Page 35 - LEIBY

Chapter 4 35

control, but anyhow, this entire argument is totally pointless,’
they retorted. ‘She’s our daughter and we’ll never let anyone
take her from us.’

“I knew that they were lying brazenly, but before I could say
another word, they slammed the door closed and I was left
standing there on the doorstep. I returned home frustrated but
returned the next day to try again. I found the door locked and
the shutters drawn. A neighbor who saw me knocking informed
me that the family had packed up and vanished in the middle
of the night and had not notified anyone as to where they were
headed.”

Leiby ended his story and looked into Yosef ’s eyes. “I can tell
you about another incident, about a Jew who made his way
from farm to farm, trying to find surviving relatives, just as you
intend to do. He met a tragic end… Unfortunately, stories like
these take place every day, and if anything were to happen to
you, there’ll be no one left to bring Mirushka back.”

Yosef stared at Leiby. His face was drained of color and his lips
quivered with dread and disappointment.

“So maybe we should all still be hiding! Let’s run away to the
forest,” he said, his voice shaking.

“Oh no, the forest has become the most dangerous place for
Jews,” Leiby sighed. “There are no more partisans there, and
the place is crawling with armed gangsters, Polish and Russian
rebels. We have to be careful – to try never to walk in the streets
alone, and to stay near to Jewish communities. And if for some
reason a Jew does decide to go the villages and farms, it is
imperative that he plan his journey down to the last detail, and
preferable that he go with an armed escort.”

Noting the look of despair in Yosef ’s eyes, Leiby tried to give
him some encouragement. “But don’t worry, I haven’t given up
on Mirushka,” he reassured him. “In two weeks from now there
will be a literary event held in Minsk, where poems and diary
entries written by Jews in the ghetto will be read out loud to the
audience. A sizable crowd of military personnel and partisans