You Are My Sunshine: A Novel Of The Holocaust (All My Love Detrick Companion Novel) (37 page)

“Where did you go?”

“I hid in abandoned buildings. At night, I made my way out of the city, until I reached the forests.”

“Then?”

“Then I had to survive on my wits. I stole food from local farms at night when I could. Sometimes I didn’t eat. The winters were the worst. They still are, even for all of us here in the cabin.”

“I’m sure. I assume food is more scarce and the cold
…well. Where did you sleep?”

“Barns mostly,
tool sheds, a cellar sometimes. I met some very kind people along the way too. They sheltered me for a night or gave me a heel of bread. It helped. I couldn’t expect them to let me stay. If they were caught hiding a Jew they would risk death. But the amazing thing is there were people out there, who were kind and brave enough to take that risk.”

“You were lucky to hav
e found the rest of these Jews here at this cabin.”

“Yes I was and I cherish their friendship. Together things are much easier than they were when I was alone.”

Shlomie walked over, he placed the bag of vegetables on the table. “Now, I am going outside to gather berries. Either of you want to come along and help?”

“Yes,
of course.” Zofia said.

“Why don’t you stay here and help me clean the
guns?” Sarah said to Isaac. “The picking of a few berries doesn’t take an army.”

Isaac looked disappointed. “Yes, alright.”

Zofia and Shlomie walked through the forest. “Now here let me show you which ones we can eat and which we can’t.” Shlomie showed Zofia what was edible and what was poisonous.

“You learned all
of this?”

“I
was going to major in science. I planned to find cures for diseases, if I had been allowed to attend college. I had big plans. I wanted to discover cures for diseases. But now I am just happy that I know a little about botany. It helps the group. I make medicines when I can too.”

“You live on the plants for the most part?”

“No, we live on whatever we can get. We steal a little food from a local farm. Sometimes, people are kind and they give us food. Isaac has learned to fashion a bow and arrow. He hunts. We never use our ammunition to hunt because we might need it to fight if the German’s ever found us.”

“A bow and arrow? Really? I remember Isaac as being this shy little boy.”

“Yes, well, the Nazi’s have managed to change all of us. I’ve learned to fish with my bare hands. Can you imagine? There was a time when I was afraid of water, now I swim like I was born to be an Olympic swimmer.”

“You are right about that, the Nazi’s really changed my life too.” Z
ofia said.

“You want to talk about it?”

“No, and yes, I just can’t. It hurts too much to talk about the losses.”

“Yes, I know. I lost my parents, my
sisters, and my fiancé.”

She nodded. They walked in silence for a while gathering berries and green plants.

“Shlomie?”

“Yes…”

“Isaac and Sarah, they are a couple?”

“She would like them to be. He is distant.
It’s strange, I mean, Isaac is one of the kindest people I know. But he is hard to get close to. He keeps his distance from all of us. I guess it is his way of surviving.”

“
That make sense, if you never let yourself love anyone or anything, you can’t get hurt. Still, you’re right he is very nice.”

“Yes, he is. And you’re probably right that is probably why
he doesn’t allow anyone in, not really. He keeps to himself, goes out alone to hunt. He is generous and always shares his kill with the group. But I think that a part of him died when he had to leave his family and then when he had to come out into the forests.”

“Does he talk to you?”

“A little, not much, you are going to see that here in our little group, no body pries. Every one of us has a past that is unpleasant. People we loved, gone, disappeared, dead. We each share what we chose to share, but no one asks questions.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Yes, if you would like.” He had been knelling over a green leafy plant. He stopped and looked up.

“You were in Treblinka, yes?”

“Yes.” Shlomie nodded looking up at her.

“Did you know a man named Dovid
Greenspan? He was from Warsaw?”

“Yes. I knew him.”

“You did.” She felt her heart jump in her chest.

“Is he…alive?”

“No, I’m sorry. The Arbeitsführer shot him. I saw it with my own eyes.”

“Dovid?” She sat down
on the ground. It was too hard to take this news standing up.

“Yes.”

“He was a friend of mine.”

“Your boyfriend?
”

“Yes and no.
Just someone I once knew.” She felt her heart sink. Dovid, poor Dovid. Fruma, Gitel…Dovid.

“I’m sorry.”

“You knew the Arbeitsführer?” She asked.

“Manfred Blau?”

“Yes. Manfred Blau”

“Oh yes, I knew him. He was a sadist
a horrible man, one of the worst. He hated the men, had some sort of a sexual problem with them. I am not sure what it was. But he did terrible things. Castrated them, tortured them.  It was horrible.”

“I knew him too.
But he was no homosexual. You mentioned that before. But he wasn’t I assure you.”

Shlomie
nodded. “I believe you.  And…I’m sorry for your suffering. I guess that is all I can say.”

“Yes, and I feel the same for yours.”

“You like Isaac, don’t you?”

She shrugged.

“I can tell. He is a difficult man, a loner.  I wouldn’t want to see you get hurt.”

“I don’t think I like him
in that way. I am just impressed with how he has grown up into such a strong and capable man.”

Shlomie
nodded his head. “All the women have a special place in their hearts for Isaac. I wish I knew why.” Zofia thought she saw a longing in his gaze when he looked at her.

As the winter cold began to descend upon the forest, the men took wooden slat covers made of tree branches that they’d built and began to cover the windows.

“It
gets a little dark and depressing here during the winter. Still, we must remember that we are the fortunate ones. We are still alive.” Shlomie told Zofia as he hoisted a large square of wood slats over the window. Isaac came and held the heavy wood while Shlomie hammered nails into the corners.

“Where did you fellows get all
of these tools?” Zofia asked, looking at the axe and the hammers, the nails.

“Stolen” Isaac said smiling.

“From who?” She asked. She watched Isaac his smile was infectious.

“Local farms, mostly. The guns were taken
off of dead Nazi’s.”

“I’m impressed.”

“And well you should be. We have set up a palace for you here my lady.” Isaac said.

She laughed.

“I’m sorry to say that the winter will be rough. We don’t always have enough to eat. But, we are lucky it’s true. At least we are alive and we’re not in camps.” Shlomie said.

“At least we are together.” Sarah said and she walked over to Isaac.

“Yes, and of course Ladies, I will do what I can to see to it that you do not starve. In fact, I will take my trusty bow and arrow and catch you both your own rabbit. How does that sound.”

“Oh Isaac, you are always being silly.” Sarah said.

“What good is life if we can’t stay happy?”

“He never takes anything seriously.” Sarah said
shaking her head.

“No, I don’t
take anything seriously. Not after all that I have seen. I live for the moment. And right in this very moment, I am happy. I am surrounded by my friends. There is a kettle outside with a nice stew simmering. What more could a man ask for?”

“Love?” Sarah said.

“Love, yes, it is the greatest gift. It can make all darkness light.” Shlomie said.

“That it can, but it can also make you very vulnerable. That’s something that none
of us can afford right now.” Isaac said.

“I would take the
risk; I would be willing to pay the price.” Shlomie said

“You’re such a romantic.” Isaac laughed.

“Have you ever loved anyone?” Sarah asked her glare directed at Isaac.

“My family, but if you mean romantically, N
o, I didn’t have a chance. I was too young to think of those things when all this started. ” Isaac said.

Once the windows were done
, the four friends sat down to eat a small meal of matzo and apples.

“After we are finished
eating I am going outside to chop wood, would you like to help me, Shlomie?” Isaac asked.

Shlomie
nodded.

“I’d like to help too.” Z
ofia said.

“You and Sarah can gather the wood and put it into piles. That would be very helpful.”

“Of course I would be happy to.” Sarah took a bite of apple.

Isaac was shirtless, his back tanned from the sun rippled with muscles and glistened with sweat as he lifted the axe. Z
ofia could not help but feel a tingling when she looked at him. His golden hair, his dark eyes, he was like the pictures of the Greek God’s she’d seen in books long ago when she was still in school. For a second she remembered Mr. Taylor. What a fool she’d been to fall for him and then to quit school because of her embarrassment, if only she’d realized that he wasn’t worth the effort. Then again, if she’d never quit school she would never have been blessed with the friendship of Fruma and Gitel, two people she would remember for the rest of her life.  Shlomie was thinner than Isaac was. It was obvious to Zofia that the heavy labor was harder for him. But Shlomie chopped wood beside, Isaac who made it look effortless. In fact, Isaac amazed her. The overweight little Jewish son of the baker had grown into a man that seemed able to overcome almost every obstacle. He hunted usually returning with a rabbit or bird. Sometimes he and Shlomie fished. Shlomie would bring back a catch or two. But Isaac always came back with a big smile and a pile fish in his hands. Occasionally at night, the men raided the neighboring farms. They took as little as possible, just enough to survive in hopes that the farmers would not notice the food missing.  It was easy to find apple trees with rotting fruit that had fallen to the ground. They cleared the ground collecting the apples in buckets they’d stolen. In the summer, at night, they walked for miles until they were far enough from the cabin to feel safe. Then, they dug up potatoes carrying them back to bury them near the cabin for the lean winter months.  Several times in the fall during their hunt for potatoes they found corn growing along the edge of forest which they took and horded. .

One night Isaac walked for almost ten miles to steal extra
horse blankets. He explained before he left that he did not want to take them from the barns nearby least they come in search of the thieves.  All night long Zofia laid awake listening and wondering if he’d been caught. Nobody else seemed concerned, and she wondered how often he did this sort of thing. But no matter how hard she tried, she could not sleep. Her mind raced with frightening possibilities. By the time, Zofia heard Isaac’s footsteps outside the cabin the sun had begun to rise.  She lay squeezing her eyes shut, pretending to be asleep.  Not wanting him to know how worried she was about him.

The door flew open. With her eyes cracked just a
little, she watched him lay a huge pile of horse blankets in the corner of the room. He turned quickly to catch her watching him. A broad smile came over his face, and for the first times Zofia noticed that, Isaac had dimples.

“Good morning to you, princess.” He teased. “Your humble servant was out securing your needs for the winter.”

“Yes, I can see that. Thank you. I’m sure that everyone here thanks you.” She said.

She sat up and he sat down beside her. 

“Come on laugh a little. It doesn’t hurt.”

She smiled.

“There you go. You look even prettier when you smile.”

“Oh Isaac aren’t you ever serious?”

“You want I should be serious, huh?”

“Yes sometimes I do.”

“All right then. Winter is on its way and I have to make use of the time I have now while the weather is still good to be sure we have enough food and blankets to keep us all from freezing or starving to death.”

Z
ofia thought about the coat that Christa had given her long ago. She wished she had it now.

“What about making fires?
We gathered all that wood, won’t that help?”Zofia asked.

“Yes
of course it will, but then again, fires send smoke signals and we have to be careful, we can’t make them too big. In fact they cannot be much bigger than the ones we use for cooking.”