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Manya Auster Feldman - August 11, 1998

Hm. What was it like then in the Shtetl, after that first,that initial traumatic contact with the Germans?

Well, right at the second day, they had already um, proclamationsof what they want the Jews not to—to do or not to do. First of all, aJew couldn't have a store anymore. A Jew couldn't have any sort of business.Then they took away our livestock. We all—every Jewish family had a cow,because this is how we could uh, you know, have our food, we have our dairyproducts. They took away the cows. Then they asked the, the, the next daythey had a um, uh, an announcement that Jews have to bring in all their furs,the Jews have to bring in all their silver, the Jews have to bring in alltheir gold, whatever. And and and then they organized within the next twoweeks, they organized the Judenrat. And the Judenrat was in charge of theJewish population. And they sort of like were the order takers from the Germansof what to do. And they—and three months we still lived in our houseand then they created a ghetto.

Who—so the Judenrat came first, then came the ghetto?

Right.

And who, who did they choose?

Well, they chose from the—they didn't—they were notthe choosers. They, they had, they had the Jews to choose their own leaders.

Okay. So they ordered, they ordered a Judenrat?

Yeah, they ordered a Judenrat. So they, they, they chose amongthemselves some more educated people, you know, somebody that could uh, uh,converse in German, you know and this sort of. . .

Did anybody put a—was there a rabbi on the Jewish Council?

No. The rabbi was not on the Jewish. . .

Three people?

No, I think there were more. I, I'm not sure. I think there wereabout three or five people.

Did you know any of them?

Yes, we knew each other very well.

What did, what did the rest of the community feel about theJudenrat?

Could you take a guess what they felt? It was horrible. Rightaway we are deprived of food, we are deprived of everything. We are deprivedof freedom. We knew that this is the beginning of something very bad.

So. . .

But there was no way of doing something about it.

So they—you mean there wasn't any resentment toward theJudenrat?

Well, in our city, no. I'll tell you, I heard from other towns.Nothing happened so they could blame the Judenrat for the Judenrat had theirjob to do. They created a work force. And everybody had to go to work. Andthis is what they did—they were in charge. Then they took orders fromthe Germans. They had to provide them with, let's say they said they wantthe best dishes to, to confiscate from the Jews or the best silverware. Sothe Judenrat had to come and get it from them. The Germans didn't come andget it. There was a resentment, but there was an understanding that they arenot doing it of free will, they have to.

They had to do it.

They took orders. And and they always—also in, in back ofpeople's mind was, if we will obey and if we will give them, then we're goingto be saved. You know, it was a horrible feeling.

Do you, do you think any members of the Jew. . . Judenratreceived extra rations or any guarantees of safety or anything like that?

I, I really don't know about—I don't think so, no.