Page 149 - LEIBY

Chapter 18 149

Christian as a child born to Christian parents. Our savior was
also born Jewish.”

The priest fell silent, looked at Leiby intently and then spoke
softly. “You look like a good boy… Help this poor woman save
her only daughter, and all your sins will be atoned for and
you’ll be rewarded in the afterlife… If we all stand together, the
accursed Bolsheviks won’t succeed in laying their greedy hands
on our beautiful country.”

The cart continued to trundle on, over the pothole-filled paths.
Leiby felt trapped. Here he was, sitting in a cart together with
Polish enemies, and they were asking him to help them seize a
Jewish girl, in whose return to the Jewish people he had taken
an important part!

Of course, he had no intention of helping them. Just the
opposite, he intended to lead them on a really good wild goose
chase. Before the war, the Polish cities had teemed with Jewish
children, happy and full of life, and now, such a tiny fraction of
them remained. The number of children arriving at the farm
could be counted on the fingers of one hand – the vast majority
were adults, the children having perished.

“You’ll never get your hands on the girl,” Leiby thought to
himself as he clenched his fists. His mouth, though, answered
just the reverse. “Yes, I’m at your service.”