Page 196 - LEIBY

196 Leiby – Border Smuggler

was, and looked painstakingly through all the medical lists that
they showed him, but time and time again he shook his head
ruefully. No injured man, and certainly no four-year-old girl,
had been admitted here in the last few days.

Yosef and Leiby accompanied the doctor on his search through
the hospitals. They came across several Jewish patients,
concentration camp survivors who had tried to join one of the
‘hiker’ groups leaving Poland, but had been too weak to hold up
to the grueling journey and now required medical treatment.
Many of them were even ill with tuberculosis and lay weak and
helpless in their hospital beds. For the first time in years, they
received nutritious food and medical attention, but they longed
to meet fellow Jews and to be in a Jewish environment. Yosef
and Leiby tried their best to cheer them up and to inject them
with some hope for a happier life.

“One day we’ll all settle in Eretz Yisrael, and there, life will
always be good… We’ll daven at the Kosel, and at kever Rachel,
and me’aras hamachpela,” Yosef encouraged them.

Leiby asked all the Jewish patients if there was anything they
needed, and promised to come to visit again. In the meantime,
the Czech doctor skimmed through their medical documents
and suggested alternative methods of treatment. He was a very
well-known figure with extensive experience in the treatment
of tuberculosis, and his doctor colleagues were eager to hear his
ideas. Before they left, he asked the doctors to be on the alert for
anyone answering to the descriptions that he had provided and
to let him know immediately if a four-year-old girl with closely
cropped blond hair, or a man with a Nazi swastika tattooed on
his arm, would happen to arrive at the hospital.

“We’ve been through all the local hospitals now,” the doctor
announced after two strenuous days, wringing his hands
helplessly. “We don’t seem to be any nearer to finding your
sister than we were when we started out.”

“Have we really been to all the hospitals in the region?” Yosef
asked. “Are you sure about that?”