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
Office for Combating Usury and Speculation – Leszno 13
In December 1940, shortly after the establishment of the ghetto, the Office for Combating Usury and Speculation was established, independently of the Jewish Council, with the task of combating street trading, fraud, profiteering, and food adulteration by dishonest producers and/or sellers. Licensed by the Germans, it was considered a Gestapo agency by residents of the capital's closed district. Located at 13 Leszno Street, this institution was commonly referred to as "The Thirteen . " Henryk Bryskier wrote about its employees:
"The organizers of the aforementioned Office, strangers in Warsaw, from the provinces, unknown and unpopular, began recruiting lower-ranking officers and senior officials from among their familiar compatriots. The main participants were refugees, or provincial displaced persons from Łódź and Częstochowa. They were decked out in official-approved caps with green trim and yellow armbands. They were given ranks and ID cards […], authorizing them to walk around even after curfew" (Henryk Bryskier, Jews under the Swastika, or the Warsaw Ghetto in the 20th Century, Warsaw 2006, p. 110).
The Thirteen were headed by Abraham Gancwajch , a pre-war publicist and journalist from Częstochowa, and Dawid Szternfeld . Emanuel Ringelblum wrote about the former : "There's been a lot of talk about Gancwajch lately. […] They say on the street that nightly orgies take place in Gancwajch's place. How much truth there is in that, I couldn't say. Gancwajch promises to open a soup kitchen for the Jews of Leszno, where he manages the houses. […] The street knows who he is, but people flock to his place" (Emanuel Ringelblum, The Chronicle of the Warsaw Ghetto, Warsaw 1983, p. 357).
Gancwajch was known in the ghetto for organizing meetings to which he invited representatives of the ghetto's cultural and social elite. Adam Czerniaków noted in his diary on May 4, 1941, among other things: "A few days ago, Gancwajch organized a meeting (tea). He kept the invitees there all night. Korczak was there" (Adam Czerniaków's Diary from the Warsaw Ghetto, ed. Marian Fuks, Warsaw 1983, p. 177).
Ringelblum, commenting on these meetings, added: "There were decent people who had been around them for some time. […] Fear of < > is so great that some honest people do not have the courage to refuse their invitation. […] Unfortunately, there are many people who are deceived by his sweet words and by his attempts to prove what benefits he has granted the Jews, how many painful restrictions he has lifted […]. The impression made by his speeches (he speaks excellently in Yiddish and Hebrew) quickly dissipates. People sober up, and only a bad aftertaste remains" (Emanuel Ringelblum, Chronicle of the Warsaw Ghetto, Warsaw 1983, p. 288.)
This is not surprising, especially since the ghetto residents are known for the lavish (and therefore undoubtedly very expensive) parties organized by Gancwajch. One of them, related to the bar mitzvah of Abraham Gancwajch's son, Samuel, is described in documents collected by Emanuel Ringelblum's associates: "On the first day of Shavuot, a morning performance was held at the Nowy Azazel Theater, purchased by "Thirteen." […] This is what I saw there: […] The prince walks confidently up to the table and delivers a speech in the language of the ancestors < >. He assures me that he will be a good Jew and – he adds hesitantly – a decent person. He declares that he is aware of his rights and obligations. He declares, affirms, promises, informs, reveals, assures, declares – that he does this and that, and knows and can, that he understands and appreciates, realizes, will try, etc. (Ringelblum Archive. Warsaw Ghetto, vol. V, Warsaw 2011, p. 525). At the end of his report, a participant of this event asks sadly: “What should I admire more: the cynicism or the stupidity of the organizer?” (Ibidem, p. 527), knowing that his organization consumed enormous financial resources that could certainly have been used, for example, to combat the ubiquitous hunger.
The Office for Combating Usury and Profiteering, located in a tenement building at Leszno 13, was officially disbanded in August 1941. This occurred as a result of a conflict between the German civil administration and the police in the General Government. Thus, a unique institution whose mission, among other things, was to combat street vendors selling food, so coveted by the hungry masses, ceased to exist. The tenement building where "Thirteen" resided was one of the few in the area to survive the war in very good condition. Mementos from that period survive to this day, including the original tiles in the building's gateway.
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.
