Small Riga Ghetto

56
where he had hidden his possessions. He was told the addresses of various
Aryans and went to them immediately, but nobody handed anything at all over
to him. He did not attain his goal until he went to these people again, this time
together with Gorew. Although he had promised to release Gorew, Danilow
had him taken to prison, where he was shot.
There were also suicides. For example, Mrs. Hanna Maisel poisoned herself,
her two daughters Minna and Rasik, and her small four-month-old grandson.
VII.
Now people slowly grew accustomed to life in the ghetto, and in spite of all
the difficulties they did not give up their hope for better times.
The Committee also dealt with the question of schooling. Some teachers
from the Sabiedriskā college preparatory school were already teaching small
groups in the Committee's building. In the meantime, the issue of heating became
especially urgent during the harsh winter of 1941. If the ghetto had not
been liquidated so soon, this would certainly have led to a catastrophe.
To cover various expenses, the Committee levied a tax. An extraordinarily
large amount of money was collected, but it was confiscated by the Gestapo
even before the ghetto was liquidated.
Later on, many people said that the Committee had certainly made mistakes,
because with such a large sum of money they ought to have managed to annul
the gzeire, or command to liquidate the ghetto.
There were no houses of prayer in the ghetto. People prayed in the private
quarters of Rabbi Sack and at various other places (Abrahamsohn, Katoļu
Street).
There were also several attacks in the ghetto. For example, on the first Friday
night we received a "visit" in our house at 2 Mazā Kalna Street. Drunken
Latvians and members of the German Wehrmacht (army) had climbed over the
ghetto fence. They robbed and beat us. Because our police force was completely
unarmed, their intervention did no good whatsoever. Of course the
people in the building were extremely agitated. Because the front door was
locked, the attackers broke a window and climbed in through it. They brutally
assaulted the defenseless women. Later, a rumor arose that German deserters
were hiding in the ghetto.
VIII.
In our small apartment, my wife proved her great skill as a housewife and arranged
everything as comfortably as possible with the few belongings we had