Page 190 - LEIBY

190 Leiby – Border Smuggler

Chapter 25

The policeman sitting behind the wide desk looked up in
surprise at the motley group who entered the station. He
was short and potbellied, his face totally expressionless. The
woman spoke to him in a rush of Slovakian, then translated the
policeman’s words into German for Leiby and Yosef.
“When was the girl last seen?” he queried.
“Three days ago.”
Yosef gave a detailed description of his sister in Yiddish, and
the woman translated it into Slovakian for the policeman. The
policeman opened several logbooks, riffled through them, and
then picked up the telephone and dialed. He spoke into the
receiver, listened for a few minutes, and spoke again. Eventually
he replaced the receiver and shook his head regretfully.
“No girl answering to the description you gave has been found
in the past few days. Your complaint has been registered and the
police will notify the Jewish community of any developments in
the case, in the event that there will be any.”
Leiby and Yosef returned to the hotel disillusioned and
frustrated. The tumult that they could hear from the direction