Small Riga Ghetto

245
tory would also be destroyed one day, but it remained unscathed for our sake,
not in order to further the Germans' interests. Right after the Russians occupied
it they dismantled it and transported it to Soviet Russia.
II.
At last came the day when we had to go to work in the factory. Five abreast in
a long row and surrounded by SS men, we marched through the gate of our
camp to the factory. As we walked through the camp gate we were ordered,
"Caps off!" We were counted and then we marched on. The large factory we
came to was called Polte and consisted of many buildings. Besides the Jews,
thousands of other prisoners had been put to work there. They worked in
shifts, twenty-four hours a day. We too worked in two shifts: one week we
had the night shift, the next week the day shift. During the shift changes, one
heard all the languages of the world. The workers included an especially large
number of Frenchmen and Belgians.
In peacetime the Polte factory had manufactured dishes and metal lamps, but
now it had been entirely converted to weapons production. We Jews worked in
a special department that produced cartridge cases. After they let us into the
factory, our SS men remained standing in the doorway and supervised us from
there. Sometimes some of them hung around in the factory to check whether
we were working or not. There was also a factory police force that was supposed
to prevent sabotage. They also stood at the factory entrance to check the
workers' passes.
Because of its sheer size, our department made a tremendous impression on
us. Those of us who had been assigned to the "Galvanik" department were led
into a special section. The foreman examined all of us, inquired about our previous
occupations, and then assigned everyone his job. Finally he explained to
each individual what he had to do, for everything was done in the manner of a
conveyor belt. He appointed me section chief and assigned to me the duty of
always making sure my comrades had the equipment they needed, besides doing
my own job. Depending on their respective jobs, one worker might receive
white silk gloves, another rubber gloves, and still another rubber boots and a
rubber apron.
It was still cold in the factory. The machines were standing still, and only
after every worker was at his place did the foreman press an electric button
that immediately set the giant machines into motion. The very same thing was
happening in the other departments too. The large factory hall was now full of
the noise of the machines and the rattle of small electric wagons that constantly