Night of Flames: A Novel of World War II
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Murmurs and groans rippled through the audience, excited voices translating. The man behind Thaddeus tugged at his shoulder.
“Ruhe!” Mueller commanded. “From this point on, none of you are allowed to speak!” Anyone who disobeys my orders will be shot! Beginning with the front row, you will stand and file out the back of the auditorium. There are trucks waiting outside. Do not speak to anyone, and do not attempt to escape or you will be shot.”
Thaddeus’s stomach heaved. He swallowed hard and clenched his hands together, praying he wouldn’t get sick. He glanced at Bujak. His burly friend’s face was red with rage, sweat dripping from his forehead. When it came time for their row to file out, Bujak hoisted his bulky body out of the seat then rocked back on his heels, bumping into Thaddeus. Thaddeus put a hand on his back to steady him, but an SS trooper reached over and grabbed Bujak by the collar.
“Raus! Raus! Move it, fat ass!” the trooper snarled, pulling him into the aisle.
Bujak jerked away, mumbling something under his breath.
The trooper instantly jabbed him in the back with the butt of the submachine gun. Bujak grunted and staggered forward, grabbing the shoulder of the man in front of him.
Thaddeus quickly stepped into the aisle in front of the SS trooper and gripped Bujak under the arm to steady him as they proceeded toward the door.
Outside the building a line of green-uniformed Feldgendarmes barked orders and swung nightsticks, herding the bewildered crowd toward a convoy of canvas-covered trucks. Thaddeus kept a grip on Bujak’s arm, praying his profusely sweating friend wouldn’t stumble. When Bujak attempted to climb into the truck, his foot slipped off the bumper and he fell heavily on the cobblestones. Thaddeus reached for him, but a Feldgendarme charged in and shoved him aside. The German policeman swung his nightstick and brought it down in a crushing blow on Bujak’s shoulder. Without thinking, Thaddeus jumped in front of the Feldgendarme and gripped Bujak under the arms. Another man grabbed Bujak around the waist and they hoisted him into the truck.
Thaddeus scrambled into the truck after his friend, expecting the crunch of a nightstick to come any second. Holding Bujak up, he stumbled forward in the dark canvas enclosure, pushed along by the bodies being shoved in behind them. The Feldgendarme jumped up on the bed of the truck and ordered everyone to sit on the floor. He swatted two men standing near him who didn’t react soon enough. Thaddeus was shoved against a metal railing at the front of the truck and had to kick the man in front of him to avoid getting crushed. Bujak collapsed heavily at his side. The Feldgendarme jumped to the ground and pulled a curtain across the back of the truck.
Chapter 17
ANNA AWOKE EARLY. The telephone rang just as she climbed out of bed. Glancing at the brass clock on her bed table, she hurried to the hallway and picked up the phone. It was a few minutes past six.
The voice on the other end was frantic. “Anna, something has happened…I don’t know…he didn’t…”
Anna could barely understand. “Irene? Slow down. What is it?”
A deep breath, then, “Anna, your father…I don’t know what…”
“Irene! What are you talking about?”
“Last night, the seminar…he never came home.”
The fog of sleep lifted quickly as Anna remembered the seminar. “He didn’t come home?”
“No. But it wasn’t very late and we went to bed. But this morning—”
“Irene, stop! Stop and take a breath and tell me slowly exactly what happened.”
A pause. Then Irene’s voice, quieter. “He hadn’t come home by the time we went to bed, but it wasn’t very late, so I didn’t think much about it. But, when we didn’t see him this morning I…Oh, God, Anna, I’m sorry.” A deep breath. “His hat and coat weren’t hanging on the hook in the hallway. I knocked on his door, but he wasn’t there. They’ve done something, Anna!”
Anna stepped backward, leaning against the wall, staring at the beige and gold floral print of the wallpaper, trying to think. “Irene, listen to me. Perhaps he got into an accident. Maybe he was injured on the tram. He might have been taken to a hospital. I’ll make some calls and—”
“Anna, Dr. Bujak is missing too.”
“He is? How do you know?”
“Just as I was going to call you, the telephone rang. It was Mrs. Bujak. She wanted to know if your father was home.”
Anna slumped to the oak parquet floor. It wasn’t making sense.
“Anna? Are you there?”
“Yes, I’m here.” Anna heard her own voice as if from a distance. “I don’t know what’s going on…I’ve got to think…I’ve…got to make some calls. I’ll be over as soon as I can.”
“What could have happened? What—”
“I don’t know what happened!” Anna snapped, interrupting her friend. She paused and closed her eyes. “Irene, I don’t know what happened. I’ll make some calls. Look after Janina, I’m sure she’s pretty upset. I’ll be over as soon as I can.”
Anna’s knees were weak as she got to her feet and hung up the phone. She put a hand on the wall and breathed slowly, in and out, her eyes resting on the walnut shelf above the phone table. She reached out and slid a finger gently over the smooth surface of the cut-glass model of a hand that rested on the shelf along with her Hummel collection. It was the symbol of Antwerp, a gift from the Leffards when she graduated from university. Her father had been so proud.
She shook her head, wiping away a tear, and stepped unsteadily into the small, tiled kitchen, opened the cupboard and took out a glass. She tried filling it with water, but her hands were shaking so badly that the glass slipped and shattered in the sink among last night’s dirty dishes.
She slumped into one of the arrow-back chairs and propped her elbows on the walnut pedestal table her father had given her and Jan as a wedding present. Who could she call? No one would be at the university at this hour. Think! Think! A name came to mind: Wawrzyn, a friend of her father’s. What was his first name? Fryderyk, that was it! Fryderyk Wawrzyn. He was some type of lawyer for the city. Would he have been at the meeting?
She ran to the hall table, grabbed the telephone book and ripped through the pages.
A woman answered on the first ring. “Hello?” Her voice was tentative, nervous.
“Is this Mrs. Wawrzyn?” Anna asked, forcing herself to speak calmly.
“Yes. Who is this?”
“Mrs. Wawrzyn, my name is Anna Kopernik. I’m Thaddeus Piekarski’s daughter.”
“Oh yes, Thaddeus,” she said excitedly. “Is Fryderyk there with Thaddeus?”
Anna’s heart sank. She started to speak but nothing came out. She put her hand over the mouthpiece, breathing rapidly. She tried again. “No, Mrs. Wawrzyn, your husband’s not here. My father didn’t come home last night. I was hoping you might know something.”
Silence.
“Mrs. Wawrzyn?” Anna picked up the small cut-glass hand from the shelf and turned it over, rubbing the smooth surfaces with her fingers. It was heavy and solid, its feel familiar and reassuring.
“I knew this would happen,” the woman sobbed. “When I heard you mention your father’s name, I hoped that…” Her voice trailed off.
“Mrs. Wawrzyn, have you called anyone else?”
“Yes, I did. I…excuse me, I’m sorry. Yes, I called Felek, Fryderyk’s assistant. But he had no idea. He wasn’t invited to the meeting. He suggested I call the Rector at his home and I did, but there was no answer. I just don’t know. Should we call the police?”
“The police? No! I mean, no, not yet. Don’t call them yet. Let me check into this. I’ll call you back…all right?”
“Oh, yes…thank you. I’ll wait to hear from you.”
“Mrs. Wawrzyn, this assistant of your husband, what’s his last name?”
“Felek? Oh, it’s…excuse me…I’ve been up all night and I can’t…just a minute, dear. Here it is. It’s Slomak, Felek Slomak. Do you want his number?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Yes, Felek Slomak,” the man said, his eyes darting around. Several groups of people knelt in the pews at the front of the church, near the altar.
“Thank you for agreeing to meet me,” Anna said. “Have you found out anything?”
Slomak nodded then leaned close to her. Anna noticed beads of perspiration on his forehead. He spoke in a whisper. “I have a few contacts in the city government that I can trust. The few still left. I spoke with one of them right after you called.” He paused, glancing around a second time. “Your father…along with everyone else who attended the seminar, was arrested by the SS.”
It took a moment to sink in. “Arrested…?”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Kopernik.”
“Why?”
Slomak hesitated. “According to my contact, it may be the beginning of—” He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Anna, I really don’t know.”
“What are you saying?…the beginning…I don’t understand…”
“The Nazis may have considered them a threat.”
“A threat? How could they feel threatened by some college professors?”
Slomak took out a handkerchief and wiped his brow. “Mrs. Kopernik, I really don’t know. Let me check into it some more. I’ll—”
“Where have they been taken? What’s going to happen?”
He folded the handkerchief and put it back in his pocket. “I don’t know. Neither did my contact. Give me a few days. I’ll contact you.”
“What can I do in the meantime? Who can I call? There’s got to be someone.”
Slomak touched her arm. “I know how you must feel, Mrs. Kopernik. But please try and understand. There’s nothing you can do. There’s no one you can call. The SS and the Gestapo have spies everywhere.”
Anna bit her lower lip. She felt like she would explode.
Slomak gathered his hat and coat. “I’ll contact you. You have my word. Give me a few days.”
Anna sat in the church for a while after Slomak left, gazing at the majestic high altar at the east end. The immense three-paneled wood carving crafted by the Nuremberg master Veit Stoss was perhaps the finest example of Gothic art in all of Europe. Anna had known it her whole life, but she stared at it as though seeing it for the first time. She studied the gilded figures of the Holy Family on the outer panels of the folded triptych then closed her eyes, recalling the scene on the center panel, her favorite, visible only on Sundays when the altarpiece was opened. The exquisite life-size figures of the Dormition of the Virgin depicted the graceful figure of Mary reclining into her final sleep in the arms of the Apostles. It had always reminded her of her mother, a graceful soul ascending into heaven. Her father had sat with her on those Sundays…
She left the church and walked across the Rynek Glowny, glaring in contempt at the red swastika banner hanging from the town hall. She crossed the Planty and waited while a tram rumbled past. A large sign in the window of each car proclaimed, Juden Verboten. She thought about Irene and Justyn, and her anxiety deepened. Just a few days ago, the boy had been sent home from school in tears. Jews were now forbidden to go to school. She felt like she was suffocating, as if she were caught in the jaws of a giant vise squeezing the life out of her. Get control, she told herself. Get control and think.
She spotted a small café, went inside and ordered a cup of tea. Sitting quietly in a corner, she forced herself to concentrate. Going back to the university was unthinkable. The Germans would very likely shut it down soon anyway. She stared into the cup and saw only darkness. She felt dizzy, nauseated. She closed her eyes and swallowed. Breathe…breathe. She took a sip of the tea. One day at a time, she thought. Take it one day at a time and wait to hear from Slomak.
Chapter 18
ON HIS WAY BACK to the barracks of the internment camp after the regiment’s morning calisthenics, Jan stopped in his tracks and stared into the late October sky, awestruck by the hundreds of enormous white and black birds thundering overhead. In a cacophony of whooping and flapping, the flock of majestic Common Cranes headed south over the woodlands of eastern Hungary on the way to winter resting grounds in Africa.
“Spectacular isn’t it?” came a voice from behind him. It was Peracki.
Jan glanced at him and nodded, then looked back at the sky. “I remember reading about this when I was a boy. Never imagined I’d see it in the middle of a war.”
“Anything new from Tolnai about getting us out of here?” Peracki asked, wiping his face with a towel.
Jan shook his head. “No, nothing yet.”
“You must be getting to know him pretty well by now. What’ve you had, five or six meetings?”
Jan smiled at his only remaining squadron commander. “Yeah, something like that. I’m getting tired of that apricot brandy he keeps in the desk drawer, but he sure loves to talk. He’s quite well educated, traveled all over Europe, loves music, literature, beyond me most of the time. But he’s been guarded about everything else.”
“Any chance of sending a message back home?”
“None. On that he’s been very clear. The borders are sealed, telephones and telegraphs are down. Poland’s cut off.”
They walked on in silence. Peracki jerked his thumb toward the rickety chicken-wire fence strung between thin wooden posts with a single roll of barbed wire strung along the top. “Say the word, Jan. You know the men will jump at the chance.”
Jan looked his friend in the eye. “I know they would, but what then? We’re foreigners in a neutral country under German influence—no horses, no passports, a thousand kilometers from France.” He glanced around, making sure they were alone. “It may come to that, Lech, but we’re not there yet. Tolnai has gone out of his way to keep us here, and he’s chosen to spend a lot of time with me. I don’t know what it all means, but for some reason I trust him.”
Peracki nodded and threw the towel over his shoulder. “Or, maybe he just wants someone to talk to.”
That night the tall German-speaking guard found Jan and said that Colonel Tolnai wanted to see him. This time, however, Tolnai was waiting for him outside. When the guard departed, the colonel motioned for Jan to follow, and they walked in silence to the main gate where the guard on duty unlocked it and pushed it open.
They walked out of the camp and about a hundred meters down a narrow dirt road cut through a dense stand of conifers. It was a clear night, under a full moon, the crisp autumn air pungent with the scent of pine. Tolnai stopped and turned toward Jan. “Fifty meters farther down the road you’ll come to a bridge. On the other side of the bridge, there’ll be an auto with a man inside who would like to talk to you.”
Jan glared at the colonel, wary.
Tolnai smiled. “Trust me, there’s no danger. Go. When you’re finished, walk back to the gate and the guard will let you in. Then come and see me.”
Before Jan could respond the colonel turned and started back to the camp.
Jan stood motionless, watching the colonel disappear up the road. Except for the night breeze rustling the pine trees, it was completely quiet. His hands were clammy, and he wiped them on his pants before continuing down the road. He crossed the one-lane plank bridge and spotted a black sedan parked off to the sid
e. He approached the vehicle slowly, and when he got to the driver’s side window, he bent down and peered inside. A man with thick black hair looked up at him. Speaking Polish, the man said, “Good evening, Major. Please come around to the other side and get in the car.”
Jan stood where he was. “Who are you?”
“If you get in the car, you’ll find out. Please, Major, I’m straining my neck looking up at you.”
Jan stepped around to the passenger side of the sedan and got in. The man behind the wheel smiled and extended his hand. “Major Kopernik, my name is ‘Ludwik.’ I am an officer with the Polish Free Forces under the command of General Sikorski.”
Jan didn’t respond. The man appeared to be about fifty years old. He was slightly paunchy and was wearing corduroy trousers and a dark pullover sweater.
The man’s smile disappeared, and he folded his hands in his lap. “Major, I understand that this probably seems very strange to you, but—”
“That’s an understatement,” Jan snapped.
The man exhaled slowly. “Allow me to explain, if you would, please.”
“Go ahead.”
“Thank you. Now, Major, you have orders to get your men to France and join the Polish Free Forces. I’m here to help you do that.”
Jan’s eyes narrowed.
“It’s true. I have the means at my disposal to get you and your men into France.”
“When?”
“When you have completed a task for General Sikorski and the Polish Resistance.”
“The Resistance? What the hell would I know about that? I’m a soldier.”
“I’m well aware of the fact that you’re a soldier. So am I, and I’m here under the authority of General Sikorski. We’ve got a job that we need you to do.”
Ludwik started to reach into the back of the car, but Jan grabbed his arm, pinning it against the seat.
“Whoa, hold on, Major. I just want to get a briefcase.”