On February 4, Salomon Frank, a resident of the ghetto, wrote in his diary about the continuation of the deportations. He mentioned the rumor that the Gestapo had ordered the deportation of 5,000 Jews and that:
According to the order, the first group must be sent on the 15th [of February]. Hundreds of women went mad on the streets.
As was written in The Chronicle of the Lodz Ghetto, the preparations for the deportation began on February 12, when the Judenrat had to prepare the deportation lists. The initial list had 3,000 names and included the following: 300 men who worked in pumping sewage and bringing it to the main manholes; 300 additional people who had committed various felonies; those receiving welfare benefits; reserve workers; and some Jewish police informers, among them the well-known Mr. H.G. (who remains anonymous)....