Page 229 - LEIBY

Chapter 30 229

front of Ya’akov, a young clerk in the committee, who distributed
the yellow food allotment cards. Many of the people also asked
for permission to check the long list of names of survivors that
lay on his desk.

At the very end of the line stood an elderly Polish woman,
accompanied by a skinny, dark-haired, scared-looking boy who
appeared to be about eleven years old.

The boy was dressed in a white farmer’s shirt, a rope tied around
his waist in place of a belt. His toes peeked out from his torn
shoes.

“I don’t want to be here,” he grumbled, but quieted down
instantly after one fierce look from the woman.

“This boy lives with me, in my house,” she told Ya’akov when
her turn finally arrived. “I want to receive a monthly allowance
for his upkeep, fifty zlotys a month.”

“He can stay here with us, in the orphanage,” Ya’akov replied.

“Oh no, I want him to stay with me,” she turned down the offer.
“He helps me with my sheep, I need him.”

“The war is over, lady. We no longer provide payment for
sheltering children.”

“But I was always paid… at first by the zhegota,33 and when they
stopped paying, the general Jewish committee stepped in,” the
woman argued.

“That may have been true right after the war when there was
chaos here and everything was in turmoil, but now we’re setting
things in order. The committee will pay a handsome sum to
cover the expenses of having sheltered a child during the war,
but handing the child over to the care of the Jewish orphanage

33 Zhegota ʹ Ă WŽůŝƐŚ ƵŶĚĞƌŐƌŽƵŶĚ ŵŽǀĞŵĞŶƚ ƚŚĂƚ ĂƐƐŝƐƚĞĚ ŝŶ
ƚŚĞ ƐŚĞůƚĞƌŝŶŐ ŽĨ ϰϬϬϬ :ĞǁƐ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ŚŽůŽĐĂƵƐƚ͕ ďLJ ŝƐƐƵŝŶŐ ĨŽƌŐĞĚ / ĐĂƌĚƐ
ĂŶĚ ůŽĐĂƟŶŐ ƉŽƐƐŝďůĞ ŚŝĚŝŶŐ ƉůĂĐĞƐ͘ dŚĞ ŽƌŐĂŶŝnjĂƟŽŶ ǁĂƐ ĨƵŶĚĞĚ ďLJ ƚŚĞ
deligatura ʹ ƌĞƉƌĞƐĞŶƚĂƟǀĞƐ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ WŽůŝƐŚ ŐŽǀĞƌŶŵĞŶƚͲŝŶͲĞdžŝůĞ ŝŶ >ŽŶĚŽŶ͘