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1st September, the year 1939, 5 in the morning: the outbreak of war [18]. That morning we were already literally packed. I don't know how I knew that the war had broken out, but everybody already knew it. All the Jews from Bielsko fled on the first day of the war. All of them, because they suspected what was going to happen in Bielsko. There had already been talk that when the Germans entered the town there would be a terrible massacre. The propaganda by the German minority was very strident in relation to the Jews; they had announced that when Hitler invaded he would - not kill, but finish off all the Jews, and so on. Yes, that was pronounced officially. And the Jews were afraid.
So on that first day of the war, the whole lot went to the station with their bundles. It wasn't only the Jews that were fleeing. The Poles wanted to leave that area as fast as possible too, because they knew that once the Germans took over the railway things would be different. We set off for the station too. It must have been around lunchtime. One train after another was leaving. We got on the first one going towards Cracow. We stopped in the middle of nowhere several times on the way.
When the train arrived in Cracow at last, we didn't get off, because on the way we'd heard rumors that the Germans were already almost in Cracow [the Germans entered Cracow on 6th September]. We went on and got off just outside Tarnow, in Moscice, because the train wasn't going any further, because there were bombardments. And we went on from there on foot, eastward, until we got to Kolbuszowa, not far from Rzeszow.
Some people had already left Bielsko earlier, for instance my boss Bribram. He had a car, that was something before the war. Some people had left earlier still, and so they got east. They made it, but we didn't. From stories, I know that in Bielsko, on the first day of the war, Germans - civilians, living normally in Bielsko, shot at Polish soldiers from windows on the Square. Yes, lots of Germans lived on the Square. We had already gone by then, but I also know that the Polish army, leaving Bielsko, blew up the railway tunnel, which was also the passage from Bielsko to Biala, and so cut communication. That happened in the afternoon, before the Germans invaded. I don't know when the Germans entered Bielsko, whether on 1st or 2nd [it was on the night of 4th September]. For shooting at Polish soldiers, all the Germans had to leave Bielsko after the war [19]. Even the Volksdeutsche [20] had to go, because the Poles remembered that. The Germans were forced to by the Polish authorities.
So on that first day of the war, the whole lot went to the station with their bundles. It wasn't only the Jews that were fleeing. The Poles wanted to leave that area as fast as possible too, because they knew that once the Germans took over the railway things would be different. We set off for the station too. It must have been around lunchtime. One train after another was leaving. We got on the first one going towards Cracow. We stopped in the middle of nowhere several times on the way.
When the train arrived in Cracow at last, we didn't get off, because on the way we'd heard rumors that the Germans were already almost in Cracow [the Germans entered Cracow on 6th September]. We went on and got off just outside Tarnow, in Moscice, because the train wasn't going any further, because there were bombardments. And we went on from there on foot, eastward, until we got to Kolbuszowa, not far from Rzeszow.
Some people had already left Bielsko earlier, for instance my boss Bribram. He had a car, that was something before the war. Some people had left earlier still, and so they got east. They made it, but we didn't. From stories, I know that in Bielsko, on the first day of the war, Germans - civilians, living normally in Bielsko, shot at Polish soldiers from windows on the Square. Yes, lots of Germans lived on the Square. We had already gone by then, but I also know that the Polish army, leaving Bielsko, blew up the railway tunnel, which was also the passage from Bielsko to Biala, and so cut communication. That happened in the afternoon, before the Germans invaded. I don't know when the Germans entered Bielsko, whether on 1st or 2nd [it was on the night of 4th September]. For shooting at Polish soldiers, all the Germans had to leave Bielsko after the war [19]. Even the Volksdeutsche [20] had to go, because the Poles remembered that. The Germans were forced to by the Polish authorities.
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Interview
Leon Glazer
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