One of my hobbies was in trying to keep such watches going that chums had, with very limited equipment. On the German Staff was a member of the Nazi Party acting as Security Officer checking any weaknesses in the camp's barriers, also checking that we were not operating any secret radios. Known as "The Ferret", he also kept a check that their own Guards did not speak derogatory over their war effort or of their leaders (not the most popular, of the camp Staff).
One day he came to me to enquire whether I could repair a rather nice snake skinned case travelling clock. He explained that it belonged to a certain German Officer's wife whose husband was on the Russian Front and he happened to have knocked it off her bedside table (no further details given?) and he now was not allowed to visit her until it was repaired as it had been a parting gift from her husband. I had a query in my own mind whether I should get involved in the Ferret's dubious activities. "Am I my brother’s keeper?" but he was certainly not my brother under our circumstances.
I agreed to look at the clock and found that the balance wheel had jumped out of its bearings, but otherwise nothing broken. Within 5 minutes I had it ticking again, however I considered it not policy to return it straightaway and keep him waiting, to remain in the "Dog House". Each day he came to me enquiring how the repair was going and I explained "Difficult but possible".
By the end of a week we had a very frustrated Security Officer waiting to get back into favour. At last I handed it back to him to put him out of his misery and the next day he came up to me beaming with the words "I am back" (I presume , back in bed!). After a day or so he enquired what he could give me for my trouble.
He explained his job was to see that there were no transactions between prisoners and their guards but this deal was very unofficial from various angles, so what would I like? I mentioned that whilst on working parties in the City, we sometimes passed the main Railway Station and at the entrance was the ticket office, and with not being of a greedy nature? Could he pop in and buy "a single ticket" to London? Not a Return during this period.
Ah! he said, he understood that all tickets to England had been withdrawn upon the Fuhrer's instruction, until Germany occupied the U.K. Sorry and all that. Have you any other ideas? The only other possible be taken into Lodz City and arrange for a proper studio photograph that I could send home to my home folk.
He agreed and on the following Saturday, dressed in borrowed cap and pressed uniform, we went to a studio and in a few days I received 3 postcard size prints. One of these was sewn into my next letter home and I heard that I could not have sent anything better, where they saw I had not wasted away and looked in fairly good health.
A happy outcome, from rather questionable "carrying ons" back in Lodz in those days.