You Are My Sunshine: A Novel Of The Holocaust (All My Love Detrick Book 2)

by Roberta Kagan

  “I certainly remember you. Now, how could something like a Nazi takeover have made you even prettier than I remember? You tell me; how did that happen?” he asked, and he laughed.

  She looked away, embarrassed by his forward comment.

  “Sorry if I embarrassed you. I’m only trying to help you to relax.”

  She nodded.

  “You have been hiding out in the forest?”

  “Yes. Are you?”

  “Yes, there is an entire group of us, a band of Hitler’s escapees,” he smiled. “We have learned how to survive in the wild. Can you believe it? Would you like to come and meet the others?” Again, he smiled at her, a warm welcoming smile.

  She nodded.

  “By the way, this is my friend, Shlomie. He is a Jew too. I guess the Nazi uniform probably threw you off. He took it off a dead officer before he left Treblinka. That officer had been his tormentor for years. Then there was an uprising and Shlomie killed him. As a trophy, he took the uniform. Right, Shlomie?”

  “Yes, right. Nice to meet you, Zofia.”

  “I was at Treblinka too.”

  “We never saw each other because you were on the women’s side.”

  “Yes, I know. But I was also chosen to work at the home of the Arbeitsführer.”

  “That son of a bitch! Manfred Blau, right?”

  “Yes, right.”

  “Once I saw him kill a man by castrating him. The pleasure I saw in his face when he cut the man made me sick. He’s a real deviate. Maybe he is a latent homosexual.”

  She turned away feeling bile rise in her throat and wishing he would change the subject.

  “It’s too bad that I didn’t see him during the uprising. I would have returned the favor by doing the same to him,” Shlomie said.

  “Enough of this talk. It’s upsetting. We’ve just found Zofia, why don’t we try to make her feel welcome? Come on, Shlomie; let’s try to take our focus off the Nazis, at least for a little while? All right? What do you say Zofia? Would you like that?”

  “Yes, good idea,” Zofia said.

  “Come, follow me. I’ll bet you’re hungry. We have food,” Isaac said as he helped Zofia to her feet.

  At first, she was a little wobbly.

  “Steady there.” Isaac said taking her arm. “I’ll help you.” Isaac slipped his strong, muscular arm under hers and guided Zofia forward.

  Isaac led her through a thick growth of trees to a house that had been built out of logs. There was no glass for windows, just open space, but it offered some shelter from the elements.

  “Did you build this?”

  “We all built it together; for now its home. With the help of God, we will be here and be safe until the war ends. I don’t know if you have heard the good news, but Germany is falling. We had a guest the other day, a Jew passing by on his way to find his family in Russia. He told us he’d heard this over the BBC, on the radio. He said that soon the Allies will come marching in and the war will be over.”

  “From your mouth to God’s ears,” Shlomie said. “It should only happen soon.”

  Zofia smiled at them. “I’m glad you found me. I was beginning to feel like I was going to go crazy wandering the forest alone with nothing but my thoughts and memories.”

  “The memories are the hardest part,” Shlomie said. “I avoid them whenever possible.”

  Isaac knocked on the door to the little cabin. “It’s Isaac and Shlomie.”

  “Iftack, is that you?”

  “Yes,” Isaac said, then turning to Zofia “Iftack is my Yiddish name. I thought I should explain.”

  “I like it, Iftack.”

  He blushed as he opened the door. Inside the cottage was a single unfurnished room. Horse blankets lay strewn about the floor. In the corner, two rifles stood against a wall and beneath them lay a small pile of handguns and ammunition. Three women and four men other than Isaac and Shlomie were scattered around the room.

  “So, who is this?” one of the women asked. She appeared to be around thirty, a pretty woman, tall and slender, with dark hair caught in a braid down her back. Her skin was tan against her bright blue eyes.

  “Sarah, this is Zofia. I’ve known her since we were children. She went to school with me in Warsaw.”

  “Hello, Zofia.”

  Zofia nodded to Sarah.

  “Shlomie and I found her in the forest. I think she might be hungry.”

  “Yes, I would think so,” Sarah said watching Isaac. She seemed uncomfortable with the way he looked at Zofia, and Zofia wondered if the two were lovers.

  “Here, sit down.” Sarah motioned to a blanket that was curled up on the dirt floor.

  Zofia sat down.

  “Let me introduce you to everyone.” Isaac said. “You’ve already met Shlomie and Sarah. Sarah is like a sister to me. You’re really going to like her.” Isaac smiled, at Sarah. Zofia saw Sarah return the smile, only to have it fade from her face quickly. “This is Rivka, and that is her sister Esther.”

  Zofia nodded.

  “Over here is Mosihe and Ben. They are friends who escaped from Auschwitz. And this is Aaron.”

  “Nice to meet all of you,” Zofia said.

  “Iftack, I can understand your kindness and generosity, but we hardly have enough food for us. I mean, yes, we can offer her a meal. But I think after she has finished, your friend should go on her way,” Sarah said, handing Zofia an apple and a piece of matzo, which had been made from stolen flour, mixed with water than cooked on a stone over an open fire.

  “We were all in her position once, how can we even think of turning her away? Seriously, Sarah, sometimes you surprise me. I refuse to even listen to that. Zofia stays,” Isaac said.

  “I agree with Isaac,” Shlomie said.

  “Let’s take a vote?” Ben offered.

  “Fair enough,” Isaac nodded.

  “All in favor of Zofia staying here raise your hands,” Ben said. Everyone except Sarah raised their hands.

  “It’s decided. If you want to stay, you are welcome here,” Ben said.

  Zofia smiled. “Thank you.” She felt the tears tickle her eyes. Bowing her head she whispered, “Thank you.”

  “Think nothing of it,” Isaac said. “It is as it should be, Jews helping other Jews, isn’t that right Shlomie?”

  “Of course it is,” Shlomie smiled. “I am going out to dig up the bag of vegetables. Can you help me, Isaac?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Dig up vegetables?” Zofia asked.

  “Yes,” Isaac smiled. “We’ve learned to plant them in the ground in these burlap bags that we found in one of the barns we raided. In fact, it was Shlomie’s idea. He’s a scientist, you know. Anyway, we plant them during the winter, so that they stay fresh. When we dig them up again, sometimes during the winter when the ground is not too hard, or the beginning of summer, they are perfect. That way, if we can get it during the summer or autumn, when it is most plentiful, we have a small hoard of food to carry us through.”

  “That’s brilliant,” Zofia said.

  “Thank you,” Shlomie said, grinning from ear to ear. “It works, anyway.”

  Chapter 56

  Over the next several days, Zofia learned the stories of her companions. They’d all been in camps except for Isaac. When the Germans began rounding up Jews for deportation, his father had insisted that he go to live with a Gentile family. They’d taken him, for a price and for a while, all was well. But one of the neighbors turned them in, and the entire family was arrested, along with Isaac.

  As they were herded into the back of a large open truck filled with people, Isaac grabbed the gun from the guard. Then he hit the guard across the face with the pistol and ran. As he raced across the street and through the crowds, he could hear gunshots behind him. He never looked back. He just kept running.

  “God was with me,” Isaac said. “And I also believe the ghosts of my parents were with me as my angels. There were bullets flying all around me. But somehow, I was not h
it.”

  “Where did you go?”

  “I hid in abandoned buildings. At night, I made my way out of the city, until I reached the forests.”

  “Then?”

  “Then I had to survive on my wits. I stole food from local farms at night, when I could. Sometimes I didn’t eat. The winters were the worst. They still are, even for all of us here in the cabin.”

  “I’m sure. I assume food is more scarce and the cold… Well… Where did you sleep?”

  “Barns, mostly… Tool sheds. A cellar sometimes. I met some very kind people along the way too. They sheltered me for a night or gave me a heel of bread. It helped. I couldn’t expect them to let me stay. If they were caught hiding a Jew, they would risk death. But the amazing thing is that there were people out there who were kind and brave enough to take that risk.”

  “You were lucky to have found the rest of these Jews here at this cabin.”

  “Yes, I was, and I cherish their friendship. Together, things are much easier than they were when I was alone.”

  Shlomie walked over. He placed the bag of vegetables on the table. “Now, I am going outside to gather berries. Either of you want to come along and help?”

  “Yes, of course,” Zofia said.

  “Why don’t you stay here and help me clean the guns?” Sarah said to Isaac. “The picking of a few berries doesn’t take an army.”

  Isaac looked disappointed. “Yes, all right.”

  Zofia and Shlomie walked through the forest. “Now, here, let me show you which ones we can eat and which we can’t.” Shlomie showed Zofia what was edible and what was poisonous.

  “You learned all of this?”

  “I was going to major in science. I planned to find cures for diseases, if I had been allowed to attend college. I had big plans. But now I am just happy that I know a little about botany. It helps the group. I make medicines when I can, too.”

  “You live on the plants for the most part?”

  “No, we live on whatever we can get. We steal a little food from a local farm. Sometimes people are kind, and they give us food. Isaac has learned to fashion a bow and arrow. He hunts. We never use our ammunition to hunt because we might need it to fight if the German’s ever found us.”

  “A bow and arrow? Really? I remember Isaac as being this shy little boy.”

  “Yes, well, the Nazis have managed to change all of us. I’ve learned to fish with my bare hands. Can you imagine? There was a time when I was afraid of water. Now I swim like I was born to be an Olympic swimmer.”

  “You are right about that, the Nazis really changed my life too,” Zofia said.

  “You want to talk about it?”

  “No and yes… I just can’t. It hurts too much to talk about the losses.”

  “Yes, I know. I lost my parents, my sisters, and my fiancé.”

  She nodded. They walked in silence for a while, gathering berries and green plants.

  “Shlomie?”

  “Yes…”

  “Isaac and Sarah, they are a couple?”

  “She would like them to be. He is distant. It’s strange. I mean, Isaac is one of the kindest people I know. But he is hard to get close to. He keeps his distance from all of us. I guess it is his way of surviving.”

  “That make sense. If you never let yourself love anyone or anything, you can’t get hurt. Still, you’re right. He is very nice.”

  “Yes, he is. And you’re probably right. That is probably why he doesn’t allow anyone in, not really. He keeps to himself, goes out alone to hunt. He is generous and always shares his kill with the group. But I think that a part of him died when he had to leave his family, and then when he had to come out into the forests.”

  “Does he talk to you?”

  “A little… Not much. You are going to see that here in our little group, nobody pries. Every one of us has a past that is unpleasant. People we loved, gone, disappeared, dead. We each share what we chose to share, but no one asks questions.”

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Yes, if you would like.” He had been kneeling over a green leafy plant. He stopped and looked up.

  “You were in Treblinka, yes?”

  “Yes.” Shlomie nodded, looking up at her.

  “Did you know a man named Dovid Greenspan? He was from Warsaw?”

  “Yes, I knew him.”

  “You did?” She felt her heart jump in her chest.

  “Is he…alive?”

  “No, I’m sorry. The Arbeitsführer shot him. I saw it with my own eyes.”

  “Dovid?” She sat down on the ground. It was too hard to take this news standing up.

  “Yes.”

  “He was a friend of mine.”

  “Your boyfriend?”

  “Yes and no. Just someone I once knew.” She felt her heart sink. Dovid… Poor Dovid… Fruma… Gitel… Dovid.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “You knew the Arbeitsführer?” she asked.

  “Manfred Blau?”

  “Yes. Manfred Blau.”

  “Oh yes, I knew him. He was a sadist. A horrible man, one of the worst… He hated the men, had some sort of a sexual problem with them. I am not sure what it was. But he did terrible things. Castrated them, tortured them. It was horrible.”

  “I knew him too. But he was no homosexual. You mentioned that before. But he wasn’t; I assure you.”

  Shlomie nodded. “I believe you. And…I’m sorry for your suffering. I guess that is all I can say.”

  “Yes, and I feel the same for yours.”

  “You like Isaac, don’t you?”

  She shrugged.

  “I can tell. He is a difficult man, a loner. I wouldn’t want to see you get hurt.”

  “I don’t think I like him in that way. I am just impressed with how he has grown up into such a strong and capable man.”

  Shlomie nodded his head. “All the women have a special place in their hearts for Isaac. I wish I knew why.” Zofia thought she saw a longing in his gaze when he looked at her.

  Chapter 57

  As the winter cold began to descend upon the forest, the men took wooden slat covers made of tree branches that they’d built and began to cover the windows.

  “It gets a little dark and depressing here during the winter. Still, we must remember that we are the fortunate ones. We are still alive,” Shlomie told Zofia as he hoisted a large square of wood slats over the window. Isaac came and held the heavy wood while Shlomie hammered nails into the corners.

  “Where did you fellows get all of these tools?” Zofia asked, looking at the axe and the hammers, the nails.

  “Stolen,” Isaac said, smiling.

  “From whom?” she asked. She watched Isaac his smile was infectious.

  “Local farms, mostly. The guns were taken off of dead Nazis.”

  “I’m impressed.”

  “And well you should be. We have set up a palace for you here, my lady,” Isaac said.

  She laughed.

  “I’m sorry to say that the winter will be rough. We don’t always have enough to eat. But we are lucky. It’s true. At least we are alive, and we’re not in camps,” Shlomie said.

  “At least we are together,” Sarah said, and she walked over to Isaac.

  “Yes, and of course, ladies, I will do what I can to see to it that you do not starve. In fact, I will take my trusty bow and arrow and catch you both your own rabbit. How does that sound?”

  “Oh Isaac, you are always being silly,” Sarah said.

  “What good is life if we can’t stay happy?”

  “He never takes anything seriously,” Sarah said shaking her head.

  “No, I don’t take anything seriously, not after all that I have seen. I live for the moment. And right in this very moment, I am happy. I am surrounded by my friends. There is a kettle outside with a nice stew simmering. What more could a man ask for?”

  “Love?” Sarah said.

  “Love, yes. It is the greatest gift. It can make all darknes
s light,” Shlomie said.

  “That it can, but it can also make you very vulnerable. That’s something that none of us can afford right now,” Isaac said.

  “I would take the risk; I would be willing to pay the price,” Shlomie said.

  “You’re such a romantic,” Isaac laughed.

  “Have you ever loved anyone?” Sarah asked, her glare directed at Isaac.

  “My family, but if you mean romantically, no. I didn’t have a chance. I was too young to think of those things when all this started,” Isaac said.

  Once the windows were done, the four friends sat down to eat a small meal of matzo and apples.

  “After we are finished eating, I am going outside to chop wood. Would you like to help me, Shlomie?” Isaac asked.

  Shlomie nodded.

  “I’d like to help too,” Zofia said.

  “You and Sarah can gather the wood and put it into piles. That would be very helpful.”

  “Of course - I would be happy to,” Sarah took a bite of apple.

  Isaac was shirtless, his back tanned from the sun, rippled with muscles and glistening with sweat as he lifted the axe. Zofia could not help but feel a tingling when she looked at him. His golden hair, his dark eyes - he was like the pictures of the Greek Gods she’d seen in books long ago when she was still in school. For a second she remembered Mr. Taylor. What a fool she’d been to fall for him, and then to quit school because of her embarrassment. If only she’d realized that he wasn’t worth the effort. Then again, if she’d never quit school she would never have been blessed with the friendship of Fruma and Gitel, two people she would remember for the rest of her life. Shlomie was thinner than Isaac was. It was obvious to Zofia that the heavy labor was harder for him, but Shlomie chopped wood beside Isaac, who made it look effortless. In fact, Isaac amazed her. The overweight little Jewish son of the baker had grown into a man who seemed able to overcome almost every obstacle. He hunted, usually returning with a rabbit or bird. Sometimes he and Shlomie fished. Shlomie would bring back a catch or two. But Isaac always came back with a big smile and a pile fish in his hands. Occasionally at night, the men raided the neighboring farms. They took as little as possible, just enough to survive, in hope that the farmers would not notice the food missing. It was easy to find apple trees with rotting fruit that had fallen to the ground. They cleared the ground, collecting the apples in buckets they’d stolen. In the summer, at night, they walked for miles until they were far enough from the cabin to feel safe. Then they dug up potatoes, carrying them back to bury them near the cabin for the lean winter months. Several times in the fall during their hunt for potatoes, they found corn growing along the edge of forest, which they took and horded.