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January
7, 1942
The
Community in the morning. To Auerswald afterwards. I suggested
that he approach the higher authorities and request the
release of the condemned men [in the Jewish prison]. It would
be recompense for the furs that were supplied. I emphasized
that I had asked for an additional food ration on those
grounds, but that I would rather do without the food if there
were a chance of saving so many people. I added that
ordinarily the chain of official command runs from the
Commissar to the Governor and from him to the Governor
General. The Commissar replied that only the governor had the
authority to order persons released. I therefore asked him in
the name of humanity he submit a suitable proposal that he
would raise the matter of those condemned with the Governor.
I
read the following in Zeromski's "Popioly."*
"Have not I too under my command ruffians, strong-arm men
and murderers? And still I watch over them and prize them, for
they know more than others...they are the very ones able to
rescue us from the danger in case of attack." These were
the words of Captain Wyganowski.
In
the afternoon three men of the Schutzpolizei (Police)
appeared in my office, headed by a Lieutenant of the Gettowache
(Ghetto Patrol), with machine-guns at the ready. They asked
whether I was the person who had telephoned to them about an
alleged attack by Poles on Jews in the ghetto. I told them
that I knew nothing about it.
It
is impossible to buy a calendar either in the ghetto or
outside. I have been obliged to make a calendar for myself.
May
15, 1942
The
Community in the morning. At home we expected the film crew at
8:30.** I asked them to hire some men and women for the film,
to play parts in front of the camera.
They
came at 8:45 and went on shooting until 12:30. They hung a
signboard on the door with some inscription on it. They
brought two women and some kind of "lover" to the
apartment. Also an elderly Jew. They filmed a scene.
In
town the rumors about deportations continue. People speak of
tens of thousands. To work according to plan under such
conditions is remarkable. Nevertheless we do the job day by
day. I always go back to what Dickens wrote: "A watch is
not wound with tears."
In
the afternoon the film people took pictures in the bedroom of
the neighbors, the Zabludowski family. They brought in some
woman who made up her face in front of the mirror.
...While
they were making the film in my home they picked up an old Jew
with a fine beard in the street. He sat in my apartment for
several hours, but in the end they made no use of his
photogenic qualities. I can just imagine what happened when he
got home and tried to explain to his wife that he had earned
no money because he had spent three hours being a
"star"....
A.
Czerniakow, Yoman Getto Varsha ("Warsaw Ghetto
Diary") September 6, 1939-July 23, 1942, edited by
N. Blumental, A. Tartakower, N. Eck, J. Kermish, Jerusalem,
19592, pp. 257, 297-298. (English version: The
Warsaw Diary of Adam Czerniakow, edited by R. Hilberg, S.
Staron, J. Kermish, New York, 1979.)
*
Popioly "Ashes."
**
The reference is to a German film crew that arrived in Warsaw
to make a film of the ghetto. |
