The Diary of Petr Ginz, 1941–1942 Read online

  8. V. 1942 (Friday)

  In the morning at school. I finished selling all the tickets and handed in over 110 crowns for Zinn. The draw took place with the participation of Mr. Reich and Miss Lauscherova. The whole class was packed with people from IV.A, B, and C. Then I brought a tiny child who was terribly scared among the giants from IV.A (who wanted to lynch me already and were screaming like mad, “When is the draw?”); I tied a (dirty) handkerchief around his eyes and mixed the numbered pieces of paper in a hat.

  The child drew:

  3rd prize, 2 crowns (number 54)—absent,

  2nd prize, 3 crowns (number 1, unusual!)—Punta from our class, gave it up for the benefit of Zinn’s fund,

  and

  (great excitement)

  1st prize, 10 crowns (number 16)—Birnbaum from IV.A,

  who gave up half of it for the benefit of Zinn’s fund.

  I did the draw after lessons.—In the afternoon outside.

  9. V. 1942 (Saturday)

  In the morning on a walk with Popper, in the afternoon at Grandma’s.

  Again, Uncles Milos and Slava came for a visit, as usual. Uncle Slava shaved all his hair. They are both complaining about too much work.

  10. V. 1942 (Sunday)

  In the morning at home, in the afternoon on a walk.

  11. V. 1942 (Monday)

  From today on there are rations for vegetables.

  In the morning at school, in the afternoon outside.

  12. V. 1942 (Tuesday)

  In the morning in town, in the afternoon at school.

  I was tested in German.

  13. V. 1942 (Wednesday)

  In the morning at school.

  300 crowns were stolen from Fischhoffova in girls’ PE.

  I am attaching an example of how newspapers write today (Narodni politika).31

  14. V. 1942 (Thursday)

  In the morning at home and outside.

  I was studying really hard, because and for the reason that I will volunteer to be tested in geography on Friday.

  I have also started the construction of the small steamship Delavar.

  In the afternoon at school.

  15. V. 1942 (Friday)

  In the morning at school, in the afternoon at the ambulatory clinic and at home.

  16. V. 1942 (Saturday)

  It rained heavily in the morning. I went to visit Popper.

  In the afternoon at home. I typed the class magazine Outlook on the typewriter.

  I’m doing it all alone and it’s a lot of work.

  17. V. 1942 (Sunday)

  Homework in the morning. In the afternoon outside.

  18. V. 1942 (Monday)

  In the morning at school, in the afternoon at home.

  I am redoing the map of Gross-deutsche-Reich because I was told that in the one that I had in my exercise book Moravia looked like a sausage.

  19. V. 1942 (Tuesday)

  In the morning at home and in town. In the afternoon at school.

  20. V. 1942 (Wednesday)

  In the morning at school. I had an oral test in geography and I got an A pure as milk. I deserved it for my hard labour!

  In the afternoon I went for a walk with Popper.

  21. V. 1942 (Thursday)

  In the morning in town, in the afternoon at school.

  Tomorrow and on Monday there is no school.

  22. V. 1942 (Friday)

  Home all day, nothing special.

  23. V. 1942 (Saturday)

  Nothing special.

  24. V. 1942 (Sunday)

  Nothing special.

  25. V. 1942 (Monday)

  Nothing special.

  26. V. 1942 (Tuesday)

  In the morning at home, in the afternoon at school.

  27. V. 1942 (Wednesday)

  In the morning at school. I am supposed to get a bad note from Beinkoles. In the afternoon I went for a walk with Popper.

  There was a bomb assassination attempt against SS Gruppenführer Heydrich. That’s why they ordered a state of emergency and people who will be seen today after 9 o’clock and tomorrow before 6 o’clock and won’t stop immediately after being called will be shot dead. There is a reward of 10,000,000 crowns for whoever informs on those responsible for the assassination, and whoever knows about them and does not report it will be shot with his entire family.

  28. V. 1942 (Thursday)

  This morning it was announced that Mr. Heydrich’s life is not in danger. In the afternoon at school.

  In the evening they announced on loudspeakers that eight people have been shot for sheltering unregistered persons. Among them was a seventeen-year-old boy.

  29. V. 1942 (Friday)

  In the morning at school. In the afternoon at home and outside.

  They are looking for someone called Valcik. Reward: 100,000 crowns.

  30. V. 1942 (Saturday)

  In the morning with Popper. I saw a poster about a search for yet another assassin. Reward: 10,000 crowns.

  Forty-five people have been shot for publicly approving of the assassination. We dropped the magazine Die Wehrmacht, which Grandma has been receiving for some time for free, into the Kohners’ mailbox. Mr. Kohner of course thought that Kohner sounds like an Über-German, so Germans are sending it to him for free. We’ll do it again next time.

  In the afternoon at home.

  31. V. 1942 (Sunday)

  I did my homework in the morning. In the afternoon we were all near the slaughterhouse by the rafts. There are five of them.

  The reward of 10,000,000 crowns is being increased due to a contribution from the Protectorate government by another 10,000,000. The first reward came from the leader of the SS.

  1. VI. 1942 (Monday)

  Eighteen people have been shot, mostly for hiding unregistered persons.

  In the morning at school. In the afternoon at home and outside.

  In Berlin there was an attack on the Soviet Paradise exhibit and some Jews were caught nearby. So 250 [Jews] were shot and 250 deported to concentration camps.

  2. VI. 1942 (Tuesday)

  In the morning at home and in town, in the afternoon at school. All of Liben is closed, something was going on there, because some people in my class who are from Liben heard that someone was shot at while looking out the window. They had vehicles with German soldiers driving around there and if people (it was at about 5 o’clock) looked out the window, they shot at them. All older girls from Liben were taken away, their hair was washed, and they were let go. They are looking for some blonde who held a bicycle for the assassins.

  Jews are not allowed to go to barbers.

  3. VI. 1942 (Wednesday)

  In the morning at school, in the afternoon with Popper.

  In Berlin there was an attack on the exhibition Soviet Paradise and Jews were caught nearby. Immediately 250 [Jews] were executed, 250 [were sent] to a concentration camp.

  4. VI. 1942 (Thursday)

  Flags are everywhere at half-mast or black. Heydrich probably died. That’s why:

  1. We were sent home early.

  2. On Friday we don’t have to go to school.

  3. On Friday a new transport will be called up, which has to report on Sunday.

  Re 1,2: there will probably be marches and demonstrations.

  In the afternoon at school.

  5. VI. 1942 (Friday)

  The report about SS Obergruppenführer Heydrich’s death has been confirmed.

  His picture in a black frame completely covers the front page of the newspapers. From 3 P.M. on Saturday until 8 A.M. on Monday Jews are not allowed to walk in Prikopy, Narodni Avenue, Wenceslas Square, and in many other places.

  Rather than remember them all, I prefer to sit at home.

  6. VI. 1942 (Saturday)

  I went for a walk with Popper. In the afternoon at Grandma’s.

  7. VI. 1942 (Sunday)

  I started my new book, The Wizard from the Altay Mountains.

  My earlier novel, Visit from Prehistory, is
now in Hradec.

  The Kohners are leaving this morning. They said good-bye to all of us.

  There were tears, of course. Every one of them has about 80 kg of luggage.

  They have to be in the exhibition grounds at 8:30.—In the afternoon at home.

  8. VI. 1942 (Monday)

  In the morning at school, in the afternoon at home.

  9. VI. 1942 (Tuesday)

  The train carrying R. Heydrich left for Berlin, where he was buried today. That’s why there have to be flags at half-mast everywhere, or black ones.—Many new pupils have been accepted this afternoon, among them Harry Popper. We had a German test.

  The Kohners were supposed to leave today but I don’t know if they did because twelve hundred persons were called up for the transport but only a thousand left. The rest have to wait for the next one. The food at the exhibition ground is very bad.

  10. VI. 1942 (Wednesday)

  In the morning at school. I got an A minus on yesterday’s test.

  In the afternoon at home.

  11. VI. 1942 (Thursday)

  In the morning in town, in the afternoon at school. We had a maths test; I think I got two questions right and one wrong.

  12. VI. 1942 (Friday)

  Uncle Milos has been called up for Theresienstadt? Poland?

  Maybe Grandma as well.

  Baum (The Fatty) from our class is going.

  13. VI. 1942 (Saturday)

  In the morning at home, in the afternoon at Grandma’s.

  I heard there was a big massacre near Kladno. They found a secret transmitter and plenty of ammunition. That’s why they shot all the men, women and children were taken to concentration camps, and the village (it was quite big, about a thousand houses) has been burned down. The fire could be seen from Bila Hora. When firemen came and wanted to put it out, the Germans shot at them.

  14. VI. 1942 (Sunday)

  In the morning I did homework; in the afternoon I went to the Miloses to say good-bye.

  There is a new ditty about Jews, I’ll try to get a copy of it.

  Uncle Milos is going tomorrow morning.

  15. VI. 1942 (Monday)

  In the morning at school. A Czech grammar test. In the afternoon outside.

  16. VI. 1942 (Tuesday)

  In the morning at home and outside, in the afternoon at school.

  17. VI. 1942 (Wednesday)

  Today is the end of the deadline for the [assassin] of Reinhard Heydrich to either give himself up or be handed over. A German soldier was shot dead in Branik and two policemen were killed in Liben when they demanded someone’s identity card. He reached into his pocket but instead of an identity card pulled out a gun and shot them both dead. But he was caught and he may be R. Heydrich’s assassin.

  18. VI. 1942 (Thursday)

  In the morning I went for a walk. I am now reading Kondelik and Vejvara, a book we were lent by Hanka Ginz.

  In the afternoon at school. I got a D on a maths test.

  I showed my cannon in class in front of an audience.

  Partly as a precaution against giving away the explosive (phosphorus) before uninvited eyes, partly to fasten the fuse, I covered the glass at the end with a layer of wax.

  19. VI. 1942 (Friday)

  In the morning at school. I organized the third lottery draw. The first prize of 20 crowns fell to Milos Mautner, who gave it up in favor of Zinn.

  In the afternoon I went for a walk.

  I heard they caught the assassins in Boromejsky church. The chaplain hid them there. When Eva walked past it she heard shooting and she saw shattered windows. Again they executed 153 people.

  20. VI. 1942 (Saturday)

  In the morning at home. In the afternoon at Grandma’s. We have to completely avoid Narodni Avenue. We walk down Truhlarska, across Hybernske (Republiky) Square, past Bambino, past the mint, we cross to the other side, where they sell suitcases, we walk past St. Havel’s, Sel, across the Zelny market, past Martin in the Wall, down the police street, and through the small tunnel under Narodni Avenue.

  21. VI. 1942 (Sunday)

  Homework in the morning and in the afternoon. In the afternoon we also went outside.

  22. VI. 1942 (Monday)

  In the morning at school, in the afternoon homework.

  23. VI. 1942 (Tuesday)

  In the morning in town and at home, in the afternoon at school.

  Czech composition: Which topics in natural history am I interested in?

  I wrote: Mr. Pu’s woe and bliss in the Silurian System.

  24. VI. 1942 (Wednesday)

  We are taught by Mr. Weislitz instead of Mr. David, who was arrested (together with his wife).—According to version No. 1 Mr. David was arrested because of talking freely, version No. 2 says his friend was arrested and informed on him that they had been in contact, and version No. 3 says that he let himself be accused so that he could go to Kolin, because his parents are currently leaving from there with a transport.

  25. VI. 1942 (Thursday)

  In the morning at home. In the afternoon at school.

  26. VI. 1942 (Friday)

  They are distributing the new transport notices.

  Only Germans receive cherries. Pavel saw a woman who was holding a child and pinching its bottom. The child was crying and the woman was saying it was because he wanted strawberries, and begged that they should give her at least ¼ kg.

  In the morning at school.

  27. VI. 1942 (Saturday)

  Our teachers Mr. Beinkoles and Miss Polakova are leaving, and Fabian. In the afternoon at Grandma’s.

  28. VI. 1942 (Sunday)

  The Miloses were here and Eva II. Our Eva is ill, or she’s at least pretending, so she won’t have to go to school.

  29. VI. 1942 (Monday)

  Yesterday I received a summons to come today to Bet Ha’am32 at 33 Dlouha Street. So I went there today, as our art class was cut by two hours on account of Mr. Beinkoles’s departure. It has to do with support services for transports. The one leaving now is full of old people. They say the youngest man on it is fifty-four, the oldest ninety-four years old. In the afternoon I went as part of the support service to paint numbers for a Martin Heymann at 18 Balbinova Street. I received 10 crowns.

  I thought I had run out of paint and I wanted to go back to Dlouha to get more, but on the way my paintbrush fell on me and messed me up nicely. This way, I realized that it still had paint in it, went back, and happily finished the job. The lady who was preparing it all for the old man said that I probably put a “broche”33 on it. That woman laughs a lot (she is an Aryan) and the old man walks around with a hot water bottle to warm his armpits and sometimes sits in a rocking chair. He is incapable of doing anything. I was given 3 crowns for travel and a daily identity card. I’ve earned 10 crowns.

  30. VI. 1942 (Tuesday)

  I did more running around for the Hilfsdienst34 and earned 5 crowns.

  In the afternoon I was in school. I’ll have all A’s on my report card. Miss Lauscherova told me this so that I can tell Grandma before she leaves.

  A German man threw me off the tram in a very rough manner. He said Heraus! Out! In the proper order, first in German, then in Czech, and I had to get off; he said I was carrying an unwrapped duvet.

  So I had to run in terrible rain all the way to the Hilfsdienst.

  1. VII. 1942 (Wednesday)

  In the morning at school. In the afternoon again with the Hilfsdienst.

  Grandma received the summons to a transport.

  2. VII. 1942 (Thursday)

  In the morning with the Hilfsdienst, and I earned 10 crowns.

  3. VII. 1942 (Friday)

  In the morning at school. I was stamping the report cards and of course saw them all while doing that (our class).

  In the afternoon at home. I started making a gun based on phosphorus. The idea was suggested to me by the awesome power of this explosive that recently, when I was shooting from a reloading cannon, tore the latter into pieces. My hand was bl
eeding in two places, Harry Popper (he was accepted into the school along with many others, because it is no longer allowed to take school exams like last year. So they will be tested like other children and receive a report card.) was also bleeding in two places, but on his neck, Traub had a cut on his forehead, and there were glass shards all over the classroom. I shot several times before from an ordinary cannon to the great amazement of all pupils, but now they are starting to be afraid of this “project” and close their eyes when it shoots.

  In the afterenoon I was with the Hilfsdienst.

  I won’t tell Mummy about that report card; I want her to be surprised!

  4. VII. 1942 (Saturday)

  With the Hilfsdienst in the afternoon. I have an appointment to do some work all the way in Strasnice. I won’t be able to go in the afternoon, because Saturday afternoon from 3 o’clock and all day Sunday Jews are not allowed to travel, just as they are not allowed to walk down forbidden streets. I have a weekly pass to let me go through them and I do so, but so far no one has stopped me. There were three of us in Strasnice and we were given 300 crowns, although we hardly did anything.

  5. VII. 1942 (Sunday)

  In the morning at home, in the afternoon outside.

  6. VII. 1942 (Monday)

  In the morning at school.

  Grandma went to the exhibition ground at 2 o’clock. She is leaving on Thursday.

  7. VII. 1942 (Tuesday)

  In the morning with the Hilfsdienst.

  In the afternoon they told us at school that we have no classes tomorrow. Only those who are practicing the Psalm “Nach Osten neig die Stern derb schimmern Zions reste im Abendrot”35 should come. Unfortunately I am among them.

  We were photographed. The photographer stood on the table, we sat organized on benches. The camera was a wooden box on four collapsible legs. It stood on the table, the photographer prepared the magnesium, lit it, and took a picture of us in the resulting flash. It took only 3–4 seconds.

  8. VII. 1942 (Wednesday)

  In the morning at school for Psalm rehearsal. In the afternoon at home.

  9. VII. 1942 (Thursday)

  Mummy was in Veletrh early at 5 A.M. to see Grandma board the train at Bubenec station. But soldiers were chasing her away from the street (the transport Jews walked in groups of fifty accompanied by soldiers along the southern tracks), so she ran up from the other side and saw Grandma getting into a personal carriage.