Page 145 - LEIBY

Chapter 18 145

border undetected. A group of ten to twenty people could have
sneaked across the border quite easily, but not 300 people! No,
they’d just have to report to the border guards as if they had all
the necessary permits and present their documents and hope
that the guards would believe them. A few bottles of vodka
changing hands would surely not hurt either.

The night cloaked Leiby in a soft, still darkness. The moon,
partly obscured by the clouds, twinkled at him silently. The
atmosphere seemed almost magical, inviting Leiby to just lie
down on the leaf-bedecked ground, to gaze at the winking stars
above, and to fall into a deep, sweet slumber. But the daunting
responsibility and the pressing concern for the fate of the 300
people who were trusting him and the other leaders to bring
them to safe shores transformed the night to ominous and
fearsome.

“Is the coast clear?” Pesach asked.

“No, and there’s no way to cross the border surreptitiously. The
group’s big and the guards are watchful. We’ll just have to cross
openly, with the documents we have,” Dovid replied.

Dovid, Pesach, and Leiby debated about the limited options
that they had, and meanwhile, before they agreed on a plan of
action, the sun began to rise.

“Stop!” The guards appeared from out of nowhere and barred
their way. Dovid presented them a right-of-passage certificate
from the Red Cross, in which was written that the holders were
refugees from Greece and asking to grant them any assistance
they may need and to allow them to leave the country.

The guards scrutinized the group with suspicion.They attempted
to ask questions in Polish and Russian, but no one responded.
The only words the guards heard were the same, unfamiliar
phrases again and again. “Ya’aleh v’yavo, uva l’tzion goel…”

Suddenly, a voice rang out from the very end of the line of
‘Greek’refugees, speaking in fluent Polish. It was Mirushka who