Chaim Prinzental
Today, October 3 [should read September] 1942, it is exactly two weeks since the
horrible slaughter in Luck and its surroundings. For two gruesome weeks we - a few
Jews who had succeeded in escaping from Luck at the very last moment - have been
roaming about without sleeping at night, since death threatens us every moment. Out
of the forest and back into the forest. We have become forest men. It happens that for
two or even three days we are without a piece of bread, a drop of water. Our eyes are
no longer able to shed tears. The heart burns with pain, there is a pressure so strong as
to break it, and there is no help. We are all condemned to death.
Chaim Prinzental
My dear son David - God knows if he is still alive - your mother was like a dove when
they led her to the slaughter. I did not witness this with my own eyes; to my great pain
and despair fate willed that I should abandon my dear wife and son and escape alone
like a coward. However they are in a better position now than I am, they have already
gone through what they had to, and every moment I expect to be caught. I am sitting
in a dug-out in the forest where your grandfather used to live and I am writing both of
you a farewell letter. Maybe fate will not be so cruel after all and, when the war is
over, you will receive it by mail with the help of a goodhearted Gentile. Thus, I
embrace both of you - you and your wife - and I send you my fatherly blessing before
my death.
Your unfortunate father H.P
September 13, 1939
It is hard to get bread; Jews are driven away from all the “queues.” They are
seized, hauled off to labor, and beaten to a pulp. Hell has caught fire. Gangs
of hooligans pounce on Jewish shops; looters plunder with impunity. Fewer
Jews are visible in the streets; my father and brothers never venture out.
Every knock on the door is terrifying; the slightest noise freezes the blood in
our veins. Violent feelings rage within me... What more will this day bring?
Shrieks, terror, blows, abductions, imprisonment, messengers, humiliation and
disgrace, posters with laws - a sea of posters, white, green, red, yellow, new
ones each day, but always with the same message: Jews are forbidden... to
buy, sell, study, pray, gather, eat, etc., a string of prohibitions with no end!
Would that the night would never end, that we could have some peace, some
balm for the tumult in our hearts...
Dr. David Wdowinski
"I am sad. Everything saddens me. The general situation of the Jews, the
attitude of our American 'liberators', the great tragedy of our people, my
individual tragedy, an uprooted man, a miserable shade, a man with no
shadow... how enormous is each person's own tragedy. Especially if one is
sensitive. How does it feel to bear all the burden, all the great sorrow, the
endless pain? There is no past, no present, no future, rootless, with no
shadow. Terrible, terrible, with no future, no hope. Justice and revenge.
Justice! Justice? Where? A world of evil, a world of violence, falsehood,
falsehood, deceit. How huge is our disappointment! There is no God, no
justice, no honesty! There is nothing, everything is false, everything."
Hersh Wasser
Thursday, February 6, 1941
A new decree for Warsaw city. Offices may function 8.30 to 17.00, open local
shops and businesses until 18.00, steps which are seen as the gradual
introduction of a state of siege. The decree applies to all of Warsaw. I
registered for labor camp yesterday.
A search was carried out today of Mr. R.’s premises. In general, there’s a
plague of incessant searches in the Jewish district. German and Polish agents
descend, each on their own initiative, usually after being prompted by Jewish
informers. They took away 22 “noodles” bought out from the spoilers for 800.
Members of C.K.U. will be treated through the sick fund. I heard the following
take: one of the refugees from Karczew was forced to drag herself to Warsaw
together with her newborn son only three days after giving birth. She came to
her former employer and was received very warmly. A Brith-Mila was
arranged, the celebration was happy, and according to the doctor, who was
present, an obstetrician, the mother and child are the healthiest people in all
of Poland. If so, I am persuaded that we shall all survive our trials.
Today, October 3 [should read September] 1942, it is exactly two weeks since the
horrible slaughter in Luck and its surroundings. For two gruesome weeks we - a few
Jews who had succeeded in escaping from Luck at the very last moment - have been
roaming about without sleeping at night, since death threatens us every moment. Out
of the forest and back into the forest. We have become forest men. It happens that for
two or even three days we are without a piece of bread, a drop of water. Our eyes are
no longer able to shed tears. The heart burns with pain, there is a pressure so strong as
to break it, and there is no help. We are all condemned to death.
Chaim Prinzental
My dear son David - God knows if he is still alive - your mother was like a dove when
they led her to the slaughter. I did not witness this with my own eyes; to my great pain
and despair fate willed that I should abandon my dear wife and son and escape alone
like a coward. However they are in a better position now than I am, they have already
gone through what they had to, and every moment I expect to be caught. I am sitting
in a dug-out in the forest where your grandfather used to live and I am writing both of
you a farewell letter. Maybe fate will not be so cruel after all and, when the war is
over, you will receive it by mail with the help of a goodhearted Gentile. Thus, I
embrace both of you - you and your wife - and I send you my fatherly blessing before
my death.
Your unfortunate father H.P
September 13, 1939
It is hard to get bread; Jews are driven away from all the “queues.” They are
seized, hauled off to labor, and beaten to a pulp. Hell has caught fire. Gangs
of hooligans pounce on Jewish shops; looters plunder with impunity. Fewer
Jews are visible in the streets; my father and brothers never venture out.
Every knock on the door is terrifying; the slightest noise freezes the blood in
our veins. Violent feelings rage within me... What more will this day bring?
Shrieks, terror, blows, abductions, imprisonment, messengers, humiliation and
disgrace, posters with laws - a sea of posters, white, green, red, yellow, new
ones each day, but always with the same message: Jews are forbidden... to
buy, sell, study, pray, gather, eat, etc., a string of prohibitions with no end!
Would that the night would never end, that we could have some peace, some
balm for the tumult in our hearts...
Dr. David Wdowinski
"I am sad. Everything saddens me. The general situation of the Jews, the
attitude of our American 'liberators', the great tragedy of our people, my
individual tragedy, an uprooted man, a miserable shade, a man with no
shadow... how enormous is each person's own tragedy. Especially if one is
sensitive. How does it feel to bear all the burden, all the great sorrow, the
endless pain? There is no past, no present, no future, rootless, with no
shadow. Terrible, terrible, with no future, no hope. Justice and revenge.
Justice! Justice? Where? A world of evil, a world of violence, falsehood,
falsehood, deceit. How huge is our disappointment! There is no God, no
justice, no honesty! There is nothing, everything is false, everything."
Hersh Wasser
Thursday, February 6, 1941
A new decree for Warsaw city. Offices may function 8.30 to 17.00, open local
shops and businesses until 18.00, steps which are seen as the gradual
introduction of a state of siege. The decree applies to all of Warsaw. I
registered for labor camp yesterday.
A search was carried out today of Mr. R.’s premises. In general, there’s a
plague of incessant searches in the Jewish district. German and Polish agents
descend, each on their own initiative, usually after being prompted by Jewish
informers. They took away 22 “noodles” bought out from the spoilers for 800.
Members of C.K.U. will be treated through the sick fund. I heard the following
take: one of the refugees from Karczew was forced to drag herself to Warsaw
together with her newborn son only three days after giving birth. She came to
her former employer and was received very warmly. A Brith-Mila was
arranged, the celebration was happy, and according to the doctor, who was
present, an obstetrician, the mother and child are the healthiest people in all
of Poland. If so, I am persuaded that we shall all survive our trials.