Page 113 - Centrum Dialogu im. Marka Edelmana w Łodzi. "Fragmenty pamięci".

Wielka Szpera 5-12 września 1942 The Great Szpera, 5-12 September 1942

This did not mean that the danger was over, as the search continued, and the police or the Germans
could show up at any moment to conduct another search.

Rescue came the same day (or was it the next day?) in the person of uncle Salk’s younger brother
– Moryc. He arrived with a special pass protecting him from deportation from the ghetto, signed by
Biebow himself, the master of life and death in the ghetto.

My uncle led me to the former hospital of the Sickness Fund at 36 Łagiewnicka Street. I remember
that we were walking through completely deserted streets, shoved by a gusty wind that was raising
clouds of dust and rubbish. It was frightening for me. I was under the impression that everyone had
died. At Łagiewnicka, in the rooms of the now closed hospital, those who had documents protecting
them from deportation were gathered together. From there, no more victims were taken out. I cannot
recall whether only children or also adults were gathered there. I remember a massive crowd and the
fact that I slept on some kind of mattress (or pallet?) because there were no beds. I do not know how
long I stayed at Łagiewnicka or how I got home.

I know from my parents’ stories that this was a salvation for me, as there was another action soon
after I was taken out of the house. All the inhabitants of Urzędnicza and Drukarska Streets, and
probably other nearby streets, were rushed out in front of their houses. A uniformed SS-man herded
all the children who had managed to be previously hidden and those adults he deemed unfit for work
into the transport.

Zofia Lubińska-Rosset,
excerpt from her book Okruchy pamięci. Crumbs of Memory, Łódź 2022
translation: Joanna Rosset

113