Page 84 - Centrum Dialogu im. Marka Edelmana w Łodzi. Zofia Lubińska-Rosset - "Okruchy Pamięci".

It must have been 1942 when throughout the ghetto the ru-
mours spread that all children under the age of 10 would be de-
ported as unfit for employment. Therefore, my birth certificate was
changed by adding a year and a half to my age and as a ten-year-
th
old, with a date of birth of July 25 , 1932, I was employed in the
straw footwear department. I have no doubts that both the difficult
change of birth date and getting the job were the result of uncle
Salek's efforts.
The straw footwear department where I worked was located
in a tenement house at 88 Brzezinska St. (Sulzfelderstrassse –
Wojska Polskiego today), in the area where the so-called Gypsy
camp had previously been located. It adjoined the buildings of the
shoemaking department (84 and 86 Brzezinska St.).
To get from home to work, I literally had to cross the entire
ghetto. We lived at the very western end of the ghetto and the de-
partment buildings at Brzezinska St. were the last ones on the east-
ern side. I usually travelled this route with Jurek Weltfrajd, who
was also employed there. We left early in the morning, walking
along the courtyards of Urzednicza, Drukarska (Zimmerstrasse),
Lotnicza (Blattbindergasse - Snycerska today) streets, then heading
towards Masarska St. (Storchengasse - non-existent today), at the
height of which there was a bridge over Limanowskiego Street. In-
stead of crossing the bridge, one could try to wait for the opening
of the gate located nearby, at the intersection with Ciesielska St.
(Bleicherweg), but it was associated with the risk of being late for
work, because the passage was theoretically opened at certain
hours, and in practice - at the whim of the watchmen. There were
always two of them, armed of course. When they were displeased
with something (the crowd was moving too slowly, a cart blocked
the passage), they could deliver kicks, hit with a rifle butt, and even
shoot at the passing people. Crossing the bridge was difficult for
me in winter, because it was always very icy and I was afraid that,
pushed by the crowd (particularly large in the morning hours),
I might fall. This fear was all the more justified because once, when

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