Small Riga Ghetto

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shoes and leather clippings which we sometimes received from the area commissary.
We paid nothing for the food and services we received in the workshops.
XVI.
The Technisches Amt (Technical Authority) proved to be particularly useful
from the first to the last day of its existence.
There the engineer Antikol had taken on a leading role. Not only was he a
very skilled craftsman, but he also knew how to adapt to circumstances. He
initiated a number of measures that made our life in the ghetto much easier.
This industrious engineer began to build and renovate, starting with nothing
and without any kind of outside support. He had recruited excellent colleagues
such as the engineer Saslawski, the architect Schneider, Botwinkin, and the
talented teacher Lat as business manager. All of them understood our desperate
need and tried to alleviate it. Their first task was to set up a bathhouse as soon
as possible, for we needed one desperately. Its opening day was a genuine
holiday for us.
Although the room available for it was very small, nonetheless a fairly large
number of people could be served in a day. Everything connected with the
bathhouse was taken care of by the engineer Lewi, the pharmacist Purmel,
Weissbein (director of the Jewish theater) and others.
Our women also used the bathhouse. They came in groups from their ghetto,
accompanied by their policewomen. Now and then we also had other "customers"
from the German ghetto. The bathhouse also served as a delousing station.
We felt that the short time we were allowed to spend bathing was a true
paradise, and none of us could find enough words to express his delight to the
bathhouse directors.
In the summer of 1942 the Technical Authority set up cold open-air showers
for us as a further amenity, and in the summer of 1943 this facility was even
expanded.
In the large workshops of the Technical Authority various objects were produced
not only for us but also for the area commissary.
Young people were recruited for this work (by Pukin) in order to give them
the opportunity to learn a trade. In time, a kind of vocational school developed.
After the ghetto had been expanded twice, the Technical Authority also
renovated and repaired the apartments. The harsh winter of 1941/42 had