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The occupation authorities announced that all Jews had to leave Cracow, but certain groups were allowed to apply for the permission to stay: those who used to serve in the Austrian or German army, those who received German honors, and those who worked in the military industry. These were the criteria. My father did become a corporal in World War I, an ‘Obergefreiter' in the Austrian army [a rank used only in the army's heavy artillery branch before 1919], but he didn't get any orders or honors, he was not a hero of World War I, he fought on the Italian front [21].
One was allowed to choose a place where one wanted to go, as long as it was within the borders of the General Governorship, of course. One was allowed to take all of one's possessions. We took some of our stuff and loaded it onto a horse-drawn carriage. We didn't have too much furniture, for we only had the one room, more or less furnished. My father decided that we'd go to Niepolomice [a town 24 km east of Cracow]. We went there, rented a room, set up house. For the first few weeks we looked for jobs, lived from day to day. The local community took care of us. There was a kitchen which gave out free meals. It was hard, but we managed.
After the eviction from Cracow to Niepolomice, we were speculating about what was going on in Cracow. The deadline for departure was 15th June, I think. But June passed by, then July [1940] and the Germans didn't force the Jews out of Cracow. So my father came up with the stupid idea - though who could have known it then - that we're going back to Cracow. Again we piled all of our so-called furniture, those few sad pieces, onto that one-horse carriage and went back to Cracow. But it was no longer possible to register in Cracow as a Jew. So we set up house in Pradnik Czerwony, one of the districts on the outskirts of Cracow.
My father found a man who rented us one of his rooms. We lived there for less that 24 hours. We set up all of our furniture and the rest of the junk and in the evening, when we were having dinner, a navy-blue policeman [22] came in with the owner of the apartment. Did the owner bring him there knowingly? The policeman asks for registration papers - we don't have any. Then the policeman leaves and the owner says, ‘I'll come back tomorrow morning. If you're here I'm taking you to the police, if you're gone, it's your problem.' That was quite a magnanimous gesture. We didn't even wait, it was 8 o'clock. We managed to live in this apartment for one whole day.
One was allowed to choose a place where one wanted to go, as long as it was within the borders of the General Governorship, of course. One was allowed to take all of one's possessions. We took some of our stuff and loaded it onto a horse-drawn carriage. We didn't have too much furniture, for we only had the one room, more or less furnished. My father decided that we'd go to Niepolomice [a town 24 km east of Cracow]. We went there, rented a room, set up house. For the first few weeks we looked for jobs, lived from day to day. The local community took care of us. There was a kitchen which gave out free meals. It was hard, but we managed.
After the eviction from Cracow to Niepolomice, we were speculating about what was going on in Cracow. The deadline for departure was 15th June, I think. But June passed by, then July [1940] and the Germans didn't force the Jews out of Cracow. So my father came up with the stupid idea - though who could have known it then - that we're going back to Cracow. Again we piled all of our so-called furniture, those few sad pieces, onto that one-horse carriage and went back to Cracow. But it was no longer possible to register in Cracow as a Jew. So we set up house in Pradnik Czerwony, one of the districts on the outskirts of Cracow.
My father found a man who rented us one of his rooms. We lived there for less that 24 hours. We set up all of our furniture and the rest of the junk and in the evening, when we were having dinner, a navy-blue policeman [22] came in with the owner of the apartment. Did the owner bring him there knowingly? The policeman asks for registration papers - we don't have any. Then the policeman leaves and the owner says, ‘I'll come back tomorrow morning. If you're here I'm taking you to the police, if you're gone, it's your problem.' That was quite a magnanimous gesture. We didn't even wait, it was 8 o'clock. We managed to live in this apartment for one whole day.
Period
Interview
Leopold Sokolowski
Tag(s)