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[Page 316]
On November 1, 1942, the bitter order came that all Jews must, on the following day, Sunday, leave Ciechanow. The tumult was great, not only on the part of the Jews but also on the part of the Germans, because all the Jews were working for them and they had no one to fill these vacancies. The Germans started to intervene with the higher powers to postpone the evacuation for another few days. Apparently this appeal was effective. A second order was issued stating that we remain until November 6.
On Tuesday, November 4, 1942, eighteen hundred Jews were expelled from Ciechanow. They were divided into two groups: those capable of work and those not. The first group, those capable of working, were lined up in rows of one hundred, each hundred with an elder who was responsible for them.
The following morning, Friday, the remaining Jews assembled in the castle. Young and old gathered there. There the Germans selected older people, men and women. They were lined up against the wall and shot. Amongst them was the religious leader of Ciechanow. The rest of the people were put on wagons and dispatched to the Mlawa ghetto.
My family and I were in the second group that left Ciechanow. It was already quiet in the street. Nobody was seen -- no Jews Poles. I left the city forever, the place where I had lived most of my life.
According to what I know, the first group was sent to Auschwitz and the second group to Treblinka. I managed to avoid the gas chamber and I was sent from lager to lager.
[Page 317]
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[Page 319]
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[Page 320]
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[Page 321]
Monday, April 30, 1945 will always remain a day of remembrance for me and for all those who were liberated that day, a day for which we had waited so long.
When I realized that I am actually free, I started to try to figure out where in the world I stand, whom have I lost. I saw my loneliness and those whom I had lost forever.
In that great khurban I lost my most beloved and dearest. I won't let your memory be forgotten. I will guard your memory as long as I live. When I write these lines I picture everyone. The tragic events have not faded from my memory. I still live with them even though I'm in America ten years now and I'm not bad off. But my present good life cannot wipe from my mind those tragic events which we Jews endured. May the bright memory of our homes in the old country, and that of our dear relatives and friends who perished in the name of Kiddush Hashem, never be forgotten by us.
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Ciechanow,
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