Page 117 - LEIBY

Chapter 15 117

Leiby wanted to treat the man in the way that he had learned as
a partisan – to beat him until he lost consciousness, to threaten
him with his life and the life of his family, to describe to him
the tortures they had in store for him, and of course to raid
his pockets of his personal documents, but Alexander firmly
restrained him.

“Sit down!” Alexander commanded the ‘Red Bull’.

“Who are you?” The man was mutinous.

“I’m Yanush Shikorsky,” Alexander replied, and pulled a Polish
ID card with that name out of his pocket.

The ‘Red Bull’looked at him with a measure of grudging respect.

“I arrived from London just last week, as an emissary of the
exiled Polish government,” Alexander told him. “I was sent
here in order to coalesce all our loyal forces, so that we’ll be
able to fight to achieve national independence. Churchill and
Roosevelt are planning to meet very soon, and they’ll make
decisions about Poland’s future. This demonstration that you’ve
arranged here is just playing into the Bolshevik enemy’s hands.
They’ll use it as proof that they’re the only ones who’ll be able
to restore law and order in the country, and they may succeed
in convincing the Allies of that. I’ve received an order to calm
down the region.” Alexander spoke in fluent, flawless Polish,
and in his fine, tailored clothing, he certainly looked like he
could be a government envoy.

“And in the meantime, the Jews will take over the country,” the
man hissed bitterly. “See how they’re all coming out of their
hiding places and swarming into Poland from the Soviet Union
in order to punish us for the murder of their dirty brothers…
we have to get rid of them all, before they get rid of us, before
they decide to establish a branch of Palestine here in Poland.”

“You can’t sit here and make your own decisions about
government policies!” Alexander-Shikorsky looked at him
in scorn. “I’ve been nominated as the new Polish resistance
movement head, and my orders are to merge the Armia Krajowa