The Jewish Dog (22 page)

Joshua and his friends knew that Kuba would sell out his own mother for a cigarette butt
.
They assumed he had sniffed out the unrest and was quick to report to his patrons.

Salzburg turned to Yomtov Lerman and ordered him to report the meeting between Kuba and Küttner to the leaders of the revolt
.
He asked for a pistol on the double
.
Lerman departed with Salzburg's request
,
and Küttner ­exited the shack
,
eyeing the area suspiciously.

He called over a young prisoner who was wandering the grounds without permission
,
and searched him
.
In the prisoner's clothes he found money notes that he had prepared for the escape
.
Küttner began beating the youth mercilessly.

Salzburg and Joshua feared that Küttner would draw out information about the revolt plans from the young prisoner, using violence and torture
.
As they spoke in hushed voices
,
Valovanchik
,
who was a member of the underground
,
arrived holding a pistol.

“He's taking him to the torture chamber,” Salzburg whispered to his armed friend
.
“He'll do anything to find out why he was hiding money in his clothes.” Valovanchik didn't need another hint
.
He left his hiding place and shot Küttner
,
leaving him to bleed.

The gunshot lit the fire of the uprising
,
saving me from the final round of my fight against Mensch
.
Wielding axes
,
knives
,
pistols
,
and grenades
,
the prisoners now rose against their wardens
.
The fuel warehouse was set ablaze
.
Its fierce flames spread to the nearby buildings
.
A long chain of explosions shook the camp.

The Germans ran
,
frightened
,
from the buildings that had not yet caught fire
,
as the Ukrainians atop the watchtowers held a fierce firefight with the prisoners
.
Everyone ran to the fences
,
trampling their wounded brethren.

Where is Joshua?
I ran to and fro in the chaos
,
trying to find him.

There
!
Joshua was running to the fence like the rest
.
He was about to jump. Did he intend to abandon me? I barked loudly.

Joshua recognized my bark
,
turned around and called
,
“Come
,
Caleb
!
Come!”

As the fire of the uprising blazed
,
as bullets whistled over my head
,
my name was returned to me
.
My childhood name was now forever returned to me.

I saw Mensch racing toward Joshua
.
I galloped toward him
,
ignoring the stabbing pains in my shoulder
.
I had to get there before Mensch did
,
no matter what
.
At the very last second
,
I caught his tail between my teeth
.
Mensch tried to jump backwards and bite me back
,
but he stumbled over his own paws
.
With a fierce shake
,
I threw him against the fence
.
His paw got caught between the barbs
,
his fur stood unnaturally on end
,
and his eyes almost came out of their sockets
.
His mouth opened and sparks danced between his fangs
.
His body shivered and shook until his head fell
,
bowing before death.

I could practically see the scythe of death on Mensch's throat as he lay stiff on the ground
,
but we weren't safe yet
.
Vialich
,
a cowardly Ukrainian who would have gladly apprenticed for the devil
,
aimed his gun at Joshua
.
I leapt with all my strength and clamped my jaws around his face
.
My tongue was submerged in the fresh taste of enemy blood
.
I spit the tip of his nose to the ground and he fell back
,
dropping his gun and holding his bleeding stump.

“You'll pay for this!” he shouted
,
as he unsheathed a sharp knife from his belt.

You're scaring the fleas off of me
,
I thought angrily
,
and prepared for another pounce.

“Come
,
Caleb
!
Come!” Joshua called.

I hesitated for one moment.

Joshua motioned toward an opening in the fence and called me again
.
“Come
,
Caleb
!
Now!” I left the injured Ukrainian and ran toward the opening
.
On my way there
,
I stepped in a patch of cement that hadn't yet dried
.
To this day anyone who visits Treblinka can see my paw print in the cement – a silent witness to what happened in the camp that day.

Long live liberty
!
I thought as we ran
,
Joshua and I
,
among the prisoners fleeing as fast as they could from the burning camp.

CHAPTER 29

A
t first we all ran together
.
Then we split up and continued running in smaller groups
.
Ukrainian horsemen were at our heels
.
Some prisoners didn't have the strength to run on
.
The Ukrainians shot them until their bullets ran out
,
and then began stabbing escapees with their bayonets.

Joshua held his broken glasses and ran
,
half-blind
.
We proceeded toward a thicket of firs with Salzburg
,
Valovanchik
,
and Lerman.

Two hours later
,
night descended upon the forest
.
We could finally sit and rest awhile
.
Joshua hugged me
.
“You thought I would escape without you
,
you little
meshugener?
”
He kissed me on the head
.
“I would walk back into Treblinka if it meant I would never be separated from you again.” I replied with a lick – the feeling was mutual.

We had no food
.
The heat of the day had dissipated and it was becoming chilly
.
Salzburg took a box of matches out of his pocket and started a small campfire
.
The hoots of owls echoed in low tones
,
dry leaves crackled under the paws of wolves seeking prey
,
and flowing sap whispered within the branches.

Lerman pulled down his pants to the light of the flickering flames
,
and exposed a dirty wound in his hip
,
the product of a Ukrainian bullet.

“The wound needs to be cleaned,” Salzburg said.

“The bullet is still inside,” Lerman replied
,
revealing the severity of his injury.

“If I had a knife
,
perhaps I could cut it out,” Valovanchik said
.
But no one had a knife.

Lerman pointed at the hem of his shirt and told his friends that he had hidden some money in a secret pocket he'd sewn.

Joshua tried to say something
,
but Lerman hushed him.

“If you ever do find my Gittel
,
tell her that her husband died like a man.”

His three friends didn't dare look him in the eye
.
They nodded
,
staring at the ground.

The flames died down
.
Joshua and his friends fell asleep
.
Lerman shivered and moaned
.
I remained awake
,
my ears cocked and attentive
.
Fireflies danced in the dark
.
As the hours passed
,
my alertness dulled
.
Twice I awoke
,
frightened by the intensity of the slumber that descended upon me
.
I tried to stand guard
,
but the hunger and exhaustion got the better of me
.
I fell asleep
,
only to be visited once again by the dream.

Not one living creature on Earth.

Mooing cows
,
baaing goats
,
mewing cats
,
and chirping crickets were no more.

I alone remained.

A mark appeared on my flesh.

The brown patch on my chest became a Star of David.

A Jewish ember on four.

A tail-wagging castaway – a lost nomad on the face of the Earth.

A wandering Jewish dog.

I galloped ahead
,
my ears flapping
.
I was in a narrow canyon
,
an endless
,
winding ravine.

The faces of my ancestors watched me from the rocks.

The clouds of the sky drew together to form the Dog in the Heavens.

The Heavenly Dog barked deeply
,
an awe-inspiring sight in the skies.

“Do not fear Caleb, my servant. I am your protector, and your reward will be great.
Look up at the heavens and number the stars, if indeed you can number them. . . .”

I looked up at the sky as I was commanded.

“No,” I replied
,
“I fear I cannot count them.”

“Well,”
the Heavenly Dog said
,
sounding slightly disappointed
.
“The exact numbering isn't that important
.
But being that you are a mighty dog
,
and for the sake of Joshua my servant
,
fear of the stick and fear of fire are struck from thine heart
;
I shall place an omen in the sky
.
I will create a gargantuan dog and make it shine – and its appellation shall be Sirius.”

It was difficult to understand the archaic
,
biblical dialect of the Heavenly Dog
,
but that wasn't the end of my troubles
.
He then asked me to bring him a three-year-old cat
.
That was beyond my abilities
.
I had no time to wonder what he meant
,
as I awoke
,
terrified
,
to the sound of a gun cocking
.
Joshua and his friends started from their sleep as well
.
We were surrounded by sullen men armed with rifles
,
fingers on triggers.

We were all terrified – we were trapped
!
This was it
.
Our story would end here
.
This was the way of all flesh
.
With no trial
,
in the midst of a thick wood
,
we'd be shot
,
and our carcasses left for the birds.

“Hände hoch
,
proklyatiye nemzi
!
Kto dvinetsya poluchit pulyu!
”
8

“My Russian comrades!” Valovanchik called to them
.
“I am comrade Valovanchik from Battalion 43
,
which was defeated in the Battle of the Dnieper
.
My friends and I were prisoners in the damned Treblinka camp
.
We revolted and escaped
.
Embrace us into your troops and we will fight by your side.”

A tall
,
burly man with a thick black beard approached us.

“I am Sasha Molotovski,” he said
,
leaning on his rifle and examining us carefully
.
“These fine men you see behind me are the vanguard of the East Forest partisan fighters.” His eyes lingered upon me
.
“Sobaka u vas tozhe yest?
”
9

Valovanchik nodded
.
“He belongs to my friend Joshua Gottlieb.”

“Can I pet him?”

“Yes
,
of course,” Joshua replied
.
The large man leaned toward me
,
ruffling the fur on my head
.
“I also had a dog,” he added sadly.

Then he looked at Lerman
.
“And what happened to this young man?”

“He was hit by Ukrainian fire,” Valovanchik replied
,
and asked whether they could help.

“We have a doctor,” Sasha Molotovski said in his deep voice
,
and motioned to four of his comrades to lift the wounded Lerman onto a stretcher.

After the stretcher bearers carried him away
,
Sasha whispered to Joshua
,
“I don't think your friend has much time left.”

Joshua nodded silently.

We followed the partisans into the heart of the forest
.
We walked for several hours before the pale rays of dawn began seeping into the darkness
,
accompanied by the chirping of birds.

A sentry stopped us
,
“Halt
!
Password!”

Sasha Molotovsky replied
,
“Victory will come by fist and by gun.”

The sentry let us through into the camping area.

A doctor was called to Lerman's stretcher
.
The doctor
,
whom everyone treated with much reverence
,
examined Lerman's injury with grave concern.

In the meantime
,
our hosts took us to a large table that was set up in the center of the tent camp
.
Joshua and his friends were invited to sit
,
and were treated to a loaf of bread and hot tea
.
I was also treated to a bowl of water and some leftovers
.
Before their tea had time to cool
,
Sasha had taught his new fighters their entire doctrine in a nutshell.

“The trees and the dark are your most faithful allies.”

“The winter is your friend – its days are short and its nights are long.”

“If you're ever surrounded
,
get out quickly
,
or you never will.”

“Always stay at the enemy's rear
,
but make him believe that he is chasing you.”

“The essence of your strength lies in the element of surprise.”

I watched this battle-weary partisan in adoration
.
He had the fists of a blacksmith
,
as large as grapefruits.

“Will you give us weapons?” Valovanchik asked.

The bearded partisan laughed
.
“You want a weapon? There's a rifle on the shoulder of every German soldier!”