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MUNKACS GHETTOJEWS ALONE Just after Passover, on 18April 1944, the kehilla announced with posters and proclamations by drummers that all Jews must move into the ghetto. It was located in the Jewish section of the city and included Latorca, Munkacsi, Csokoli, and Malom Streets. Within a week, 13,000 Jews from Munkacs and some 14,000 from surrounding areas were rounded up like cattle and held in the ghetto and those from the rural areas were held in the Sajovits brickyard.We were advised to try and stay with people we knew.The ghettos were administered by a Jewish Council,whose president was Sandor Steiner. Unlike others,who were either relocated with total strangers or had no place at all to accommodate them,we were fortunate to stay in the house owned by the Sterns—Josko's family. We made a few trips to bring our belongings to the ghetto.The streets were lined with people coming and going, carting their possessions.There was mass confusion.People did not know where they were being sent or why. Once in the ghetto,we were told that we were to be resettled again but it did not make sense. Many women brought down-filled pillows and comforters, which were cherished articles from their dowries. A sense of danger and fear were the predominant moods.We struggled in our attempt to prepare for the unknown. Furniture, concealing clandestine documents or valuables in hollowed-out legs, was transported with the greatest of difficulty.There were all manner of objects brought to the ghetto. Musical instruments were of value to some, others brought family heirlooms,and some were more practical and brought pots and pans. We moved into the Stern's single-family house at 9 Furdo Street, which was both spacious and familiar. Only, Josko's widowed father, Solomon, and sister, Rosie, were living in the house when the five Kleinmanns arrived. Soon thereafter, we were asked to take in two more families, the Adlers and the Schwartzes, who together numbered nine, totalling 16 people living in four rooms. People were always anxiously walking about in the streets. It felt like a time bomb was set to go off. Wewere afraid but we didn't know of what.We knew that something was not right.The future was uncertain.No one came into the ghetto from the outside and warned us. On a typical day,the men would gather early in the morning in shule. After dauening, everyone would speculate about our future. There were as many opinions as there were people. I listened to the BBCnews on Josko's 31 Solomon Stern at the entrance to 9 Furdo Street, his home located in the Munkacs ghetto during April 1944. (KFF Archives) father's radio.At that time,the use of radios was forbidden but some brave people kept them.We were permitted to move around freely duringthe day. At night, we were not allowed to leave our houses. Few homes had electricity and there was only the occasional street light. Most people used kerosene lamps.The streets were closed to traffic. There were no cars anywhere near us.Whoever had a horse had absolutely nowhere to go. Where would he go?We were alone. The Hungarian authorities chose people at random to work as guards from their own lists of volunteers or from those provided by the Jewish Council in the ghetto. The council was made up of the most prominent Jews in the city.Ivolunteered to be a guard hoping this would give me additional opportunities to obtain information. There were about 24 guards patrolling the ghetto borders around the clock. I wore an armband with a yellow star on a black background. I also wore a yellow star on the back of my jacket. If you were appointed as a guard you couldn't refuse the offer. There was no choice in the matter.I did not get paid for doing this work and was not armed. The only responsibility guards had was to make certain that no one entered or left the ghetto or broke the curfew. We patrolled the gates. The Swabian thugs paraded outside the ghetto as if they owned the place. The Nazis gave them a free hand to do with the Jews as they pleased. If the Hungarian gendarmes saw someone walking while we were on duty, they blamed us for not being efficient, and battered us on the spot. If they caught anyone leaving the...

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