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The German took a skinny weak horse and gave it to the Jew, saying "Well, Jew, here's a better horse." The Germans then left. The Jew harnessed up this old horse and his family got into the wagon. But since they realized the Germans wouldn't give them another horse, they just left the wagon, and each member of the family took what he could and continued by foot.

        [Photo:] The Germans confiscating cows and horses from the local population during World War I.

        When we got out of the trenches everyone ran over to the peasants' house and moved in. They didn't find anything to eat: whoever had some food had something to eat, and whoever didn't had nothing, and went hungry. Whoever had some bread felt very lucky – just like Robinson Crusoe on the deserted island. Everything had to be made from scratch. The peasants had already brought grain into the barns, and we had the opportunity to use it to make bread, until the Germans, who stood with their wagons, were able to take away everything they could find, using the barns for their horses. We all then went off to the nearby villages, threshed the grain and brought it back to town.

        These were days when everybody was out for himself. Sometimes the Germans would grab some item that someone had dug up, and sometimes one Jew would even do the same to another. We also saw the true faces of some people who wore a mask until life started getting back to normal.

        Those times were also auspicious for cholera outbreaks. Small children, adults and families died in every dark corner without any assistance whatsoever. The German doctor didn't even bother to continue to register the deaths.

        During the Jewish holidays we would have to sneak out of synagogue after services to go home, since the Germans grabbed any hungry person to dig graves and bury horses who died, as well as other types of work. They didn't pay any money, and demanded the people to work for free. People would never even dare to ask why they should be forced to work this way, since they valued their lives.

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H.

Jewish Officials

        In the evening, around sunset, bats always come out and fly around in the darkness; it was the same for us Jews. The Jewish officials would turn up and fly around in the dark, so to speak, feeling very much at home. They hoped that the night would never end. The poor Jewish residents had alot to put up with, with those "officials" who were used by the Germans to squeeze blood out of the Jews.

        Jews were actually more scared of the Jewish officials than of the non-Jews. If a person ever fell into the clutches of the Jewish officials, he could never get rid of them. This situation occurred in Drohitchin too. Whenever the residents dared to protest against those who took power, the latter responded that they were powerless in the face of all the pressure, because the German authorities supported all the lowlifes who were of great use to them. The following incident is an illustration that I witnessed myself.

        It happened on one Sabbath. Everyone was agitated, and went to a meeting to protest against those were taking over, and they asked the commander to allow them to elect a mayor. As usual, everyone made their claims and came to agreements. Thereafter, we began the afternoon Minchah prayer services. Even before the end of the service, a German sergeant came into the house and started yelling, "What kind of meeting is this?" He immediately started striking people over the head with a cane, and didn't even spare old men. Everyone just barely managed to get out of there in time, and never again were there any protests against the mayor. We just kept quiet and put up with him.

[photo:] First row, from right: Rachel Epstein, Hershenhaus, Chana Greenstein, Beila Milner, Naomi Wasserman. Second row: Esther Goldberg, Chaytshe Andrinovsky, Slonimsky, Valevelsky, Yentel Wasserman, Schwartz. Third row: Kobrinsky, Baum and others.

I.

The Iron Hand of the German Authorities

        The Germans made order in town, and commanders were assigned throughout the occupied area, and the residents were under the authority of these commanders, and the occupied areas were divided up into various administrative district. Each commander did whatever he wanted. If he was a good person, he worked like a good person. If, however, he was a tyrant, he behaved tyrannically, and no one could level any accusations against him.

        The locale closest to the administrative authorities was referred to as the administrator's territory, and the commanders in those areas enjoyed unlimited power over the civilian population. They could use people for any kind of work without compensation. Therefore, the commander wanted to make sure that the population never went hungry and that they had food supplies. The situation wasn't as good in places further away from the front.

        The concern wasn't the same everywhere, and depended on the discretion of the commander. If he was good, the people lived pretty well, and if he was bad, he took everything away and gave it to whomever he wanted, according to the German system. If someone had 40 pounds of rye put away, he had to have hidden it very well. Discipline in the administrative centers was much stricter than in other areas. As soon as nightfall arrived, everybody had to remain at home. Lamps had to be extinguished at the prescribed time. Movement between administrative districts could only take place with a permit, and with a military escort. If someone wanted to come into town to shop, he had to first get a travel permit from the commander. This meant that a person had to know his reasons for traveling ahead of time, such as going to a doctor, buying shoes, other things, etc. When the commander was in a good mood, he gave out the permit together with a military escort (the permit was at most only

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