We invite you to read another column by Agnieszka Witkowska-Krych from the series "Life in the Ghetto," in which the author discusses, among other things, the feeding of ghetto residents, the activities of ad hoc feeding stations for starving residents, and the Transferstelle, a soup kitchen for children and infants.
The author tells the story of the courthouses, which served as a transit point for food smugglers, Janusz Korczak's efforts to obtain aid for the Main House of Refuge, the so-called house committees, and the people and institutions that had to face the nearly impossible task of feeding the poor and saving them from starvation. We invite you to read this challenging book, based on a diverse and solid source base.
Warsaw-born Bogdan (Dawid) Wojdowski , who as a teenager found himself in the Warsaw Ghetto, in his moving novel "Bread for the Dead," based on facts and his own experiences , paints a picture of hunger for the inhabitants of the closed district: "The first days of hunger are the worst, then it becomes bearable. First comes weariness, arms and legs feel heavy, every word grows into a painful clamor in the ears. The colors do not please the eyes, and the light hurts them. (...) One is constantly thirsty, cracked lips dry up. The jaw clenches of its own accord, and pain erupts behind the ears at the sight of a tin spoon abandoned on the table. Then thoughts of food begin, terrible, exhausting fantasies. The stomach works like a siphon. The thought of a piece of turnip is enough for him, and his teeth crunch through the fibrous pulp, and the juice, faintly reminiscent of black turnip, milder in taste and sweetish, flows down his throat and moistens the swollen tongue, leaving a tart residue in the mouth. (...) The thought breaks away from the turnip and soars high. "When will they bring that bread?" (1971, pp. 24-25).
Bread – the object of desire for tens, hundreds of thousands of people crammed into a small area carved out of the so-called Northern District. The vast majority of whom died of hunger, disease, and exhaustion during the deportation operations and in the Treblinka extermination camp. Food: in the ghetto, alongside those craving bread and dreaming of turnips, there were also those who dined at the "L'Ourse" café, and the "Gazeta Żydowska" of August 1, 1941, reported that the kitchen at 11 Leszno Street "will distribute candy for adults and an additional 50 grams for children." This, however, does not change the overall picture of a place where obtaining food was a matter of paramount importance – a condition for, though not a guarantee of, survival.
Prof. Konrad Zieliński, head of the research department of the Warsaw Ghetto Museum
Restaurant "Adaś" – Leszno 19
Probably the most famous place in Leszno was the Sztuka café, where Władysław Szpilman played , Wiera Gran sang, and Władysław Szlengel and Leonid Fokszański recited their witty poems about the reality of the ghetto, known as "The Living Diary".
However, there were definitely more similar types of establishments in Leszno. What their work looked like through the eyes of consumers can be learned from, among others, the post-war memoirs of Janina Bauman , who lived in the ghetto as a teenager. Without specifying the exact location, she wrote: "That winter, shops with quite luxurious items for the local conditions appeared in the ghetto, as well as cafes and restaurants. One day […] Mom took Zosia and me to a restaurant on Leszno Street. I had never been to a restaurant before, so it was an interesting experience for me. Despite the bright day, the windows in the spacious room were thoroughly darkened. Discreet light flowed from carbide lamps placed here and there. The tables were covered with white tablecloths. The waiters wore dark clothes. The pianist and the violinist played well-known Jewish melodies and Gypsy romances with enthusiasm. Almost all the tables were occupied. […] The menu offered various luxurious dishes, as well as French wines and other exquisite alcoholic beverages. The prices were terrifying. If it weren't for Zosia and me, Mom She would undoubtedly have gotten up from the table and left the restaurant, but she didn't want to disappoint us, so we stayed and ordered the cheapest possible dishes: chicken noodle soup, cholent, and some kind of pudding with cherry juice. It was a real feast, the best meal we'd had in years. Although we hadn't starved in the ghetto so far, our home-cooked meals were much more modest. Sighing heavily, Mom paid the bill, and, blissfully full, we left the restaurant" (Janina Bauman, "Zima o poranku", Kraków 2009, pp. 75-76).
Janina Bauman's story could likely appear in other memoirs. For many, however, using the services of such a facility remained only a dream. Restaurants, while indeed present but too expensive for the average ghetto resident, were not frequented by them. Those who could dine there regularly usually came from the ghetto's nouveau riche class, including smugglers, or those with business contacts with the so-called Aryan side or doing business with Germans.
The display windows of ghetto eateries constantly gathered hungry people, left with nothing to do but enviously observe other diners. Stanisław Różycki, for example, wrote : "A swarm of beggars lounges at the gates to this Eldorado, licks their lips, clings to the window panes, awaits the arrival of the 'new masters' from their dinners, curses and curses, begs and imposes themselves. And they, gluttonous, satiated, satisfied and amused, enjoy life to the fullest, that is – goose, steaks, omelets, fish, wine, salads, cognac, cakes, fruit " ( Stanisław Różycki , "The Street," in: Archiwum Ringelbluma. Getto warszawskie , vol. V, Warsaw 2001, p. 48).
The image presented by Różycki was also preserved to some extent in the form of scenes from a propaganda film shot by the Germans in the ghetto. The actors were usually random people, caught on the street and forced to participate in this macabre undertaking. Samuel Puterman recalled this in his diary : "The guests were expected to eat a lot, greedily, and drink alcohol. They filmed waiters bustling between tables, laden with trays piled high with delicious appetizers. […] They filmed the general view of the crowded room, individual ladies ordered to lift their dresses high, […] Jews eating sardines from a box with their fingers, Jews playing under the table with the bare calves of their drinking companions, Jews throwing uneaten goose quarters under the table. The film eliminated fainting women and the bruised faces of those beaten with a whip" (Samuel Puterman, "Memoirs", ŻIH Archives, file no. 302/27, p. 68).
Agnieszka Witkowska-Krych – cultural anthropologist, Hebraist, sociologist, in recent years a curator at the Museum of Warsaw, researcher of the life and legacy of Janusz Korczak, collaborator of the Forum for Dialogue Foundation and the Center for Yiddish Culture, author of texts on "last matters" – the last journey of Korczak and his charges, the last performance of the pupils of the Jewish Orphanage and the last notes in Korczak's Diary.
