Page 114 - LEIBY

114 Leiby – Border Smuggler

homes. Returning to the horror scene, he calmed himself with
the thought that surely the people barricaded in the building
had called the police, and they would soon arrive and disperse
the rioting crowd, but Alexander, whom he suddenly noticed
walking in the opposite direction, was more pessimistic.

“The gangsters have certainly cut the phone wires, and the
people in the building have no way of summoning the police.
I’ll go there myself.”

But after what seemed like an eternity, Alexander returned,
alone.

“Where are the police?”

“There were two policemen sitting in the police station, and
I asked them to come and settle the issue, but they refused,”
Alexander replied glumly. “They said that they don’t have
enough men available to disband a violent demonstration, and
they’re afraid for their lives. One claimed that he looked Jewish,
and the rioters were bound to kill him on the spot if he would
come here, and the other just shrugged and said that he can’t
come alone. I asked them to call for reinforcements from the
nearby military base, but they didn’t agree to do that either.
One thing is clear – that the Soviets can’t possibly control
Poland,” Alexander concluded on what sounded to Leiby like a
triumphant note.

The incensed mob surged forward, looking like a rushing stream
of boiling, bubbling lava. Leiby and Alexander cast around
feverishly for a way out of the mess. Who were the leaders?
Maybe, if they could talk to them, they’d be able to convince
them to calm down the seething, overwrought throng? They
noticed two men whispering together at the front of the crowd,
a small cluster of youths standing just behind them. They
were the instigators! Their strides were clearly military, and
the thick coats that they wore were bulky enough to conceal
loaded rifles. They walked along arrogantly, dressed in clean,
pressed clothes. The Polish they spoke was certainly not the
peasants’ dialect and it sounded like they were accustomed to