Page 8 - LEIBY

8 Leiby – Border Smuggler

somewhere in Germany, waiting desperately for someone to
come and liberate him. He, Zalman, he would be the one to set
all the prisoners free!

The anti-Semites in the partisan troop called the Jews cowards,
succumbing to the Germans in the ghetto and making almost
no effort to save themselves. But it was not true! What could
they have done, without any weapons or any means of fighting
back? If only they could have obtained firearms in the ghetto,
they would have vanquished the Germans completely. Even in
the forest, the non-Jewish partisans always managed to evade
carrying out the most dangerous operations – they had homes
and families to return to, and much as they wanted to defeat the
enemy, their lives were more important to them. It was always
the Jewish partisans who were sent to the riskiest missions.

“Zalman! Are you still fighting?” Leiby turned to his friend.

“Of course I am,” Zalman declared passionately, his eyes
shooting sparks. “Until my last ounce of strength and drop
of blood. I’ll never stop, not until the Nazi animals are totally
obliterated. I’d rather die than live in a world where the Nazis
rule!”

Zalman was repeating what they had both heard numerous
times from the politruk5 in their troop. “If I have to choose
between death or a life of imprisonment – death is my choice!
No price is too high to pay for revenge, not even death.”

“Stop!” Leiby covered his ears. “We have to live! Zalman, our
people have almost been eradicated. Every Jew that’s left is
precious. We’ve done more than our share to fight back, and
now Moscow is drafting all the partisans because they’re afraid
of freedom fighters.They want to send us all to die at the front!”

But Zalman abruptly turned and left the room without even
saying goodbye. Leiby’s words annoyed him, and when Leiby
rushed to the window and saw him walking briskly, angrily,
down the street, his heart filled with dread. Would he ever see
Zalman again?

5 Politruk ʹ ĞĚƵĐĂƟŽŶ ŽĸĐĞƌ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ZĞĚ ƌŵLJ͕ ƌĞƐƉŽŶƐŝďůĞ ĨŽƌ ƚŚĞ
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