Page 132 - LEIBY

132 Leiby – Border Smuggler

“The Jew hid money, I saw him… I’ll show you where if you
promise to give me half,” he tried to gain time, to give himself a
few moments to formulate a plan of action.

The Poles glanced at him suspiciously and smiled at one another
cunningly. Leiby knew what they were thinking – he would give
them the money and they would take it all and disappear, killing
Alexander first. He tried to stall a little longer. They were five,
and he was only one, and just a thirteen-year-old at that, but
he firmly believed that in a battle of brains and brawn, brains
would prevail, and Hashem was on his side. The Poles were
strapping and muscular, but Leiby was not afraid. In his mind,
he repeated over and over the words that his friend Michael the
partisan always said: “the bigger they are, the harder they fall.”

“The money fell on the steps of the carriage, come with me
quickly, but remember, we’re sharing it equally between us,”
Leiby urged.

One of the Poles accompanied him back to the train, while
the others continued on with Alexander into the depths of
the forest. Leiby stumbled back towards the train, feeling as if
lead weights were pulling him down with every step. His limbs
throbbed with pain and his hands trembled with a burning
desire for revenge as in his mind he saw again and again how
Alexander had gone unresistingly with the Poles, resigned to
his bitter fate. The train began to move and in a sudden, split-
second fit of rage, Leiby pushed the Polish mobster onto the
tracks. “Timcheh es zecher Amalek – may the memory of Amalek
be wiped out,” he hissed to himself. A sickening thump,
together with the sound of the train wheels on the tracks was
heard, as the Pole met his end. Leiby felt a slight measure of
release. He hadn’t succeeded in saving Alexander, but at least he
had avenged his death in a small way.

He sat down on a large stone and thought about Alexander,
his comrade-in-arms, who, like Leiby, had been a spirited and
vibrant member of the Bielski troop. In the various operations
that the partisans had carried out in the city, he had always
played the part of a German due to his ready command of the