Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Joseph Gringlas - January 14 & 22, March 18, 1993

Was there a ghetto opened in--there was a ghetto I assume.

Yeah, there was.

How long after the Germans came in did they set up a ghetto?

Oh, the ghetto was set up uh, about I would remember about a year or half a year, something like this. But we had to wear right away armbands.

First thing.

Yeah.

Was there a Judenrat?

There was a Judenrat too because the Judenrat wha...wha...tha...a...at the time they needed some people for work. So they went to Judenrat and Judenrat they uh, knew exactly to, to, you know, they, to ask the Judenrat how many they need for work. The Judenrat gave uh, had us to go to--to work for them. At the beginning that was just like, you know, work for them then you went back home.

Did you know anyone on the, on the Council, on the Jewish Council?

I knew the--yeah, I knew the people. I was young but I knew some of pe...people yeah.

How did people feel about them? Were they uh, there Jewish police as well?

There were some Jewish policemens too, yeah.

And how did, how did the Jews in the ghetto feel about them?

They felt--that mean that eh, we knew that they were told to do it and they have to do it, you know. Some were, were helping, you know, trying to help the Germans even to show that they are working for them w...w...wanted them to do. But some they, well, they knew what, that's going to happen to them either. So they just weren't so strict.