The War
On the Day of My Bar Mitzvah
People began to starve. Children, especially, suffered. They ran around with bulging knees. They became bloated, turned blue, and began to die. Anyone who had a supplemental source or supply of food kept it secret. People traded their clothes or anything else they had for a bit to eat. Some had left their belongings with Ukrainian neighbors for safekeeping, but I do not think anyone was success- ful in getting them back. Moshe Font, the tailor, was the first person to be murdered in - side the ghetto. A Ukrainian officer shot him when he saw a goy give Moshe a goose in payment for sewing a pair of pants. Life was miserable. The German commissar in charge of our town, Franz Norgall, used to come by on his horse twice a day, and anyone with whom he found fault was shot on sight. Nobody knew when the commissar would show up. When he came, he always managed to find a victim. Sometimes he humiliated people by lash - ing or beating them with a whip in public. One time, he rode up on his horse and found fault with Leibel Keck’s work. Leibel, who was only sixteen or seventeen years old, had the misfortune of sitting down for a moment. I was about twen- ty feet away and heard Norgall ask Leibel why he was not working. The boy was apparently terrified and did not answer. Norgall or - dered him to lie down, then took out his pistol and shot him through the neck. This frightening scene horrified us. The workers had to bury him there and remove all traces. Commissar Norgall and his deputy, Spiegel, were cruel. Although Kostopol was the site of the German headquarters, Norgall, Spiegel, and Glanz, who was the head of the gendar - merie, established themselves in Ludvipol. The night Norgall first arrived, he rushed to the ghetto and told his aides to bang on the doors of the Jews and order them to run to the square immedi- ately to hear his speech. The speech was full of hate; he cursed the Jews and their God and said they were the enemy of the German people. To make sure we understood his intentions, he took out a pistol and fired into the crowd. Miraculously, no one
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