Józef Ofman
Class 6b
Public Elementary School in Sienno
My most memorable moment from the occupation
As the occupier entered our land, we felt strange sensations. Sadness and despair clouded our faces. At every step our lives hung in the balance. Walking down the street, all I could hear was that hateful German speech, as if lurking about to suppress our speech. The Germans would arrive in cars at night, pick up people and deport them to prisons and concentration camps. We could not learn history or geography at school, because we were forbidden to do so. Constant round-ups for work, [searches?] poisoned our lives. Germans left behind a lot of evil, and above all, a lot of orphaned children of murder victims, burned villages and towns, devastated property.
We were given rations of bread and fat, so we also had to eat with the door closed. No light was seen in the window, because the Germans shot at windows with a light on and beat people without an ounce of mercy. Every day we saw corpses taken to the cemetery. Mass graves multiplied daily. I saw a lot of images that I will remember for a long time. The most memorable moment for me will be the sight of the criminals in the market square: the gallows to which soldiers led seven emaciated, heavily beaten people, and then hanging corpses. This image is constantly before my eyes. God grant that I never see another German criminal with my eyes again in my life.