Escape from the ghetto of Cracow will not be easy. The
Germans have posted guards all around the Jewish area and have threatened
the police of the Judenrat with immediate execution if Jews are
allowed to escape. But
you think to yourself,
if the Germans are going to kill me anyway, I have an obligation to
myself to try to escape. I want to live.
During an Aktion, you hide in a room, concealed behind a stove. When the Jewish police search the house, they pass by your hiding place; after all, who would want to move a red-hot stove? As they leave, you breathe deeply. For the moment, at least, you are safe. Getting out of the ghetto, however, will still require a great deal of luck.
Some people have managed to escape by crawling through the underground sewer pipes. This appears to be the sole way to get out alive since the only people who leave the ghetto legally are those who, have died of disease or starvation, are carried out on carts, and buried in the old Jewish cemetery. Remembering this gives you an idea.
If you decide to escape through the sewer pipes, continue to page 46.
If you choose to escape by some original plan, continue to page 47.