“Did the villagers also take furniture?” “Yes, each took what he needed. People came with wagons and loaded them up with furniture. Sometimes, they even took the doors.” Pillaging—or, more precisely, the carving up of Jewish households—happened not just publicly but as a collective act by the people of the village. You can’t load a horse-drawn wagon up with furniture in a small town without everyone being aware of it. The phrase resonated in my head: Half the village came to barter.
