[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Zawadki where they spent the night in a large unheated mill building.
"We will blow up the mill," argued Rebbe, hawking up a big glob of phlegm and
deliberately missing Josef's boot by the space of a finger. "We could rush the
Nazi bastards there." But the rumor had also said that in Zawadki there were
SS barracks, "We could dynamite the SS barracks," said Avenger. "If we had
enough dynamite. If we dared." But he said it with a grin to show that even he
thought it was a terrible idea. His smile was so infec-
tious, a small laugh ran around the circle of plotters.
"The schloss," said Ash, and the tree brothers agreed with him.
The rumor said that it was in a schloss, a castle, that the prisoners were
held.
But Josef shook his head vigorously and threw his hat on the ground. "We want
to live, not die. We want to save people, not be martyrs. Yes?" He spoke
directly to Rebbe, but he meant it for them all. And he spoke with such ardor,
they all nodded their heads: yes, yes, yes.
"Then we must follow where they take the prisoners, and rescue who is left
alive." For the final part of the rumor said that this was a camp on wheels.
On wheels. They did not know what that meant, but they meant to find out.
That night, and without further preparation, three men-Birch, Ash, and
Page 93
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Avenger-went to watch the trains come into Powiercie. Three men-Rowan, Rebbe,
and Holz-Wadel-went to scout the mill build-
ing. Three men-the brothers Hammer, Anvil, and Rod-went to check on the SS
barracks. And one man-Josef, because he was not
Jewish, because he spoke both Polish and German with an aristo-
cratic accent-actually went into the town of Chelmno, called Kulm-
hof by the Germans, to see what he could find out.
The brothers never returned. If they were captured, if they were tortured,
they surely gave nothing away. But they were gone as if they had never been.
So it was with this war.
The others met back in the woods three nights later to report.
"The trains are heavily guarded, soldiers everywhere," said Birch.
158
Jane Men
"The mill likewise," Rebbe said. "Bastards!" He spit ground, but this time
away from Josef.
For a moment they were silent, thinking about the SS ba thinking about the
brothers and their fate, wondering if the alive, believing that they were
dead, willing still to wait but ing nothing. So it was with everyone Josef had
met in the in the woods. One day a man was there, the next he was i did not
even have any more tears.
"What of the town?" Holz-Wadel asked, the sentence eve mouth, without emotion,
without fear, almost without hc most.
"The town," Josef said, and for a moment stopped. Wha he say? It was nothing,
that town. Small, insignificant, a sinj through it and mud-colored. A church,
a fine house for the i a ruined castle surrounded by high wooden walls
festoont barbed wire. And Nazis everywhere.
"I hitched a ride with a local man, on his hay cart. His ho as old as he, and
with probably as few teeth. He was quii tive."
"The horse?" Avenger asked, but he winked at Josef to sl joke.
"The horse had little to say, but the man spoke like at horse pulling an ass,"
Josef said. The others laughed.
"I told him I was a Potocki and he pulled his forelock. F.
if I was traveling home, and I agreed. To see my mother, I ti
He had a cousin who had once seen my mother, he said, on to a ball. Or maybe
it was my grandmother. A fine wc:
handsome woman, he said, if he could be allowed the com
I said he could."
"Ah, the aristocracy . . ." Rebbe said. This time he did
"Then the old man looked at the road and gave a little s the reins as if that
could urge the old horse on. 'The Jews, mumbling between widely spaced teeth,
'they are like leec wound. Better to salt them down.' "
The woodcutters grumbled at this.
"I did not say it-he did," Josef said. "But I asked him I
salt was to be applied. And he told me that it was to directly. There. In
Chelmno. And he was glad of it. 'How
I asked. And he said the Jews of the Warthegau were being
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by freight trains to the Kolo junction, transferred to another train on the
narrow-gauge track, and proceeding to Powiercie."
"Maybe we could dynamite the tracks between Kolo and Powier-
cle," mused Holz-Wadel, but the others ignored him.
"He said that transports from the ghetto came in special twelve-
car trains from Lodz."
"We saw one, then," Birch interrupted.
"Yes-twelve cars," Ash added. "We counted."
"And over a hundred police accompanying it," Avenger put in.
"That's what the old man said." Josef nodded. "A special unit."
"For an ass, he certainly brayed a lot." Rebbe hawked up, thought better of
it, and swallowed his spit.
"What of the town?" Holz-Wedel prompted again, and again without emotion,
neither impatience nor anger.
"They come by van to the schloss, " Josef said. "This I saw myself.
Through the gates. I could not get closer."
"And the old man? What did he say about them once they are inside?" asked the
boy, putting his hand on Josef's arm.
Josef was silent for a long moment, remembering. When he
spoke, his voice was low, on the verge of a whisper. "He said that they go in
and they come out but it is not the same. And he laughed.
I laughed with him. We had a good laugh at those Jews." His arm was trembling
under the boy's hand. "I saw several men walking, their ankles in chains. I
pointed at them. We had another laugh."
"And the town?" Holz-Wedel said.
"It is small and full of SS men. The vans that take the Jews from the schloss
head out of town, towards a forest. I did not go there nor show any interest
in it. It would have been too suspicious. The old man and I laughed all the
way through Chelmno, about the Jews, about the Gypsies, about social deviants,
about fags. How we laughed. He admired the crest on my ring. I laughed and
said farewell, He would have invited me to his home to meet his wife but I was
afraid I might murder him in his kitchen. I said my mother was expecting me
and the one thing she would not tolerate is that
I be late. He nodded. He understood."
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ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"Towards a forest . mused Holz-Wedel, and there was the tiniest bit of emotion
in his voice.
160
Jane Men
They circled carefully through the woods towards the far
Chelmno. It took them three nights traveling, three days hi carefully dug
trenches, the tops overlaced with branches. Th taking no chances. They came at
last, round and about, to tl of the forest. Up to twenty feet away were
alfalfa fields, the flowers moving sluggishly in a puzzling wind. There were
hutches at the field's end, and they could see three men an of about thirteen [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl chiara76.opx.pl
Zawadki where they spent the night in a large unheated mill building.
"We will blow up the mill," argued Rebbe, hawking up a big glob of phlegm and
deliberately missing Josef's boot by the space of a finger. "We could rush the
Nazi bastards there." But the rumor had also said that in Zawadki there were
SS barracks, "We could dynamite the SS barracks," said Avenger. "If we had
enough dynamite. If we dared." But he said it with a grin to show that even he
thought it was a terrible idea. His smile was so infec-
tious, a small laugh ran around the circle of plotters.
"The schloss," said Ash, and the tree brothers agreed with him.
The rumor said that it was in a schloss, a castle, that the prisoners were
held.
But Josef shook his head vigorously and threw his hat on the ground. "We want
to live, not die. We want to save people, not be martyrs. Yes?" He spoke
directly to Rebbe, but he meant it for them all. And he spoke with such ardor,
they all nodded their heads: yes, yes, yes.
"Then we must follow where they take the prisoners, and rescue who is left
alive." For the final part of the rumor said that this was a camp on wheels.
On wheels. They did not know what that meant, but they meant to find out.
That night, and without further preparation, three men-Birch, Ash, and
Page 93
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Avenger-went to watch the trains come into Powiercie. Three men-Rowan, Rebbe,
and Holz-Wadel-went to scout the mill build-
ing. Three men-the brothers Hammer, Anvil, and Rod-went to check on the SS
barracks. And one man-Josef, because he was not
Jewish, because he spoke both Polish and German with an aristo-
cratic accent-actually went into the town of Chelmno, called Kulm-
hof by the Germans, to see what he could find out.
The brothers never returned. If they were captured, if they were tortured,
they surely gave nothing away. But they were gone as if they had never been.
So it was with this war.
The others met back in the woods three nights later to report.
"The trains are heavily guarded, soldiers everywhere," said Birch.
158
Jane Men
"The mill likewise," Rebbe said. "Bastards!" He spit ground, but this time
away from Josef.
For a moment they were silent, thinking about the SS ba thinking about the
brothers and their fate, wondering if the alive, believing that they were
dead, willing still to wait but ing nothing. So it was with everyone Josef had
met in the in the woods. One day a man was there, the next he was i did not
even have any more tears.
"What of the town?" Holz-Wadel asked, the sentence eve mouth, without emotion,
without fear, almost without hc most.
"The town," Josef said, and for a moment stopped. Wha he say? It was nothing,
that town. Small, insignificant, a sinj through it and mud-colored. A church,
a fine house for the i a ruined castle surrounded by high wooden walls
festoont barbed wire. And Nazis everywhere.
"I hitched a ride with a local man, on his hay cart. His ho as old as he, and
with probably as few teeth. He was quii tive."
"The horse?" Avenger asked, but he winked at Josef to sl joke.
"The horse had little to say, but the man spoke like at horse pulling an ass,"
Josef said. The others laughed.
"I told him I was a Potocki and he pulled his forelock. F.
if I was traveling home, and I agreed. To see my mother, I ti
He had a cousin who had once seen my mother, he said, on to a ball. Or maybe
it was my grandmother. A fine wc:
handsome woman, he said, if he could be allowed the com
I said he could."
"Ah, the aristocracy . . ." Rebbe said. This time he did
"Then the old man looked at the road and gave a little s the reins as if that
could urge the old horse on. 'The Jews, mumbling between widely spaced teeth,
'they are like leec wound. Better to salt them down.' "
The woodcutters grumbled at this.
"I did not say it-he did," Josef said. "But I asked him I
salt was to be applied. And he told me that it was to directly. There. In
Chelmno. And he was glad of it. 'How
I asked. And he said the Jews of the Warthegau were being
~e
S,
e
d
Page 94
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
th
as
~a-
ae
A
~d
Ry
A
th dd i a
iat ne
1V
~ht
Briar Rose
159
by freight trains to the Kolo junction, transferred to another train on the
narrow-gauge track, and proceeding to Powiercie."
"Maybe we could dynamite the tracks between Kolo and Powier-
cle," mused Holz-Wadel, but the others ignored him.
"He said that transports from the ghetto came in special twelve-
car trains from Lodz."
"We saw one, then," Birch interrupted.
"Yes-twelve cars," Ash added. "We counted."
"And over a hundred police accompanying it," Avenger put in.
"That's what the old man said." Josef nodded. "A special unit."
"For an ass, he certainly brayed a lot." Rebbe hawked up, thought better of
it, and swallowed his spit.
"What of the town?" Holz-Wedel prompted again, and again without emotion,
neither impatience nor anger.
"They come by van to the schloss, " Josef said. "This I saw myself.
Through the gates. I could not get closer."
"And the old man? What did he say about them once they are inside?" asked the
boy, putting his hand on Josef's arm.
Josef was silent for a long moment, remembering. When he
spoke, his voice was low, on the verge of a whisper. "He said that they go in
and they come out but it is not the same. And he laughed.
I laughed with him. We had a good laugh at those Jews." His arm was trembling
under the boy's hand. "I saw several men walking, their ankles in chains. I
pointed at them. We had another laugh."
"And the town?" Holz-Wedel said.
"It is small and full of SS men. The vans that take the Jews from the schloss
head out of town, towards a forest. I did not go there nor show any interest
in it. It would have been too suspicious. The old man and I laughed all the
way through Chelmno, about the Jews, about the Gypsies, about social deviants,
about fags. How we laughed. He admired the crest on my ring. I laughed and
said farewell, He would have invited me to his home to meet his wife but I was
afraid I might murder him in his kitchen. I said my mother was expecting me
and the one thing she would not tolerate is that
I be late. He nodded. He understood."
Page 95
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"Towards a forest . mused Holz-Wedel, and there was the tiniest bit of emotion
in his voice.
160
Jane Men
They circled carefully through the woods towards the far
Chelmno. It took them three nights traveling, three days hi carefully dug
trenches, the tops overlaced with branches. Th taking no chances. They came at
last, round and about, to tl of the forest. Up to twenty feet away were
alfalfa fields, the flowers moving sluggishly in a puzzling wind. There were
hutches at the field's end, and they could see three men an of about thirteen [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]