Uncertainty, as well as being unaccustomed to sleeping in a crowded room with strangers, kept us awake. As soon as it was daylight, we set out for the offices of the Judenrat to apply for ration cards and to be assigned a job, for without work there would be no food. The line was already long when we arrived. People filled out forms for job placement and said what they were most suited for. I said I had been in training to become a kindergarten teacher before coming here. “Well, this is your lucky day,” the Jewish policeman said. “An SS officer came in yesterday looking for a nursemaid for his two young daughters. Working for him means you’ll be safe from deportation.” I wanted to ask what he meant by being safe from deportation, but the policeman waved me on. Close contact with an SS family didn’t seem like such a good idea to me; it frightened me. But I was not given a chance to refuse. Mama was assigned a job in a lamp factory. It would become available in a few days, she was told, as soon as the present holder of the job was transported out.
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