The Jewish Dog (17 page)

A tall man with a rifle stood sentry at the large iron gate
.
He asked the truck driver for his documentation and took down the details
.
We were let into the facility
,
and each dog was placed in a large
,
spacious cell
.
There was a doghouse in the corner of each cell
,
and food and water dishes stood at each entrance
.
These Germans were such an orderly nation
.
It was simply a pleasure.

Each of us was given a name and a trainer
.
My new name was Blitz
.
My fourth name in less than six years
.
My personal trainer was a thin
,
tall
,
and sympathetic man named Ralph Schmidt
.
Ralph had a long
,
pointy noise and big ears
.
He reminded me a little of Donkey Ears
,
may his soul rest in peace
.
He had the same clumsy gait
.
His movements also reminded me of the wobbly
lula
v
that Kalman used to carry on
Sukkos
. His uniform was so big on him that it seemed as though it could fit two Ralphs.

My relationship with Ralph began in a bucket
.
He filled a bucket halfway with water
,
poured some disinfectant inside
,
placed me in
,
and began to scrub
.
The water was a little too hot for me and Ralph's tickling motions made me uncomfortable
,
but I was scrubbed clean
.
Dozens of ticks and fleas that had made my fur their home began floating in the soapy water
,
twitching and jerking.

“What have you done
,
you cursed cur!” one of the ticks shouted at me
.
I recognized its voice
;
it was one of the ticks that had been laughing at me just a few days prior.

“I have decided to keep my blood to myself,” I barked
.
“I'm afraid you'll have to make do with the soap water!”

“Ah yes
,
Blitz,” said my devoted trainer
.
“You do like taking baths
,
very good
.
We'll get all this dirt off you and make you into a dazzling dog
.
What an improvement already
!
A moment ago you were just grey
,
and now your fur is clean – the white is white and the black is black.”

After he washed me a second time in clear water and rinsed out all the soap
,
he began brushing me
.
With each brush stroke
,
he tore out all the knotted hair that had formed around the thorns that were caught in my fur.

Ralph took care of everything I needed
.
Every day he took me out for three walks
,
and twice a day he'd fill my dish with excellent meat
.
We would walk without a leash
.
He would throw pinecones and I would bolt like an arrow to bring them back
.
In order to improve our physical fitness
,
they would let us dogs out every evening
.
We would run around
,
playing together until we ran out of steam.

Our routine included two training periods each day
.
The morning was focused on the art of order and discipline
.
The afternoon was devoted to defense and assault
.
In the mornings
,
we learned how to walk on our trainer's left side
,
how to sit
,
lie
,
and stay still until told otherwise
.
We also learned how to run along a marked line and pass between empty barrels
.
In the afternoons
,
we practiced barking at the signal of a hand
,
baring our teeth on command
,
chasing an escaped convict as a team
,
and charging at a cloth scarecrow
.
A successful attack
,
one that ended with teeth in the neck or a bite at the groin
,
received a round of applause from the trainers.

During the training
,
I noticed what poor concentration skills my fellow canines had
.
After twenty minutes of training
,
they would look bleary-eyed at their trainers
,
as though their brains were on the brink of collapse
.
Not to brag
,
and in all honesty
,
twenty minutes of training were a piece of cake for me
.
I remembered that in my puppyhood
,
I often asked myself if dogs and men were one and the same
.
Now it was clear to me that they were different species
,
but I still wondered which one I was closer to.

The morning training was held in groups
,
and the evening training was one-on-one
.
In the mornings we stood together
,
each dog with his trainer
,
in front of a wooden platform upon which stood the head trainer
,
Jorgen Klein
,
accompanied by his dog Schwantz
.
Schwantz was an example of intelligence and obedience to us all.

“Sitz!”
Jorgen Klein commanded
,
standing by his dog and pointing his finger down
.
Schwantz would sit
,
straight-backed and regal
,
aware of his perfect performance
.
After the demonstration
,
each trainer would turn to his trainee
.
Ralph knew I had no need for this training
.
He'd just whisper
“sitz”
and I would be in sitting position immediately
.
Out of respect to the head trainer
,
Ralph never complained about the wasted time
.
Every morning
,
I would carefully carry out each order Ralph gave me
,
much to the pleasure of the men in charge
.
In the evenings
,
I would work with Ralph on much more complex procedures
.
He would hide metal plates underground
,
and I would mark their locations by sitting next to them and barking
.
At the clap of his hands
,
I would jump over a fence
.
Two claps and I would crawl underneath
.
Ralph would lie on the ground
,
feigning injury
,
and I would catch his coat collar between my teeth and drag him to safety
.
I completed our final exercise flawlessly – I swam across a deep puddle
,
carrying a baton in my mouth.

One evening
,
we were all called into the briefing room
.
My friends and I sniffed each other calmly
.
Jorgen Klein's entrance into the room was accompanied by a loud
“Achtung!”
and the room fell silent
.
Klein cleared his throat
,
looked straight at us
,
and said
,
“I have already mentioned that you will be joining real military activity before you finish this course
.
This will be an important test for you and for the dogs you will be working with
.
Indeed
,
this moment has arrived
.
Allow me to present the commander of the central sector of the Generalgouvernement
,
Obersturmbannführer Klaus Mitternacht.”

CHAPTER 23

W
e sat
,
each dog and his trainer
,
in the back of a truck that headed east
.
The drive was bumpy and long
,
and the need to urinate was getting harder to control
.
The floor of the truck was metallic and uncomfortable
.
The heavy mechanical sound that accompanied the ride didn't make conversation easy.

“I've actually heard that Lublin is a very nice city,” the man seated next to Ralph said loudly.

“The Old Town is quite nice,” Ralph confirmed
.
“But we're not going to be walking around that area today.”

When they finally let us off the truck
,
we found ourselves in an area of densely crowded
,
demolished houses
.
The sidewalks were broken
,
and a trail of fetid waste ran along the side
.
I hurried to find a proper wall to answer the call of nature
.
My fellow dogs and their trainers followed my lead
.
One of the dogs urinated very near the wall I had found
.
I barked at him
,
uncomfortable
.
I hate it when they urinate too close to me.

After a few moments of stretching and familiarizing ourselves with the area
,
Ralph commanded
,
“Blitz
,
come!”

He separated me from the rest of the dogs and trainers in order to keep me away from any scents that might distract me
.
He brought several shirts and pairs of shoes to my snout
.
“Blitz
,
Riechen!”
I sniffed thoroughly
,
as instructed
.
I knew what I must do
.
I put my nose to the ground and started walking toward the origin of the scents
.
For a moment I stopped and looked at Ralph disbelievingly
.
Wasn't this an old familiar smell? The bells of memory were ringing loudly
.
The Gottlieb scent stuck to the clothes I had just sniffed
.
The smell of
kneidlach
in chicken soup
,
of chopped liver
,
gefilte
fish
,
prayer books
,
and fear.

As the other dogs wandered in a somewhat confused manner
,
I was flooded with a wave of yearning
.
The joy of a forthcoming reunion passed through all my limbs and I knew exactly what I was looking for
.
Ralph could barely keep pace with me
.
I led Ralph to a house that was missing one wall
.
The blinds in the window had been partially torn out and were now hanging off a crooked pole
.
The doormat smelled exactly like the shoes Ralph had me sniff
.
I knew that
,
in a moment
,
the owner of the shoes would be found and I would be rewarded with petting
,
and perhaps a biscuit too
.
The pile of cardboard boxes covering half the wall at the end of the hall didn't distract me
.
The smell came through clearly from between the boxes
.
Ralph and the soldiers who accompanied us saw me hitting the boxes with my paw
.
No further hints were needed
.
There were more than ten men crowded together in the room
,
hidden by the pile.

Ralph and the soldiers weren't as excited by the find as I
.
“Schnell! Schnell!”
They poked the men's ribs with their gun barrels
,
forcing them out of their hiding place
.
I shot a puzzled look at Ralph and didn't know what to do
.
The nostalgic Jewish scent spurred me to approach the stumbling men and pounce on them happily
.
But the aggression Ralph was displaying encouraged me to bark and growl at them
.
Ralph yelled at them and called them names
.
He even hit one with the butt of his gun
.
After the men I found were loaded onto the truck
,
Ralph took my head between his hands and kissed me on the forehead.

“Good Blitz!” he said
.
“You did an excellent job.”

He took out more old clothes and I raced off to find what he was looking for
.
Barely five minutes later
,
I was barking at a door leading to a storeroom
.
Ralph acted just as roughly to the three old ladies we found sitting on the ground
.
I felt guilty and confused
.
During our training
,
we always received praise when we found our subject
,
but now the trainers' responses were cold and hostile
.
Did I do something wrong? I looked at Ralph
,
perplexed
.
Did I not find what you wanted? I didn't have time to deliberate any longer
.
A sharp familiar smell pulled me away.

“Slower
,
Blitz!” Ralph gasped as he tried to calm me
,
but the smell was so familiar and inviting that I could not be controlled
.
I was about to find her
!
It seemed as though a blend of all my puppyhood scents was waiting for me right around the corner
.
As though
,
in just a moment
,
I would open my eyes and find a table set for Seder night
,
with all the delicacies I could think of
.
Under a stairwell
,
I found two children
.
A young barefoot boy
,
and his sister who used a cane
.
My perplexity grew – Ralph didn't seem happy at all
.
Were a pair of children
,
just like Herschel and Reizel
,
not a worthy plunder in his eyes? He grabbed the girl's hair and pulled her out of the hiding place
,
as he cursed the boy relentlessly.

“What breed is your dog?” Jorgen Klein asked Ralph.

“I'm honestly not sure
.
He was brought in from the pound
.
He has no documentation.”

Jorgen Klein petted my forehead fondly
.
“I think your dog found more Jews than the rest of the dogs combined.”

“This dog is exceptionally smart and efficient,” Ralph confirmed
.
“From the moment I received him
,
I could tell that he was exceptional
.
As I was washing him in the tub for the first time
,
I was sure he was about to jump out and cry ‘Eureka!'”

Jorgen Klein smiled in agreement
.
“Sometimes we receive excellent dogs from the pound
.
I wonder how he got there
.
He seems used to humans
.
I believe he grew up in a home. . . 
.
He must have been abandoned
.
I wonder if he's ever been trained.”

“I don't understand how anyone could abandon such a wonderful dog. . . 
.
There are some horrible people in the world. . . .”

“Well,” Jorgen Klein said
,
“don't abandon him
!
Treat him well
,
and I will make sure you get a good assignment at the end of the course.”

Ralph thanked him with a bow of the head.

The end of the course was nearing
,
and with it the pinnacle – the training competition.

The competition was divided into three parts
.
For the first part
,
we were required to jump through five hoops
.
The first hoop was low and required no effort
.
The second hoop required a light leap
.
The third was a jump
.
The fourth was already beyond the capability of the older dogs – those who hadn't stayed flexible and in shape couldn't make the jump
.
The fifth hoop was a real challenge
.
Only four dogs managed to clear the jump
.
Marko
,
the Rhodesian ridgeback
,
Nimitz
,
whose trainer explained to everyone that he was a mixed Weimaraner
,
Rommel
,
the fox terrier
,
and yours truly.

The second part tested our catching skills
.
We had to show how well we could intercept twigs and balls
.
It was at this point that I bade farewell to Marko
.
He was incredibly muscular
,
but not very coordinated
.
He would bite the air time and time again
,
as the items flew right past him.

For the final stage
,
we had to overcome the greatest obstacle of all
:
the wall
.
We had to jump over a two meter barrier
.
Nimitz crashed straight into it three times and was disqualified
.
Rommel got so excited he slipped and almost broke his teeth
.
Then it was my turn.

I took a deep breath and tried to calculate how many steps I'd need before I took the leap
.
The key to success was in starting correctly on my left leg
,
tilting my center of mass forward
,
and pushing forcefully off my right leg.

I could hear Ralph's quickened heartbeats
.
He was definitely more nervous than I
.
I ran at a calculated pace and jumped well
.
My front paws managed to grasp the top of the barrier
.
I knew that I wouldn't be able to stay in such a delicate position for long
.
Scratching the wall with my hind legs
,
I managed to raise myself and stand tall and proud at the top of the barrier
.
In order to heighten the drama and extend my moment of glory just a while longer
,
I barked several loud barks before descending the other side of the wall
,
winning Ralph the medal.

During the award ceremony
,
Ralph asked permission to show a new trick he had recently taught me
.
Everyone watched as Ralph whispered in my ear
,
“Well
,
Blitzy
,
please don't embarrass me. . . .”

I sat across from him proudly.

“
Heil Hitler!
” Ralph declared
,
and lifted his arm
.
I replied with a bark and an outstretched right paw
.
The entire crowd burst out laughing and the air vibrated from the effusive applause.

“Blitz
,
my dear,” Ralph told me when we were finally alone
,
“Blitz my dear
,
you are simply a marvelous dog
!
You know everything before I even teach you
.
What can I say? You are a gift from heaven
.
What was I before you came along? Nothing more than a junior dog trainer in the Reich's kennel
.
But now. . . 
.
Now even Jorgen Klein knows my name
.
I get all the praise
,
and I will even receive the badge of honor
.
But don't worry. . . 
.
I'll always remember that at least half of the achievement is yours.”

His praise was sweeping and unrestrained
.
I licked his face in gratitude.

“I have a little surprise for you,” he said as he rolled up his sleeve
.
“Do you see this?”