Mila 18 - Leon Uris [61]
“But they defied me!”
“Herr Kommissar, never mind. Let us not give them issues to unify them. After all now, we have selected them to do a job for us—right?”
“They are privileged!”
“Yes, yes, exactly,” Koenig said. “In order for them to carry on for us, they must have a certain amount of authority and weight among the Jews. If we destroy their authority by forcing them to do something to make them lose face with the people—then they can’t do the job for us.”
Schreiker thought about that. Yes, he had done a stupid thing. He was going to create a power, then destroy it in the same blow. Koenig was shrewd. Intellectuals could always see those things. He would keep Koenig close at hand so he would not make mistakes.
“There are other ways to supply women for brothels,” Koenig said. “I suggest we drop the matter so far as the Civil Authority is concerned. That will make them think they have some importance.”
“Yes, of course,” Schreiker said. “I was only testing them to see if they had enough personal courage to carry out our directives—just testing them.”
Journal Entry
Well, we certainly did not have to wait long to find out what is in store for us and what kind of a man Rudolph Schreiker is.
The seat of the government for the General Government Area has been set up in Krakow, which is a surprise. We were certain it would be in Warsaw. A chap named Hans Frank is running the show down there. Each day he publishes a four-page paper called the General Government Gazette. Pages one, two, and three cover an assortment of things. Page four is dedicated to the “Jewish Problem.” We certainly are making news these days.
ALEXANDER BRANDEL
DIRECTIVE
ALL JEWS MUST REGISTER IMMEDIATELY AT THE JEWISH CIVIL AUTHORITY AT GRZYBOWSKA 28 FOR ISSUANCE OF KENNKARTEN AND RATION BOOKS. FAILURE TO DO SO IS PUNISHABLE BY DEATH.
DIRECTIVE
THE ZOLIBORZ SUBURB IS OUT OF BOUNDS FOR FUTURE JEWISH RESIDENCE. THOSE JEWS LIVING RN ZOLIBORZ MUST FIND OTHER QUARTERS WITHIN ONE WEEK.
DIRECTIVE
FOR CLARIFICATION. ALL FUTURE DIRECTIVES PERTAINING TO JEWS ALSO PERTAIN TO THOSE WITH ONE JEWISH PARENT OR GRANDPARENT. JEWS WHO HAVE CONVERTED TO OTHER RELIGIONS ARE CONSIDERED JEWS.
DIRECTIVE
JEWS ARE FORBIDDEN IN PUBLIC PARKS AND MUSEUMS. JEWS ARE FORBIDDEN IN PUBLIC RESTAURANTS IN NON-JEWISH DISTRICTS.
JEWS ARE FORBIDDEN TO RIDE ON PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.
JEWISH CHILDREN ARE TO BE WITHDRAWN FROM PUBLIC SCHOOLS IMMEDIATELY.
DIRECTIVE
THE PRACTICE OF THE JEWISH RELIGION IS FORBIDDEN. ALL SYNAGOGUES ARE OUT OF BOUNDS. JEWISH RELIGIOUS SCHOOLING IS FORBIDDEN.
DIRECTIVE
THE FOLLOWING TRADES AND PROFESSIONS MAY BE PRACTICED BY JEWS ONLY AMONG THE JEWISH POPULATION: MEDICINE, LAW, JOURNALISM, MUSIC, ALL GOVERNMENTAL POSITIONS, ALL MUNICIPALLY OPERATED INDUSTRIES.
DIRECTIVE
JEWS ARE FORBIDDEN TO ATTEND THEATER OR CINEMA IN NON-JEWISH AREAS.
JEWS ARE FORBIDDEN TO ENTER NON-JEWISH HOSPITALS.
As the registration commenced, each Kennkarte was stamped with a large J. A directive came out quickly, lowering the ration of Jews. This brought on a scramble to obtain illegal and false Aryan Kennkarten. In Zoliborz and other areas confiscated for German officials, the dispossessed Jews were forced to abandon their properties without compensation.
Each day a new directive.
Meanwhile Rudolph Schreiker returned to work with which he was more familiar. The old street fighter of the early Nazi days in Bavaria organized gangs of Polish hoodlums and put them on the German payroll with the order to terrorize the Jewish population. Within a few weeks of the German entry into Warsaw there was a rash of unmolested window smashing, shop looting, and the beating up of bearded Jews.
On the streets, loudspeaker trucks rolled up and down the Jewish areas, barking out the latest directives and page four of the General Government Gazette, and orders from the Warsaw Kommissar and the Jewish Civil Authority