It is in the first chapter of this unforgettable story
that we are told of the first three ways in which the Germans curtailed the civil rights
of the Jewish community. This started of during the eight days of passover. We are
told:
On the
seventh day of Passover, the curtain finally rose: the Germans arrested the leaders of
the Jewish community.
The
author comments that, looking back, this marked the "trigger" as it were for so much
else. In his words, "The race toward death had
begun."
Three edicts are mentioned in quick succession,
each of which curtailed various rights of the Jews. Firstly, Jews were prohibited from
leaving their residences for three days, under penalty of death. Secondly, Jews for
forbidden to own gold, jewellery or any valuables. Thirdly, every Jew had to wear the
yellow star. Unfortunately, these were not the only edicts - there came many more, and
this was before the ghettos were created as well.
Each of
these edicts marked the further erosion of civil liberties of the Jewish community and
the further slide towards the Holocaust.
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