March 1942 was a cold month, with temperatures dropping to -15°C, sometimes even -20°C.[1] The mortality rate in the ghetto was higher (2,224 deaths) than in the previous months, and suicides occurred almost daily. On March 4, a fifty-six year-old woman (S.T.) jumped to her death from the bridge above Zgierska Street.[2]
The monthly report compiled by the Registry Office at the ghetto administration stated that weddings were more frequent due to the deportations. People came to register marriages in order to settle family matters before deportation, others in an attempt to escape deportation. There were also cases of young couples marrying in order to be deported together:
“The ceremony took place with ‘a rucksack on their backs,’ the newlyweds would go from the wedding hall directly to Czarnieckiego [the assembly point]. … Scenes in which parents, having been summoned for deportation, stood under the chupa, giving their blessing to the young couple, have been deeply engraved and left their marks and… scars…”[3] ...