Read The End of Days Online

Authors: Helen Sendyk

Tags: #Biography & Autobiography, #Historical, #History, #Holocaust, #test

The End of Days (24 page)

 
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not have found it if it weren't for the help of our trustworthy Polish neighbor.
Through the frozen mud we marched, shivering in our inadequate clothes. In the marketplace we were assembled with a multitude of people. Selections were taking place, and we stood for hours. Nachcia held on to my hand when we marched through the row of SS men.
"How old are you?" I was asked.
"Sixteen," I answered, straining on tiptoe to look taller and older than my fourteen years.
The German hesitated for a moment and then pronounced the verdict: "Right!" Nachcia followed me closely.
Behind us was Blimcia, with Aiziu in her arms. "Left!" he ordered, and Blimcia disappeared among the thousands of weaker people, women with children, and older folks. Nachcia became frenzied, knowing it was not good to be sent where Blimcia had been ordered to go. But we could do nothing. We had also lost sight of Jacob, and we did not know what had happened to Vrumek, or to Sholek.
The Nazis had their bayonets raised high, as if ready for a savage battle charge. The two-legged German shepherds were pushing around thousands of innocent, helpless people. Women and children were being dragged from their husbands and fathers. There were loud cries and broken sobs from the newly bereaved of all ages. The selecting and counting did not stop until late afternoon. The Stapler clan seemed reduced to two, Nachcia holding on to me for dear life. We were then marched to the railroad station and loaded into cattle cars for a long journey.
Our precious, fiercely loyal older sister Blimcia, with her cherubic baby Aiziu, was deported on February 18, 1943, in the action that finally made Chrzanow
Judenrein
, Jew free. The town of Chrzanow once counted over twenty thousand Jewish souls comprising more than fifty percent of the total population. Thus was carried out the final solution to the Jewish problem in the town of Chrzanow, where Jews had resided since the sixteenth century. Here they perpetuated the Jewish
 
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way of life while being dedicated citizens of their country. They served kings, petty princes, and elected officials. They served in the Polish army, paid taxes, and labored productively. Now, the only Jews left were the Jewish dead.
 
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Chapter 14
After Sholek had helped the women up the attic ladder that fateful morning, his heart was bursting with bitterness. He burned for the chance to fight for his life. Seventeen years old, eager to live, he could not bring himself to crawl into that grave under the roof to suffocate there like a hunted animal. He was ready to run, to fight.
With his neighbor Iziek behind him, he first thought of running towards the city to Aunt Esther's. But it was too late. From afar Sholek could see the approaching Germans, their rifles at the ready against unarmed Jewish women and children. He was bitter and furious, but if he wanted to survive, he had to hide fast. Seeing the Germans in front of the house, he grabbed Iziek and ducked behind the building, where they
 
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disappeared into the fields. From behind a high stack of dead weeds, Sholek saw the soldiers enter the house.
He lay there near Iziek on the cold ground, shivering, praying for the safety of his family.
Sholek's prayers were not answered. He saw the Nazis drag all the people out of the house. He could see that Blimcia, Jacob, Aiziu, Nachcia, and I were all caught. Hot tears rolled down his frozen face. He felt alone and forsaken, lying there with only young Iziek as his companion. Now they were orphans. They saw the Germans march their families away. They heard the last echoes of the cries and sobs, and then all fell quiet, quiet as a cemetery. They were afraid to raise their heads or get up until the SS pulled out and the action was completely over.
They waited until nightfall, and under cover of darkness they ventured quietly back into the silent house. Sholek tiptoed up to the second floor and saw a strip of heavy tape across the door. On it was stamped
JUDENREIN
. Sholek was afraid to tear open the seal. If the Germans were to come back, they would know immediately that someone was at large, and they would hunt him down. He and Iziek went back to the fields, feeling disconsolate. The night grew ever colder. Their limbs felt numb and stiff. Little Iziek whimpered and kept asking Sholek what they were to do.
"We are going to wait until the Madeias and Palkas go to sleep, and then we will go back to the house," Sholek responded decisively. He was wary of the Polish neighbors, suspecting that they might have turned over his family and the Lieblichs to the SS. When no more lights flickered in the house, Sholek nudged his sleeping friend. Quietly they stole back into the house.
Vrumek reported back to duty at the headquarters of the Jewish community council, where he was subsequently assigned to the Jewish hospital. He was to make sure that no one entered or left the building. Hearing that, Vrumek understood that the hospital was going to be evacuated. He couldn't stand idly by and let helpless people be victimized, and he could not
 
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help the German enemy carry out these bestial, murderous acts. He had always managed to escape these dirty jobs before, and he was not about to aid Nazi terror now. For a short time he was the only militiaman in the hospital. He noticed that some of the patients were able to walk on their own. He went over to them and quietly whispered, ''There is going to be a major action. If you are at all able to get dressed and get out of here, escape now and save yourselves."
Vrumek did not know what to anticipate, but word spread quickly.
"You are a young hothead," one man said angrily to Vrumek. "You do not realize what you are doing by spreading panic among sick, helpless people. Did you take into account that most of the patients couldn't make it very far?"
"But maybe some will make it," Vrumek answered, convinced that he was right in trying to help the people who might be able to save themselves.
The Germans might even be looking for the renegade policeman who had spread the word and allowed people to escape. Vrumek therefore went through all the rooms and floors, checking all entrances and exits for an escape route. When he heard the Germans coming, he fled to the roof, where he found a tiny laundry room. He buried himself in the dirty laundry and waited. In the commotion that followed, no one noticed him missing.
The Germans employed the Jewish policemen to carry all the patients out into waiting trucks. When it finally got quiet, Vrumek was apprehensive. He knew that if he were discovered, he'd be shot. From his hiding place on the roof, he observed the Germans marching more and more people to the marketplace. Waiting for darkness, Vrumek removed his hat and armband and sped home. He ran through the dark fields, circumventing the city to get to Zielona Street safely. He sneaked into the house, avoiding the Palkas on the ground floor, and scrambled up the stairs. There he was suddenly surprised by the upstairs neighbor, Mr. Madeia. Vrumek stopped in his tracks. At the same time he noticed the fateful
 
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seal on the door. He started mumbling an explanation when Mr. Madeia spoke up.
"Mr. Vrumek, you are still here? They took them all out from up there. There is no one left, only Sholek. He was here before. He thought I didn't see him, but I did. I saw him flee from the house."
"When was that?" Vrumek asked.
"Oh, just a short while ago."
"Where did he go?" Vrumek asked eagerly.
"Why, I have no idea," the Pole said in an even, matter-offact tone.
Vrumek was shocked and distraught at finding out that he had lost his entire family to the SS purge. With the seal on the apartment and Madeia having seen him here, their home was as good as burnt down. He would have to run and somehow find Sholek. He could not tamper with the seal now, in Madeia's presence. The Pole would probably run for the Germans or accuse Vrumek of endangering his life.
"Thank you, Mr. Madeia," Vrumek managed to say at last. "If you see Sholek again, please tell him that I was here and I will return."
He only risked this statement because he was so desperate to find Sholek. He quickly left the house, then circled around it, hoping to find some solution to his dilemma. He waited for all the lights to go out and then went back into the house. Quietly, he felt his way up the steps in the dark.
Suddenly he thought he heard someone. He paused and listened, wary of Madeia catching him again in the hallway. Coming closer, he could hear someone tampering with the seal upstairs. It was probably Madeia trying to loot his Jewish neighbors' apartment; the Polish vultures always followed the German jackals.
He stood very still, straining his eyes in the dark. No, the figure was too slender to be Madeia. "Sholek," Vrumek whispered.
Sholek spun around sharply. Instantly the two brothers were in each others' arms. Together they opened the seal, only a few feet away from their neighbor Madeia.
 
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Once inside they recounted the day's events and the prospects for escape. They came to the conclusion that Chrzanow was now
Judenrein
, leaving them like two survivors of a shipwreck in a shark-infested sea. They had to flee Chrzanow. They prayed and thanked the Almighty that at least they had each other.
"This might be the last time we will be able to pray," Vrumek said, "so let us pray with all our might. We will get some rest here and leave before dawn."
"You sleep, Vrumek, and I will watch," Sholek offered, scared that they might be caught in their own house by the Germans or the neighbors.
Vrumek reassured Sholek that the action was hardly over. "This is the first night, and the Germans are still busy with people at the railroad station. And Madeia will probably want to be sure that the Germans are not coming back before he comes looting. So it is safe for us here tonight, safer than elsewhere."
Unbelievably tense and tired, they slept fitfully, rising before dawn. They picked out some warm clothes, took whatever money was left in the house, and stole out. Wearing their caps low over their eyes, they took to the fields and began walking away from town.
"There is only one place we can go," Vrumek said. "To Sosnowiec. There are still Jews there." In the predawn darkness, Sholek and Vrumek said good-bye to Chrzanow, the town where they had been born and raised. The brothers felt the history of the moment, the finality of this departure and the additional sorrow of giving up young Iziek, who was nowhere to be found.
They fled without looking back, like Lot leaving Sodom and Gomorrah; they were afraid they would see the German beasts following them, like Pharaoh's soldiers pursuing the Hebrews into the Red Sea. Walking through the fields and back roads, they hid in ditches when they spotted Germans. They carried no documents; they would try to pass as Gentiles if caught.
Two little passport photos of Mama and Papa were hidden in Vrumek's shoe. He did not tell Sholek about the pictures,
 
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not wanting to burden Sholek with his morbid fears, but he could not leave the house without these mementos. He could not even take the smallest prayer book with him, but at least he had saved his parents' pictures. Vrumek felt that Mama and Papa were with him in some way, and that the two brothers should survive for their parents' sake.
In the late morning they reached the city of Sosnowiec and headed straight for the ghetto. Sosnowiec was a much larger town than Chrzanow, and a stranger could get lost in the crowd. But the brothers still had to find a place to stay. They had no friends or relatives in this large city; the only living contacts that could be of any help were the girls who used to shop from Papa at the beginning of the war. Without their addresses, though, Vrumek and Sholek had absolutely no idea where to find them. Besides, they might all have been deported by now.
Finding the Jewish community council was their next step. At least it had a kitchen where the brothers could get something hot to eat. Depressed, subdued, and drained, they were sitting on a bench, lingering over bowls of hot soup, when a man came over to them.
"Aren't you from Chrzanow?" he asked.
"Yes, we are," they answered eagerly. "We are the sons of Reb Symche Stapler from the fruit and delicatessen store on Mickiewicza Street. Are you from Chrzanow, too?" Vrumek asked.
"Yes, I am a Chrzanower. My name is Aharon Schlanger. My wife was from here, but she has been deported, and I am staying with my mother-in-law."
"Maybe your mother-in-law will let us sleep over a night or two until we find a place to stay. We don't know anyone in this city, and we just arrived."
"My mother-in-law is no bargain, but I will try. Come with me," Aharon Schlanger said.
Aharon had come to the committee house to search for anyone from his own family in Chrzanow. Instead, he found two Stapler brothers. Not that he was thrilled with them, but

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