AllFreeNovel
Share Us
17
20thAugust 1942
The ghetto in Otwock was a smaller facility than the Warsaw ghetto, and wasn’t as heavily guarded.It contained two sections divided in half by the railway tracks that ran from there north to Warsaw and beyond to Treblinka to the northeast.
Jan investigated the ghetto from the outside the day before their journey and found an easy way in beside the sanatorium, an enormous white five-story building that backed onto a thick, green wood.Patients wandered in an outside garden during the warmth of the summer days, and Jan was certain he could get Antoni, Nathan and Nacha into the garden easily enough.
He arrived at his Aunt Irka’s apartment early in the morning, when the sun had not yet heated the day.A crow cawed rhythmically nearby, and he shuddered at the sound.He wasn’t one for superstition, but he’d never liked the black birds.
The sooner he had the family safely ensconced in the Otwock ghetto, the sooner he could relax.He’d seen the way the neighbours looked at him each time he visited his aunt’s apartment, and he didn’t trust them not to become more inquisitive over his motives.
He slipped into the apartment while the family was still eating breakfast.Then they washed the dishes quietly and finished packing their small suitcases.Nacha tied a scarf over her head, and they were ready.
They said their goodbyes to Aunt Irka, who cried over them, kissed them each on the cheeks, and told them she’d be praying for them.Irka was the only one with wet cheeks when finally they left.The others were each too lost in their own thoughts and worries about what lay ahead for tears.
The mood was grim.Jan did his best to calm their fears, but it was no use.They were in danger, and he couldn’t predict what would happen to any of them.Even the cab driver could report on them to the Gestapo or they could run into a group of SS soldiers in the street.Anything was possible.And the possibilities were the things that kept Jan on edge.
“Perhaps we should catch a train to Otwock instead of wasting money on a taxi,” suggested Nathan as they hurried down the street.
“The same train station where Jews are being herded into cattle cars for Treblinka?”hissed Nacha.
Antoni stopped their headlong pace with a hand on Jan’s arm.He faced his children with a look of warmth and compassion on his lined face.“We can’t turn on each other now.We’re all we have.”
Nacha’s mouth turned down at the corners.“I’m sorry, Tata.I don’t mean to snap.”
“We’re all anxious,” added Nathan, reaching out to squeeze his sister’s arm lovingly.
She offered him a half smile.“You drive me crazy, but I love you still.”
He laughed.“I’m glad to hear it.I guess you’re not so bad either.Although you do have a sharp tongue at times.”
“I’ll work on it, I promise.Tata is right.All we have is each other,” she said, and pressed her lips together.
Jan scanned the street, looking for any sign of trouble.Pedestrians dodged between vehicles and carts as they ran up and down the street.
Nearby, a horse pulling a large wooden cart filled with produce stopped and dropped its head towards the ground as though exhausted.The driver lashed its back with a whip, and it plodded onwards.
A police officer directed traffic at the nearby intersection, his black uniform and black gloves contrasting with the pale sandstone building behind him.A woman pedalled a rickshaw past, ferrying a fashionably dressed woman with her teen daughter in front of her.
As soon as there was an opening, Jan hurried the family across the road, and they merged into the crowd on the other side.
“The train is a good idea.But we don’t have the identification we need,” whispered Jan as they strode together along the street.“We’ll have to pay for a cab, I’m afraid.”
“Of course,” agreed Antoni.“There’s nothing we can do about it now.”
As they neared the intersection, Jan noticed the police officer’s eyes on them.He studied them intently, even as he changed hand signals to steer traffic in the right direction.His brow furrowed beneath his smart black cap, and he took a step in their direction.
“You there!”he called.
Jan pretended not to see him.All his attention was focused on the passing vehicles as he searched for a taxi to take them away.Nacha stepped down into the street just as a motorcycle whizzed past.
Jan raised an arm to stop her.“Wait!”he cried.
She gasped as his arm impacted against her throat.“Ouch.”
“I’m sorry, but that motorcycle almost hit you.”
“There’s a taxi rank,” said Nathan, pointing to a line of people waiting at the curb ahead of them.
