Stephen Shooster
make this war short. Even though the Jews were marked for especially harsh treatment by the Germans, it was immediately apparent that the Nazis intended to first eliminate any political, intel- lectual, or cultural resistance by the Poles themselves. They planned to reduce Poland to a slave state. Russia was still clearly in their sights, too, My own history teacher was one of the first to be singled out and killed. My friend’s cousin, Wiktor Mordarski, the attorney, was deported. Individual by individual, the leadership of the town was elimi- nated. The lucky ones escaped before the occupation. But nothing was certain. Even the people who left on their own were not sure they would end up in a safe place. Our mayor was one of those that left of his own accord. He was promptly replaced with a German collaborator, as was the magistrate of the court. I have no idea what happened to either of them or their families. Upon the arrival of the SS, my formal education ended. Jewish children were no longer allowed to go to any school. My first reaction was relief. I no longer had to put up with getting my hands slapped or the long dreary hours learning things that were keeping me from playing outside, but it did not take long for my parents to properly orient my understanding to a sense of outrage. Suddenly, I realized I was not even wor- thy of an education in the eyes of our new rulers. Uncharacteristically, I think this was also the first time I began to truly appreciate an education. The religious preparation for my Bar Mitzvah ceased, as well as any religious ceremo- nies at either of the Jewish temples. Now, I understood clearly that using the temple as a stable was the Nazi way of showing exactly what they thought of us. We were less wanted than their horses. As the occupation wore on, edict after edict was passed. It was all bad news for the Jews, some worse than others. There was nothing we could do to satisfy those in power. They had made up their minds that we were a dangerous pestilence in their midst. The stranglehold on my community took its course, one step at a time. I believe, in some ways, my survival depended on this steady, decline. It was these worsening events that also toughened me up and gave me the experience to handle the terrible events that would happen later. The German occupation turned out to be vastly different than anything in the past; for the Nazis, this was a war against the Jews. Unlike war where there is a winner, and the defeated, the Nazis’ intentions were far more sinister. I clearly understood, even as a young child of twelve, that we could not withstand this poor treatment for long. We were sliding toward a tragedy of epic proportions. I didn’t know it at the time but, we were on a collision course with one of the worst crimes ever to be committed by hu-
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