Henia Weissblum

All Jews were immediately ordered by the Germans to wear a yellow armband, then the yellow patch with the Star of David visible on their chest and back. Our freedom of movement was restricted and we were made to do forced labor, we had to sweep streets, clean toilets, etc. Everyone was concentrated in the so-called ghetto, and on May 1, 1940, the ghetto was declared closed. Leaving without authorization was punished with death. Jewish police ensured that order was maintained inside under the commandant Rosenblatt. The Jewish elder was called Chaim Rumkowski and the German BIBOW was the commandant of the ghetto. The living conditions in the ghetto were very poor, as it was located in the BALUTI slum. In November 1941 our family, my husband's child and I, were torn apart in an action. I was rescued by a German official who was an acquaintance of Bibow. My husband and child were deported and I never saw them again. I was taken to his apartment in Petrokomskastr. every day under strict guard and had to do the hardest and most humiliating work for his household. In May 1943 I was transferred to Dworskagasse 6, where I worked in the food department. From October 1943 I worked in the manufacture of toys, which were sent to Germany.

Affidavit dated 14.9.1956

After the persecution began, I was forced to perform extremely hard and humiliating forced labor that was beyond my strength, in hunger, cold, wetness, abuse and in constant fear of being destroyed.