The establishment of a Jewish
ghetto in Warsaw has not been unexpected as reports of some such impending action have
been current in that city, particularly among Jewish
circles, from the early days of the occupation. At the same time active
preparations, which could be interpreted in no other way than as tending towards a complete
segregation of the Jewish
population, have been in course for some months. [...]
A strange commentary on life in German-occupied
Warsaw is presented
by the fact that many a nationalist
Pole has endeavored to take on the
‘protective coloration’ of the Jew in
order to escape from the German police or
to avoid compulsory
labor. These ‘refugees’ have adopted Jewish
insignia and taken up residence in the ghetto;
many stories are current in Warsaw of Jews tearing off their racial
badges and passing them over in the streets to fleeing Poles. It is noteworthy that during the period
of anti-Jewish disturbances in Poland prior to
German
occupation the 600,000 people in the Jewish district, almost evenly divided between
Poles and Jews,
managed to get along together peacefully and lived in a community spirit which was not
noticeable in the other parts of the city. The pending segregation of the Jews in
an official ghetto affects an equal number of Poles and the move may in the long run bring
greater discomfort to the latter than to the majority of the Jewish
population. At any rate the Jews
may well be in a better position to maintain a united front towards the occupying
authorities and to find in community life a solace and protection until the time
comes when a life of freedom and tolerance can at last be the lot of the unhappy thousands
now to be concentrated in the greatest of Eastern Europe’s
many Jewries by an alien conqueror and a ruthless race
enemy.