The Clandestine History of the Kovno Jewish Ghetto Police

Images 2

253 The New Ghetto Guard (NSKK) Located inside the Ghetto As previously mentioned, until now there had existed a ghetto guard near the ghetto fence but outside its borders. The sentries guarded the fence but did not enter the ghetto itself; it was an external patrol carried out by the German police unit—the 3rd Company of the 11th Police Reserve Battalion. The new ghetto guard, the NSKK, which was to be stationed inside the ghetto, arrived on January 15. They made their first entry into the ghetto with violence and commotion, casting fear and terror over everyone with their behavior, rudeness, and brutality. From the name of the unit, which smelled of National Socialism, one could not expect anything good. Their first move in the ghetto was to select for themselves a location in the center of the ghetto—an entire block-house at Stulginskio 20. Levrentz, a soldier of the NSKK who was later to become known as a famous hooligan in the ghetto, showed up with a big truncheon and immediately ordered all the neighbors out of their premises, entered each dwelling The Ghetto Guard and the Jewish Police 7 HISTORY OF THE VILIAMPOLE JEWISH GHETTO POLICE 254 one by one, “honored” a few Jews with his whip, and chased them like dogs out of their dwellings. Within one hour all the neighbors were out, each grabbing and running with his meager belongings. But not everything was allowed to be taken. As the guards went through the dwellings, if they found a good sofa, cupboard, or buffet, they ordered it to remain in place and took it for themselves. After removing the neighbors, they immediately had to be provided with Jewish craftsmen to make repairs and women to clean and scrub. Within a few days, they moved in. The arrival of the ghetto guard brought up various observations and caused many troubles. We basically did not know how our community was viewed by the Germans: Did they consider this a ghetto or a camp? As a ghetto we had the privilege of living together as families, that is, men and women together leading their own inner lives, with their own administrative organization, and so on. In a camp, by contrast, men and women are separate, children and old people are not there at all, and life is subject to a strict regimen. The latter we did not have, thank God. On the other hand, the Germans never informed us officially of our situation. We were never officially addressed in writing; they did not recognize us as any kind of concrete entity. The question therefore remained: Are we a camp, not a camp, a ghetto, not a ghetto? Various rumors began to spread at that time. It was said that we were considered a camp and, as a result, families would probably be separated, husbands from wives. These rumors brought on a great deal of unease; one asked oneself what would happen to the small children, to the old, and to those simply not able to work. The arrival of the NSKK in the ghetto intensified the uneasy mood. Many concluded that it implied our being considered a camp, with the NSKK our camp guards. Others said the opposite, that in a camp the guards are never inside, only outside. Therefore, quite the opposite, the arrival of the guards inside the ghetto was a sign that we were considered a ghetto and the guards were the same as a posted police precinct. Be that as it may, their very entry into the ghetto depressed everyone’s spirits. Here, among ourselves inside the ghetto, we had seldom encountered their vicious faces. We did not see nor did we want to see any of them, The Ghetto Guard and the Jewish Police 255 content to live out our forced separate existence. Now we would see them all the time as they went to and from their posts. Immediately the old order was renewed, requiring that all Jews meeting their people on the street must greet them by removing their hats. And so, as the hooligans with their rifles walk around the ghetto, Jews who pass by them must remove their hats for them. Together with the NSKK, Lithuanians also came into the ghetto, the so-called Hilf-Polizei [auxiliary police] (the former Lithuanian police). Together with the Germans, they kept watch at the fences. For the Lithuanians , the...