 Schmid's office, with 150 Jewish workers at the time, was only allocated 15 permits, which covered 60 Jews including holders and family members.The Jews called these certificates "leave from death papers" because they usually prevented the police and SS from rounding up and murdering the holders.The other 90 Jews begged Schmid to drive them in "Wehrmacht" trucks to the nearby town of Lida, Belarus, where they believed that they would be safer.