Page 5 - LEIBY

Chapter 1 5

me as proof for what they always claimed — that we only went
to the forests in order to hide from the Germans, and as soon as
they fled from the Russian army, we did too. No, I can’t let them
think that! I’m going to Berlin!”

Leiby was just as stubborn as his friend. “Why should you care
about what the Russian anti-Semites say? Zalman, you have to
take care of yourself ! Your entire family, all six of your brothers,
have gone and only you are left. The army will manage just fine
without you.”

But Zalman was firm as a rock. “No… I’ll never stop fighting,
not until the Nazi army is completely demolished.”

Leiby understood his friend, understood him well. Yes, he too
would have liked nothing more than to take revenge on the
despicable Nazi murderers – to lead a troop of soldiers through
the depths of the forest and to attack the Germans until they
were completely destroyed.

Leiby’s eyes rested on the picture standing on his desk. He saw
himself, standing proudly, a row of medals gleaming on his
shirt. There was the silver-plated bronze Red Star medallion
that his troop had received after having successfully blown up
a Nazi air base. Beside it shone the military decoration that he
had been awarded for the lethal assault that he had inflicted on
the German tanks that had penetrated the forest.

He remembered that incident well. It had occurred at the
beginning of the Nazi attack on the Polesia forests. The tanks
made their lumbering way through the forest, guns shooting in
all directions. The forest was aflame, the sky black with smoke,
the air filled with animals’ screams, and everyone – all the
partisan forces – scattered and fled.

Only he, Leiby, had not run away. He was the only partisan
who had stayed where he was, hidden behind a tree, in a
hideout that he had staked out long before. He drew his rifle
and shot, tirelessly reloading ammunition again and again until,
miraculously, he succeeded in putting the tanks out of action.