Page 213 - LEIBY

Chapter 28 213

Chapter 28

Three detectives,representatives of the new regime,accompanied
by a large troop of soldiers, arrived to investigate the goings-on
at the farm. Leiby greeted them at the gate, shaking their hands
and thanking them for coming. They mounted a quick search
of the farm, but it appeared to Leiby that they were in a hurry
to leave. They instructed the soldiers to comb the area and to
keep hold of any scrap of paper that they found that could serve
as evidence. They also told them to keep their eyes open for
footprints leading to the adjacent houses.

“Who are you?” they asked Leiby.

“I work here as a guide,” Leiby replied proudly. “This place is a
farm for Jewish productivity.”

The transit points, where the ‘hikers’ were provided with food,
drink, and instructions for the continuation of their journey,
were formally named “agricultural farms.”Their official objective
was to train the Jewish youths in farming and creative activity
and to prepare them for life on a cooperative. Leiby recited a
somewhat lyrical short speech that he had prepared for just
such an occasion, but unused as he was to the classy, elegant
language of the speech, he stumbled over some of the words
and came out sounding rather unsophisticated and gauche. The