Abstract Narrative begins with lengthy and detailed introspective account of the factors involved in attempting to deal with his Holocaust experience. Concerned with the moral issues of recollecting and assessing past events, he has felt strong urge to record his life during the war years but was inhibited from doing so. Born in Lodz in 1924 to working-class secular, socialist family, consisting of parents, older brother and younger sister. Describes family conditions in pre-war Poland and the changes that occur at the outbreak of the war.
Bombs fall in their neighbourhood.
Father and brother leave Lodz for eastern part of the country, but later return. Description of living conditions in the ghetto and his attempts at finding work to supplement the family income. Family attempts to escape ghetto and join father who works in a small town, but attempt is foiled and they return to Lodz. Describes his many jobs within the ghetto factories and provides an account of the industrial-economic situation in the ghetto. Relates the role of Rumkofsky as Jewish head of the ghetto.