Page 71 - LEIBY

Chapter 8 71

“You were a kid in nursery school,” the soldiers scoffed at the
sight of the young braggart.

“No, I really was,” Leiby pretended not to notice their derision.
“I know how to shoot, how to blow up bridges, and even how to
send trains flying off the rails. I almost lost my leg once, when
it got caught it a railroad track. The bomb we had just set was
about to explode, and my friends pulled me out from under
the rails.” Leiby sat down heavily on a wooden stool that stood
nearby and the soldiers looked at him in grudging respect.

“So now we’re returning to Poland, to Warsaw, where we lived
until the Germans arrived there, six years ago,” Leiby continued
to prattle. As he spoke, he casually removed an expensive
cigarette from his pocket, a brand of cigarette that the Red
Army soldiers hadn’t seen in years.

“Where’s that from?” the soldiers asked.

“I found it in the home of some volksdeutsche”18 Leiby explained.
“Those pampered animals left some bottles of vodka and a few
packs of cigarettes behind when they fled from the Red Army.”

“And where’s the vodka?”The soldiers’ eyes glittered with greed.

Leiby pulled out a small bottle of vodka from his knapsack.
“Hold on a second… I’ll bring us some cups.”

“No need,” the soldiers grabbed the bottle out of his hand.
The first one held it to his lips, took a long satisfying swig,
then gave his friend a turn. When they had drained the bottle
totally dry, Leiby divided out the cigarettes between the two.
With that, they became his firm friends, and as a gesture of
their friendship, Leiby offered to help them in their tedious
task of checking endless documents. Without even asking, he
could easily perceive which of the refugees waiting in line had
the necessary papers and which didn’t. Those who didn’t have

18 Volksdeutsche ʹ ĞƚŚŶŝĐ 'ĞƌŵĂŶƐ ǁŚŽ ůŝǀĞĚ ŽƵƚƐŝĚĞ ŽĨ 'ĞƌŵĂŶLJ͘
dŚĞLJ ĐŽŽƉĞƌĂƚĞĚ ǁŝƚŚ ƚŚĞ EĂnjŝ ĨŽƌĐĞƐ ĂŶĚ ĂƐƐŝƐƚĞĚ ƚŚĞŵ ŝŶ ƚŚĞŝƌ ƚĂŬĞŽǀĞƌ ŽĨ
ƚŚĞ ĐŽƵŶƚƌŝĞƐ ŝŶ ǁŚŝĐŚ ƚŚĞLJ ůŝǀĞĚ͕ ƉĂƌƟĐƵůĂƌůLJ WŽůĂŶĚ ĂŶĚ njĞĐŚŽƐůŽǀĂŬŝĂ͘
dŚĞLJ ǁĞƌĞ ĞůŝŐŝďůĞ ĨŽƌ ƐƉĞĐŝĂů ƌŝŐŚƚƐ ŝŶ ĞdžĐŚĂŶŐĞ͘