this day.

With the expulsion of the Jews in the summer of 1942, a furniture warehouse was arranged in the old synagogue.

Before their retreat, the Germans burned the new synagogue where expensive furniture sets were found. During the fire, the ceiling collapsed, the walls cracked and the magnificent building became a ruin. The old synagogue was preserved, and it is possible to repair and renew it in its original form.

The aforementioned synagogues were bordered by two ancient cemeteries, which extended outside the city limits and over time were found in the center of the town, on both sides of Sobieski Street, by Zhorumski St. and Kopernik St. These cemeteries were surrounded by high walls, and their tall and ancient trees and their dense bushes served as lungs for the town - a green field for breathing. In this part of the town, in the oldest cemetery, were tombstones from the 16th century, from the beginning of Jewish settlement in the town.

Back in the fall of 1939, the walls were destroyed. In the most severe winter, the trees were cut down for heating, and the tombstones were destroyed and used for road repair and other purposes. In 1940, the area was plowed and was used as a garbage dump in the summer and for placing the piles of snow collected on the town's streets in the winter. The Jews were brought to this area in the summer of 1942, arranged in rows and groups and led to extermination. There they also robbed them of all the money and belongings they had left. Many tombstones, arranged in piles, remained in the ghetto as early as the summer of 1942, but later they were completely destroyed.

A similar fate befell the last new cemetery (Na Czekaj) “on the Tzikai”. There they still buried in mass graves until the end of 1943, until the liquidation of the ghetto and the Jewish settlement, first the deceased and later the murdered and at a certain time the Gypsies as well.

By the old synagogue, which was used in the 17th century, according to the town's defense method, as a kind of fortress with fortifications in the northwestern sector of the town - there were towers for mortars and shooting portholes - there was a small cemetery adjacent, in the form of a mound surrounded by fortifications. Here were buried only rabbis and their families. Since it was forbidden according to Jewish law to move a cemetery to another place, this small cemetery was covered with an additional layer of soil, and with the addition of a “floor”, it became possible to bury the dignitaries of the community.

In the summer of 1943, the remnants of the Jews in the town had to destroy the mound, remove the additional layers of soil from it and lower it to the level of the adjacent area. The soil was moved to fill a dent in a square where there was an old cemetery. Then they discovered steps leading to defensive towers, and it turned out that this mound was part of the town's fortification wall and served, together with the right bank of the Mikushka River, as part of the town's fortifications. The remains of the wall that was built to protect the town were turned into a cemetery in the 18th century, since this method of defense was already obsolescent by then. During the excavations, tombstones of rabbis and their families from the 18th century were taken out and some of them were preserved and were brought to the Rzeszów Museum in 1947.

(From the booklet: History of Rzeszów in the years 1939-44).

In a miraculous way, fate - Hymanistan, the manager of the museum during the Nazi occupation - placed me in an unexpected role. I became a “position” (“Platsovka”) manager. The Jews used to call a place of forced labor “Platsovka”, which was usually outside the walls of the ghetto. These “positions” were usually bad places to work, especially when the managers were Germans. But there were also exceptions here and there. The bad places were where the managers didn't care about the work, the produce, but mainly intended to abuse, torture, beat, etc., as it was common among Hitler's soldiers, who were obsessed with hate and madness. There were also relatively good “positions”, especially when they were managed by Poles, and especially by the residents of Rzeszów. My “Platsovka” was considered very good. Its place was, starting in the winter of 1940, in the museum, in the house of Yare family – a wealthy family who lived in the old Rink (square), at house number 8. This was after the museum's exhibits were thrown from its building, which was confiscated by the government to be used as a military hospital. The city commissar was, starting in 1940, an Austrian named Pavlo, the brother of the commissar in Krakow, who became famous at the time for the assassination of the Austrian chancellor Dolphus. This Pavlo was a German Ruthenian, and we often spoke in a Slavic language. Coincidentally, during the First World War, the father of the two Pavlo brothers served as a sergeant major in the infantry regiment number 89 in Rzeszów. The young Pavlo would visit his father in Rzeszów and he remembered the town from those days, and hence his “sympathy” for this town. He therefore wanted to “repay” our town and ordered to renovate the destroyed house and turn it into a museum. The renovation work proceeded lazily and ended with the end of the occupation. The collection – claimed Pavlo – was actually “ancient German”, the fruit of the German spirit.

There were two types of work in the museum: hard work in renovation and building, and easier professional work. Male professionals were sent for building work, and the work in the museum, which also included arrangements and cleaning, was mainly given to those with “protection”, and this is where the story actually begins.

Among those engaged in hard work was one worker named Shimon Landesman, a resident of Krachkova, a village near Lanzot. He also worked in the establishment of the ghetto in Rzeszów. He was a rare type of real Jewish farmer, who worked his land with his own hands, milked his cows, and provided the milk and its products, which were perfectly kosher, to Orthodox Jewish families in Rzeszów.

This Shimon was a diligent, quiet and silent man and always used to hum a sad song to himself. I wanted to make him talk so I said to him: “Sir, you are probably in a good mood”, but I was surprised by his answer. “When does a Jew sing? When he's hungry”. This answer touched my heart and I started getting closer to this interesting person. He was bothered by one worry, moreover –

a nightmare: the fear for the fate of his only daughter. I helped him in getting food for her. To this day I keep the “memento” he gave me. He only asked for one thing for himself: to set aside for him a quiet corner where he could pray without interruption every morning. I let him use my office and there he prayed persistently.

Women, including young girls, were sent to cleaning and other works in the museum. According to my request, seamstresses were also sent, who cleaned and repaired damaged exhibits. I remember a few names of young Jewish women: Perstendig, Giza Graf, Miriam Hertz, a young woman who took the matriculation exams in June 1939, excelled in Calligraphic handwriting and wrote down the names of the exhibits in the catalog. This book in her handwriting is kept with us to this day.

After the first “shipments” of the Jews in June 1942, intense arguments took place among the members of “my” team, with true Jewish fervor. Among the workers were those who had identity cards marked with the “Red stamp”, which gave them the right to stay in the ghetto. Among them were young people with different views: Zionists, members of Agudath Israel, the Mizrachi, etc., and also communists. The arguments became heated, the eyes sparkled, shining like the blade of a knife. They spoke Polish, Yiddish and other languages. The topic of the argument was how to fix the world after this terrible war, how to change it… It was possible to manage such arguments because the work was carried out in a closed building, which we also locked, for fear of an escape, so to speak. To be more careful, one of the workers stood as a guard by the window to see if any Germans were approaching.

Landesman would also listen to these arguments without stopping his work. Once, I remember, he casually turned to the arguers and said in a quiet, deep and serious voice: “O fools, fools! You are changing the face of the world here, and I tell you, not one of you will get out alive, the Germans will kill all of us, including my daughter”. And in the end of his words, he said a Hebrew verse from the Torah or the Talmud as Landesman was a wise Torah scholar. The arguers answered him angrily, but he didn't reply anymore and continued to work quietly in fixing the floor. Once, after one of the “shipments”, Landesman didn't come to work anymore. After that I learned the reason: his wife and his 14-year-old daughter were destined to be sent in the next “shipment”, and he joined them out of his own good will as he did not want to be parted from his loved ones, even though he knew where they were going.

The ghetto shrank from time to time. People were needed for work. The Germans took those who remained alive to different places of work (“Platsovka”). It was now difficult to avoid work by paying a ransom. Everyone tried to get an easier job. The nature of a place of work and its value changed alternately. A workplace was valuable if it was possible to obtain food there in exchange for “rags” and worn-out clothes, and bring it to the family in the ghetto. Bribery spread out as if it was an epidemic and only the “wealthy”, who managed to hide something from their possessions, managed to buy some food, while the poor suffered the most because they could not bribe the guards. The bribes were handed over to the Jewish “ushers” and directly to the Germans. The Germans mainly craved for coffee, and would pay high sums for it. In those days, only those who were able to bribe worked at the museum, and these were, mainly, residents of Rzeszów, since those deported from other cities and from all parts of the German occupation were already destitute and had no money nor possession. Among the “privileged” were the relatives of the Judenrat members. The museum was then considered the best “Platsovka” due to the following reasons:

After the confiscation of the textile goods and their transfer to Germany, a “hunting” on pieces of clothing and fabrics and all kinds of “rags” has begun. The barter business flourished in this industry and food was given in exchange for clothing. The main entrance to the museum was from the side of the rink. The building was narrow, but very “deep”, and the windows faced the side of the ghetto on Casimir the Great Street. It is surprising that the Germans did not notice this fact. Jewish companies left the ghetto for work through the gate on Garnzarska Street, in the direction of the Jewish Hospital on King Leszczynski Street. However, the Germans used the entrance gate on Mickiewicz Street. At the entrance and exit of the ghetto, the inspectors executed a precise inspection, the severity of which depended on the inspectors. If someone smuggled an illegal object into the ghetto, and this was discovered, he would face the death penalty - even for smuggling a few potatoes - at best he would be punished with flogging and the goods was confiscated. In this respect, the Museum was the best “Platsovka”. No one brought anything in or took anything out of the museum, for a simple reason: as the manager of the Museum, I had to go every morning to the “magistrate”, to arrange various official matters. I purposely extended my stay there, knowing that nearby a few women were waiting, and among them was a “hidden” Jewess from Kalish, to sneak into the long, dark corridor, where a barter business was going on at lightning speed. Where did the food and clothes come from?

I mentioned that the rear windows of the building faced the side of the ghetto. After the work company would arrive at the museum escorted by a Jewish policeman, early in the morning, I had to be there to let the workers into the building. Immediately the people would rush and pull in buckets through the windows pieces of clothing and in this way, food also reached the ghetto. Well-kept in my mind is the image of Mrs. Helfer (Frau Helfer), as the Germans called her, a mother of many children, who would bribe them with coffee. She bribed the German woman, the magistrate's clerk, with silk stockings. This was the reason why she was not harmed for a long time and was even able to get her son to work in the museum. This woman excelled in her intelligence and special wit.

Something happened once, which could have put an end to the museum, to me, and to “my” staff. One evening, after work, a car approached my house, and the Ukrainian official who got out of it brought an order from the commissar, that I must hurry with the keys to the museum building. I was very surprised. We didn't go straight to the museum, but to the fire fighters' station and there Pavlo entered the car. We went to the museum together and there I found some inspectors. Pavlo demanded that I give him all the keys and explain what each key was for. He locked the main door at the front of the building and ordered me to wait in the hallway under the guard of one of the supervisors. Fear gripped me. The inspector, who was a good friend of mine, did not know what was going on here, but it was clear to him that the matter was related to the Jews. After a long time, Pavlo returned with the inspectors. I heard several sentences in German, which he uttered in a screaming voice, which included also

the horrible word “Auschwitz”. My heart sank and I began to ask in Polish what he was upset about and what the matter was. “Speak German!” screamed the commissar. I addressed him in broken German. Finally, he claimed that I was hiding Jews and that Jewish objects were found here. I calmed down. I immediately understood what the German meant. Young Jewish women, who knew of my propensity for collecting, would pass me from time to time, through the window, “Judaica” objects and thus we accumulated a considerable collection in the museum. I therefore explained to the commissar that we received the exhibits in an official manner and some of them even belong to the previous tenants, who were evicted from their homes.

After Pavlo calmed down, he ordered all the “Jewish” exhibits to be destroyed. Suddenly he turned to me and said that I should go. I commented that during the curfew hours I might encounter unpleasantness. He ordered me to be driven. I returned home, but I was afraid of what could happen in the next day. The next day I had to break all the “Judaica” exhibits, and the collector in me sobbed quietly.

The young women came, as usual, to work, and immediately saw the destruction of the museum exhibits. The traces of the searches, which had been meticulously executed, were visible everywhere. After a while it became clear that at the time when only a few hundred of the 24,000 souls who lived in the ghetto when it was opened in the spring of 1942 survived, someone tipped off that there were Jews hiding in the museum. Pavlo searched for those hiding with the help of inspectors, and not with the help of Germans, because he was not sure if the whistle-blowing was true. However, there was actually truth in the whistle-blowing: Jews were indeed hiding in the museum. The back door of the building opened straight to the ghetto. One Jewish locksmith secretly made keys, and a group of Jews would hide there, whenever they noticed or sensed that the Germans were preparing an “Aktziya” at night. Through this back door they entered the museum to seek shelter. Apparently, it was a quiet night in the ghetto that night, and Jews did not come to hide in the museum, and the door was well locked.

Pavlo vented all his anger on the 17^th century, beautifully decorated tombstones, which were dug up and removed from the ancient cemetery that was next to the old synagogue, which served as a defensive fortress for the town. According to the tradition, only rabbis and their household members were buried in this cemetery. One Jew, who worked at the museum, read the inscription on one of the tombstones: “Here is buried a modest, innocent and honest woman, the noble Mirel, the daughter of Rabbi Chaim”. This ruined tombstone is in the museum along with others left from the ancient cemetery in Rzeszów.

D. The Catacombs of Rzeszów^[a]
(How Jews disappeared the day before the liquidation of the ghetto)

On January 9, 1944, the wretched remnants of the “Gross Deutschland” armored division arrived in Rzeszów, along with many Ukrainian nationalists and other traitors. Around the city were walking “German Cossacks” in German uniforms, wearing Cossack fur hats, German citizens who fled from the east. The ghetto area was narrowed again; within a few hours, many Poles were ordered to leave their apartments and move to destroyed houses.

And once again German poison propaganda was ignited against the handful of unfortunate and desperate Jews who still remained in the ghetto. They were held responsible for the downfall of the Germans. With murderous lust they searched for the last of those hiding, and those found were murdered along with their hiders.

At the beginning of February 1944, the Germans organized a foolish and boorish anti-Jewish exhibition on the topic of the “Jewish plague in the world” in the Old City Square. They invested a lot of money, materials and a lot of effort in this exhibition. The exhibition opened with an exaggerated ceremony. Thousands of Poles were brought to the place. The Jews were aware of the seriousness of the situation and the expected danger and they fled in groups. Sometimes one of the fugitives was caught, but the majority have disappeared as if they were “not seen”.

On the 13^th of February, the Jewish ghetto was completely liquidated. The German taskmaster, Dr. Hans Heinz, a senior officer in the State Security Service, hung a table above the Hitlerian eagle, which was perched on the tower of the fortress, with the inscription “Rzeszów is free of Jews”. They brutally separated the handful of women, sisters and girls who remained and the men. The women were transferred to Pleshov, the men to Stalowa Wola. The weak were shot on the way, and only a few arrived at the camps.

After the liquidation of the ghetto, the German government ordered to quickly restore the abandoned Jewish homes, as there was a great lack of apartments.

On February 24, rumors suddenly spread in the city that a hiding place containing many Jews had been discovered. The rumors rattled the nerves, and because of the tragedy it is possible to reconstruct the course of events. It was known that the ancient cellars in Rzeszów were dug in the form of tunnels. And these tunnels continued beyond the foundations of the houses, especially in the town square. The pits, which were dug in different layers, one on top of the other, reached several meters below the square. Under the pressure of a very heavy vehicle, which passed on the square road during the war, the ground collapsed above the pits, which also caused the collapse of several houses.

A few years before World War II, when water pipes were laid, a deep trench was dug, and during the sewer works in the northern part of the old city, which cut off and closed the line of

pits under the square and the pits openings by the houses, they blocked the detached cellars with a brick wall, thus eliminating access to them. The Gestapo and the German police, who conducted thorough searches of Jewish cellars, did not know that behind these walls there was a whole system of tunnels. However, the Jews, the owners of the houses and their tenants, knew about it. After the shock and astonishment that passed over the Jews after the sudden Aktziya acts, and after the mass deportations in 1942 and early 1943, those who were allowed to wander in the ghetto thought to use these catacombs as a hiding place. A suitable entrance to these tunnels was found in the cellar of a pharmacy, at the corner of the square and Mickevitch Street. The work to install the hideout was done at night and very carefully. The pits were connected by small passageways, thus creating a complete system of cellars. Amounts of water were stored in barrels, a lot of food, gasoline and oil for cooking and the like. They also installed an exit opening from the cellars beyond the ghetto, under a destroyed house, on the south side of the square.

With the help of one of the inspectors of the square, Michael Stashiuk, those in hiding maintained contact with the outside world. Stashiuk provided them with food and information about what was happening in the world.

And here is a story of one of the builders, who were busy restoring the houses: “We worked in the cellar below the pharmacy. From one of the holes, we smelled carbide, which made us feel dizzy. We decided to look, there, as we were hoping to find a supply of carbide, which was then a very desirable fuel. Suddenly we saw a wall that had been erected a short time ago, since the cement was still wet. Since we had heard a lot about Jewish treasures being hidden, some of the workers began to tear down the wall. When they removed a row of bricks, a layer of yellow cement was discovered. One of the workers tapped with an iron rod on this layer, and the rod penetrated easily through the layer. At that moment, a murmur of muffled voices reached our ears, as if from underground. The pole rose, as if someone had pushed it back up. When the worker pushed the rod down again, someone pushed it back up again.

Horror and fear gripped us… a minute later we all ran away, as if we were ordered to do so. A rumor spread among the many workers that there was “someone” in the cellar…

The Jews, who lived in the catacombs, were tortured and frightened, they could not hold on, their nerves completely collapsed. In the evening of that day, the guards of the train station arrested a Jewish woman who was about to buy a ticket. After severe and cruel torture, the woman revealed to her tormentors the hiding place and also said that some of the hiding left the hiding place and escaped. A total of thirty-five Jews were found there. A fascist Ukrainian policeman noticed a man walking by the cemetery, a well-known Jew from Rzeszów. The policeman who wanted to arrest him was shot with a gun and the shooter escaped. One of the fleeing Jews was shot to death in the vicinity of Kopernik Street. That night a manhunt was held around the city and eight people were arrested. Only the next day did the Germans “attack” the exit opening from the catacombs. Then the unfortunates, who still remained in hiding, were forced to go out through the opening to the square and there they fell into the hands of the murderers.

On the morning of February 25, one of the blue police^[b] came to Stashiuk's house, where fifteen Jews were hiding. They asked and begged the policeman to leave them and not hand them over to the Gestapo. But all the requests and pleas were in vain, the policeman ordered them to line up in two lines and walk with him. But the Jews, knowing that there was nothing to lose, fled, scattering everywhere. Some were captured and some were saved.

In the bunker that was “captured” by the Germans, a large amount of food was found, which was enough to sustain the “cave dwellers” for several months until liberation. It turned out that many of them hid there for about six months, and that's how the mystery of the disappearance of many Jews from the ghetto became clear.

Since the Germans were not able to catch all the escapees from the bunker, they believed that some of the Jews were hiding in pits and bunkers dug in deeper layers of soil. Fearing that there might be weapons in the hands of the hiding Jews, those “heroes” decided to murder defenseless people, and not to risk themselves by penetrating into the depths of the hiding places. They blocked all the openings and inserted a lot of thick smoke into the catacombs. Then they checked the cellars next to the “catacombs” to see if the smoke was not coming out through openings or cracks. When they realized that the smoke that was inserted was not escaping through openings or cracks, they inserted gas. However, according to Mrs. Victoria Stasiuk, the widow of Michael Stasiuk, who was shot to death by the Gestapo for helping the Jews, there was not a single Jew there.

Everyone ran away, and those who were caught were murdered. The survivors who were hiding in other places did not forget the widow and informed her in every way of their safety. And so, a large part of the inhabitants of the catacombs was saved, especially the young and strongest among them.