6
6 German SS and Polish police moved into Tyczyn and began to patrol the streets in pairs. The Jews were concerned, for any change brought fresh worries about the future. We could not get any information from the Judenrat and the Polish policemen we knew. My father insisted that we stay close to the house. My mother put together a small package with food, extra clothing, and blankets in case we had to run to the woods to hide from the Nazis. After much discussion my parents agreed to let me go to our neighbors for news. The streets were deserted. The Jews and the Poles were avoiding the soldiers and police. I ran through our neighbor’s backyard, climbed over a low wire fence, and softly knocked on the back door of Jewish neighbors, the Krugers. They had no information to share. I went to another Jewish family, the Rabs, who also had no news. I went to the door of a Catholic neighbor. He had been out that morning and had seen many German soldiers gathered in front of the Tyczyn police station. I knew that my parents would be upset with me, but I made my way through the back alleys toward the police station. I hid behind a fence at the house of a Polish teacher. I could see the police station. Parked out front were German military trucks and cars adorned with Nazi flags. A group of uniformed Germans stood about. One spotted me and shouted for me to come forward. I had my armband on. I turned and ran without looking back. That day they were not going to catch me. I ran with all my might and speed. I ran until I was breathless and could run no more. I threw myself on the ground behind some bushes and lay listening for the sounds of the soldiers. I lifted my head and peered through the bushes. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. Luckily, no one was after me. I cautiously made my way home. My mother was relieved to see me. 48 I told my parents about my visits to the neighbors but not my encounter with the soldiers. I had learned that I could save myself from the Germans . I sat on a bench in the kitchen with my mother. She leaned against me and held me in her arms. It had been so long since I had been the young boy who knew safety in his mother’s embrace. That evening someone stopped by our house to tell us that the commander of the SS unit had sent orders to the Judenrat to assemble for a meeting the next morning. I watched my father pace and my mother wring her hands in worry and feared that they knew more than they were sharing with me. Manek had left after dark to see his beloved Ruth. I could not fall asleep and waited for Manek to come home. He arrived a few hours later and lay down on the bed next to me. I listened to my parents toss in their bed and whisper to each other. As the dawn was breaking, I heard a strange knocking outside our house. I looked out the window and saw a policeman nailing a white paper to the telephone pole in front of our house. Manek came and stood next to me. We dressed and quietly slipped out the front door. Two other men were standing by the telephone pole, reading the white paper. It was an official document, embellished with a swastika and written in German and Polish. It was typed and carried the seal and signature of the German District administrator . It read: “Within one week, all Jews residing in Tyczyn and vicinity must relocate to the Rzeszów Ghetto. The Tyczyn Judenrat will issue detailed instructions for the relocation of the Jews. Any Jew or Jewish family disobeying this order will be subject to severe punishment, including death.” Manek read the order, his face pale and disbelieving. I took his hand, and he gripped my fingers tightly. We stood in silence, unwilling to leave and face our parents with the alarming new order. A group crowded around us to read the order. Someone said that the expulsion notice was posted everywhere, nailed to trees, telephone poles, and even the doors of many Jewish homes throughout Tyczyn. This was banishment from the town where generations of Jews had lived. Manek...
OR
