Small Riga Ghetto

100
A large crowd had gathered and everyone was weeping. But I missed a clear
feeling of "this is ours".
For the larger and smaller children there were children's schools in the German
ghetto. The necessary teachers were available. Sometimes lectures were
held on very interesting topics. The number of people who were interested in
such lectures was much greater in the German ghetto than in ours.
I could tell various stories about the individuals who were active in the cultural
life of the German ghetto, but after so many years of terrible experiences
it has become too difficult for me.
Now the reader will be astonished when I report that there was a Catholic
church in the ghetto. * Fleischel, the elder of the Hanover group, was a Catholic,
and as such he sometimes celebrated a mass for the Jews who had converted
to Catholicism, playing the role of a priest.
XXI.
The early autumn of 1942 was a time of military victories for the Germans.
Although the Russians put up strong resistance, the Germans were moving
closer to Moscow and Leningrad. In the south they were pushing towards the
Black Sea and the Caucasus, and from Ukraine they were marching toward
Stalingrad.
Our situation was sad indeed. Because of the continual acts of murder we
were losing more people every day. We tried to make contact with the outside
world in the hope that it could still rescue us.
At this time there arose a "Swedish group" whose intention was to escape to
Sweden. Now events unfolded as follows: a certain Mulja Srago worked together
with his mother and his sister Raja at a work station of the Wehrmacht,
the Frontleitstelle (Front Regional Headquarters). Through her work Raja met
a traveling non-commissioned officer of the Luftwaffe (air force). He treated
her very well and gave her food for herself and her family several times, so
she came to trust him. Later he even offered her the opportunity to escape to
Sweden. It was agreed that this would be paid for in gold and jewels. The
other people who were to escape to Sweden were to be transported in small
groups of three to four. The first group consisted of Raja, her mother and her
brother; the following groups were to include the lawyer Jewelsohn, the singer
Kristal, Dr. Freidberg, Abrascha Lewi, Folia Sacharow and others. All of
them had already paid for their passports.
* [Ed.: The "Church" was located in Fleischel's apartment.]