Page 108 - LEIBY

108 Leiby – Border Smuggler

Chapter 14

Warsaw was a total destruction zone; rubble piled everywhere,
broken pieces of metal and glass strewn all over the streets,
crumbled walls, and stairwells standing in the air, leading to
nowhere.
Leiby looked around at all the devastation and wondered where
his friend Zalman’s grave was. The message he had received
telling him of Zalman’s death as a hero during the battle of
Warsaw had been laconic and terse and did not apprise him
of anything other than the very barest details. Leiby walked
through the streets and looked for the Jewish cemetery –
perhaps he would find Zalman’s grave there. The roads were no
more than heaps of debris and Leiby found himself climbing
over piles of earth and stones and iron bars. With the help of an
old map that he had found, and thanks to his own sharp sense
of direction, honed during his time as a partisan in the forest, he
found the place easily. The cemetery was desolate, with ancient
tombstones, green with moss and weeds, standing silently in
long rows, many of them smashed and shattered.
Leiby looked at the immense graveyard and began walking
through it, eyes open for new graves.
“Are you looking for your parents’ burial site?” A sudden voice