Читать книгу We Were Young and at War: The first-hand story of young lives lived and lost in World War Two - Sarah Wallis - Страница 16

Łódź has been occupied. It’s been quiet all day today, too quiet. This afternoon I’m sitting in the park drawing a portrait of one of the girls when suddenly there’s terrifying news. Łódź has surrendered! German patrols are in Piotrkowska Street. Fear, surprise…surrendered without a fight? Perhaps it’s just a tactical manoeuvre. We’ll see. In the meantime all talk has stopped, the streets are empty, faces and hearts have hardened into stern severity and hatred. Mr Grabiński comes back from town and describes how the local Germans have been greeting their compatriots. The Grand Hotel, where the generals are to stay, is bedecked with garlands of flowers. Civilians—boys and girls—are jumping into military cars with the joyous cry ‘Heil Hitler!’, speaking German loudly in the streets. People who used to be quiet, patriotic and civil are now showing their true faces. The street lamps have been switched back on in the evening. No danger of air raids now.

That night, as German troops were welcomed with fireworks and dancing in Łódź, hundreds of Jews were burnt to death in a Bedzin synagogue, just over 100 miles south of the city. Dozens of Polish towns were in flames, but despite German ‘cleansing measures’ against thousands of Poles and Jews, Britain and France ruled out coming to Poland’s immediate assistance, themselves under pressure to mobilize for war.