Page 98 - LEIBY

98 Leiby – Border Smuggler

Chapter 12

The Yiddish production was held in the town’s civic auditorium.
Leiby was surprised to see the number of people that attended
the event. He had been sure that attendance would be pitifully
sparse; how many Jews could possibly have remained in the
area, after the massacre that the Germans had carried out right
here?
But to his surprise, the crowd that filled the hall was quite
respectable, made up of emaciated holocaust survivors, Red
Army soldiers, and some random young men. Leiby wondered
if they were Jewish at all, or just local non-Jews who for one
reason or another held some interest in Yiddish culture. The
advertisement he had seen had announced that the anti-fascist21

21 ƵƌŝŶŐ ƚŚŝƐ ƉĞƌŝŽĚ ǁĞƌĞ ƚŚĞ ŐůŽƌLJ ĚĂLJƐ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ :ĞǁŝƐŚ ĂŶƟͲĨĂƐĐŝƐƚ
ŵŽǀĞŵĞŶƚ͕ ǁŚŝĐŚ ǁĂƐ ĐŽŵƉƌŝƐĞĚ ŽĨ :ĞǁŝƐŚ ĐŽŵŵƵŶŝƐƚ ĂƵƚŚŽƌƐ͕ ǁŚŽ ƚŽŽŬ
upon themselves to represent Russian Jewry. They traveled all over the
ǁĞƐƚĞƌŶ ǁŽƌůĚ ŝŶ ĂŶ ĂƩĞŵƉƚ ƚŽ ƌĂŝƐĞ ĨƵŶĚƐ ĨŽƌ ƚŚĞ ^ŽǀŝĞƚ hŶŝŽŶ͛Ɛ ďĂƩůĞ
ĂŐĂŝŶƐƚ ƚŚĞ EĂnjŝ ĞŶĞŵLJ ĂŶĚ ĂůƐŽ ƉƵďůŝƐŚĞĚ Ă ŶĞǁƐƉĂƉĞƌ ďLJ ƚŚĞ ŶĂŵĞ ŽĨ
͚,ĞŝŶŝŬĞƚ ʹ hŶŝƚLJ͕͛ ǁŚŽƐĞ ŽďũĞĐƟǀĞ ǁĂƐ ƚŽ ƵŶŝĨLJ Ăůů ƚŚĞ :ĞǁƐ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ^ŽǀŝĞƚ
hŶŝŽŶ͕ ďƵƚ Ăƚ ƚŚĞ ƐĂŵĞ ƟŵĞ ƉĞƌƐĞĐƵƚĞĚ ƚŚĞ ƌĞůŝŐŝŽƵƐ :ĞǁƐ ƌĞůĞŶƚůĞƐƐůLJ͘
dŚĞ ŵŽǀĞŵĞŶƚ͛Ɛ ŚĞĂĚ ǁĂƐ Ă ǁĞůůͲŬŶŽǁŶ :ĞǁŝƐŚ ĂĐƚŽƌ ĐĂůůĞĚ DŝĐŚĂĞůŝƐ͘
,Ğ ũŽƵƌŶĞLJĞĚ ĂƌŽƵŶĚ ŶŐůĂŶĚ ĂŶĚ ƚŚĞ hŶŝƚĞĚ ^ƚĂƚĞƐ ŝŶ ĂŶ ĞŶĚĞĂǀŽƌ ƚŽ
ĂƌŽƵƐĞ ƐLJŵƉĂƚŚLJ ĨŽƌ ƚŚĞ ^ŽǀŝĞƚ hŶŝŽŶ ŝĚĞĂůƐ͘ Ƶƚ ǁŝƚŚ ƚŚĞ ĐůŽƐŝŶŐ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ