The Horse Adjutant
Moshe Katz in Tarnow
Moshe Katz - I was working on the roads when I was rounded up with 400 oth- ers and deported to Tarnow. When I arrived in Tarnow, the ghetto was already fully established. Being new and not knowing where to go, a local Jewish Ordnungsdienst (Jewish Police), wearing his signature cap and armband, escorted me and 10-12 other guys to the home of a mother and child. It was odd at first. The woman clearly did not want a parade of homeless men into her home. The policeman did not speak much. All he said is that you will stay here. As soon as he left, I learned the woman’s husband was deported the day before. It was very crowded in her small apartment, and she was not at all welcoming. She did not want us there and made this clear. She yelled at all of us, “Leave, go away, what are you doing here?” but none of us had any place to go, and it was very cold outside, especially at night, I left with my hat in my hand and nothing else. The night air was cold, but I was used to poor living conditions. I did the best I could and found a stairway with a little protection from the wind and cold. That night, I held onto my jacket and tried not to freeze. The temperature must have dipped well below freezing. It took all my strength to just stay alive let alone capture a wink of sleep. While sitting there freezing, I thought of ‘how am I going to survive here? What am I going to do to get food?’ I knew I was in a very desperate situation, surrounded by thousands of people just like me, making it that much harder to find food or work. I had to do something. I had no money. I bundled up tightly and let the wind blow. The ghetto slept. The next morning I took a walk and came upon a large horse and carriage. While admiring the horse a guy comes over to me and says, “What are you doing?” I must have been staring at the beautiful animal for too long, but being displaced I had noth- ing else to do. Hunger was really on my mind when I answered him. “If you will give
me some water, I will wash the carriage.” The fellow said, “You know how to wash?”
It seemed easy enough. So I said with confidence and a wide smile, “Of course.” This is how I was given a chance to wash the fellow’s carriage and, because I was in dire straits, I washed the carriage as if there was nothing else of importance in the entire world. Eventually, seeing what a good job I was doing, the man said, “Have you had any breakfast?” I gazed down and said meekly, ‘No.’
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