Page 84 - LEIBY

84 Leiby – Border Smuggler

Vladislav Tarnovcki Street. Leiby knew that name. Vladislav
Tarnovcki had been a Polish poet and composer, and Alexander,
the Polish partisan in their brigade,had admired him immensely.
At night he could sometimes be heard humming one of his
songs and he spoke about him often. “He was a poet without
any luck – he was too humane for the colonels’ regime that had
dominated Poland before the war, and he earned no respect.”

The Russians apparently didn’t respect him very much either
– a large red cross had been scribbled over his name on the
street sign, and above it, the street’s new name was proudly
emblazoned – Revolution Street.

Leiby squinted up at the sign again, then hurried down the
street to number ten, the address to which he had to bring any
important information. He knocked on the door – two gentle
knocks and one stronger one – and heard someone approaching
the door from inside the house.

“Who’s there?”

“Chazak v’amatz – be strong and courageous,” Leiby whispered
the password that he had received before he had been sent on
his mission to the border checkpoint, and the door opened
immediately. Yechiel himself stood there.

“Yechiel!”Leiby was thrilled to find him there. But Yechiel, who
had recently returned from Poland to Belorussia to continue his
border smuggling activities, looked glum.

“Leiby… We’re in trouble… Our locksmiths are not prepared
to work for us any longer. Their forgeries have been caught,
people have been arrested, three locksmiths have already left
and the remaining two are threatening to leave as well…”

“I have something here for them,” Leiby reached into his
knapsack and pulled out the red box. “Here are official, valid
stamps, straight from the office at the train station.”