Once We Were Brothers

by Ronald H. Balson

  “Father shook his head. ‘Do you see all these people here? They’re desperate and in need. The Judenrat is all they have. We set up a communal kitchen and we’re getting food from the Jewish Self-help Organization in Krakow. We help families stay together and find spaces to live. When you left Zamość there were less than five thousand Jews living all throughout the city. Now there are over seven thousand, shipped in from all over the region and crowded into a few city blocks. The Judenrat is their government. We intercede with the Nazis. How can I leave these people, Ben?’

  “‘What about Mother? I could take her back to the cabin.’

  “‘That would be fine, if she would go. She’s working in the women’s clinic helping Dr. Weissbaum.’

  “My father gave me identification papers and an arm band. I decided to stay in New Town for a few days and convince my parents to leave. I’d get the money from Otto and take them all back to the mountains. That night I slept on the floor beside my parents’ bed. Over the next few days I helped my father at the Judenrat office and tried to convince my mother to come back with me. But no matter how hard I tried, my mother was unwilling to leave Zamość without my father. ‘Wither thou goest,’ she said to me, and I understood the depth of the love that bound them. I was foolish to think they would part.

  “She added, ‘I’m needed at the clinic. We’ve had an outbreak of typhus and many are gravely ill. The Judenrat is opening a hospital in the school building. Right now we have forty beds.’”

  “Typhus?” Catherine said.

  “Right. It’s a nasty disease which occurs in poor areas where people are forced to live in crowded, unsanitary conditions. Typhus is spread by lice or fleas, especially in the cold weather. Anne Frank died of typhus. It was common in the camps. Now it can be cured with antibiotics. Back then, well, it was a terrible way to die.

  “Anyway, after a few days, the time had come for me to go. I was worried about Hannah and Beka alone at the cabin. They were never out of my thoughts. Sitting with my parents, I said, ‘I’m going to get money from Otto and return to the mountains. I’ll take the horse and wagon. As long as we’re safe, we’ll stay at Uncle Joseph’s. If things get worse here, or if they start shipping people out, have Otto bring you to the cabin.’

  “My father nodded. ‘If I can no longer help our people, Mother and I will join you. But you must promise me, if the Germans come into the Podhale, you’ll take the girls and head south through the mountains.’

  “I promised, kissed my parents and left to find Otto.”

  “How did you get through the ghetto walls?” Catherine said. “Wasn’t there barbed wire and weren’t there armed guards to stop people from leaving?”

  “No. Zamość didn’t have a walled ghetto like Warsaw. People were free to come and go, but Jews were not permitted on the street after curfew. During the day, they could travel through Zamość but they were subject to being stopped, harassed, beaten or worse. If you didn’t have a work permit, the Germans were likely to shoot you and leave your body on the street. I left the ghetto and met up with Otto at his office. We took a walk.

  “‘I need money,’ I said to him. ‘Would you please bring me some of my family’s money?’

  “He seemed annoyed with the request. ‘What do you need money for?’

  “‘I’m going back to the mountains and I want to get a little extra money for my parents. But even if I wanted to burn it, it’s our money.’

  “‘I know it’s your money, Ben, you don’t have to tell me that. How much do you need?’

  “‘I’ll take two thousand Zlotys’

  “‘Two thousand? Why do you need that much?’

  “‘Otto, that’s my business. Would you please bring me two thousand Zlotys and help me get to Yaakov’s farm.’

  “‘The money’s locked up at home. I’ll meet you here tomorrow morning.’

  “‘Tomorrow? I need to leave today. I was hoping to get the money and drive out to the farm. I’m worried about the girls and I want to get back to the cabin.’

  “Otto shook his head. ‘I can’t get the money right now.’ He looked around and came closer, like he was telling me a secret. ‘You know Teresa Zumszka?’ he whispered.

  “I nodded. ‘The buxom blonde.’

  “‘Right. She’s staying with me right now. She’s a wild tiger, I tell you. She has my little soldier saluting her all night long.’ He laughed. ‘I don’t want her to see where I keep the money. And be sure not to tell Elzbieta about her.’ He winked at me.

  “‘I have to leave today, Otto.’

  “He reached into his pocket. ‘I can give you a few hundred.’ He pulled out a huge roll of bills. ‘Here,’ he said counting them out, ‘here’s five hundred. I’ll give the rest to your Father.’

  “I looked at the roll and said, ‘Whoo, that’s a lot of money you carry in your pocket.’

  “‘Money’s easy in Zamość if you’re a German.’

  “The statement disgusted me, but I said nothing. What good would it do?

  “‘Will you drive me out to the farm?’ I said.

  “Otto agreed and we climbed into his fancy car. All the way to the farm he bragged about his escapades. Never once did he express any concern for the two people that took him in and raised him. Never once did he ask about Beka or Hannah. When he dropped me off he said, ‘I gotta get back to the tiger. I bet she meets me at the door wearing nothing but her underwear.’ He laughed and then sped away.

  “Zeleinski was sitting on the porch of the farmhouse when I arrived. He helped me hitch up Buttermilk, gave me a loaf of bread and I left immediately. The longer I had stayed away, the more anxious I’d become. I’d been gone almost twelve days and it would take at least three more to get back to the cabin.

  “I drove deep into the night until I started falling asleep in the wagon seat. Then I pulled over, caught a nap and rested my muscles. Just before dawn, I started up again. Every time I saw a car, I’d head into the fields to make it look like I was farming. No one bothered me all the way to Łysa Polana, where I by-passed the town and the border guards. I couldn’t wait to hold Hannah in my arms and see Beka’s infectious smile. The closer I got, the more eager I became. Finally, at noon on the third day, I arrived at the cabin.

  “‘Hannah? Beka?’ I called as I unhitched Buttermilk. ‘I’m back. Hannah?’

  “I walked into the cabin but no one was home. At first I figured they were out gathering mushrooms or greens but then I noticed the stove was cold. The mountain nights were chilly and they should have been using the stove for heat. I started to worry but I kept reassuring myself that they were just out for a walk or gathering food. I decided to sit down and wait on the porch.

  “The time passed with agonizing slowness. Each minute seemed like an hour. I kept scanning the edge of the woods, focusing on the trails and hoping to see the two girls walking up the hill. As the twilight settled in, my anxiety turned to panic. Something was wrong. Finally, I ran down to Krzysztof’s and rapped on his door. His wife answered. I apologized for the disturbance and asked to speak to Krzysztof, who was eating his dinner. He came to the door with a napkin tucked into his shirt, and he shooed me out to the road.

  “‘I’m sorry, Krzysztof, but Hannah and Beka aren’t at the cabin,’ I said. ‘I’ve waited all day. Do you know where they are?’

  “He nodded solemnly. ‘My friend, I have bad news. The Germans came through a few days ago.’

  “I felt like I’d been kicked in the stomach. I could hardly stand. ‘Where did they take them?’

  “Krzysztof shook his head. ‘Maybe to Zakopane. Maybe Rabka.’

  “All my thoughts turned to how to get them back and I knew I couldn’t do it on my own. Otto was my only hope. I dashed back to the cabin and hitched up Buttermilk. ‘Sorry, old girl, but we need to get back to Zamość in a hurry.’

  “I traveled through the night and all the next day, blind with panic, pushing Buttermilk, hoping she wouldn’t stumble from exhaustion, fina
lly arriving at Grandpa Yaakov’s farm two days later. Zielinski’s six-year-old son was playing in the front yard when I arrived.

  “‘Can you do a big favor for me?’ I said with my hands on his shoulders. ‘Would you unhitch Buttermilk and give her some oats?’

  “‘Sure,’ he said, and as I gave him the reins, he added, ‘Your friend, the German soldier man, was here again yesterday. He went into our barn.’

  “I thanked him for his help and started off down the road to Zamość. Catching a bus at the edge of town, I went directly to SS headquarters.

  “‘I have a message for Scharfuhrer Piatek,’ I said to the young adjutant at the desk.

  “He looked at his watch and laughed. ‘It’s only one o’clock. He hasn’t come in yet today. It’s too early for him.’ I started to leave and he called after me, ‘It’s hauptscharfuhrer now. He’s been promoted. What is your business here?’

  “‘Special assignment. I am to report directly to Hauptscharfuhrer Piatek.’

  “He nodded and looked down at his papers. ‘Try again, later.’

  “I didn’t know exactly where Otto was living and I knew he wasn’t at the Maria anymore, so I decided to ask Elzbieta for help. I found her at home in the early evening.

  “‘Ben, you’re out after curfew. It’s very dangerous for you,’ she said as she hustled me through the doorway and into her apartment.

  “‘Elzie. The SS – they’ve taken Hannah and Beka.’

  “She was stunned. ‘Where were they taken?’

  “‘I don’t have any idea. They were taken from the mountain cabin. We have to find Otto.’

  “She lifted the phone and dialed. Placing her hand over the mouthpiece, she whispered, ‘Otto and I have been having some problems. He’s Mister Bon Vivant these days.’

  “‘Hello, Otto?’ she said into the phone. ‘Ben and I need to see you right away.’ She paused. ‘He’s here at my apartment. Yes, he’s here. Please come over.’ She paused again, and a look of strong determination came over her face. ‘I don’t care what you’re doing, you come over here right now!’ She hung up. ‘He’ll come,’ she said with disgust. ‘He said I caught him at a bad time.’

  “Otto arrived a little while later.

  “‘Ben,’ he said lightly, ‘you keep coming back. You’re like one of those Australian boomerangs.’

  “‘They’ve arrested Hannah and Beka,’ I said. ‘The SS took them from the cabin and I don’t know where they are.’

  “For all of his Nazi-ism, Otto was visibly shaken. ‘When were they taken?’

  “‘While I was here in Zamość. When I arrived back in the mountains two days ago, the cabin was empty and the neighbor told me the Germans had come by.’

  “Otto sat down on the couch and pulled at his lip, deep in thought. ‘They may know where they are at the SS office in Krakow – they should have records of arrests in the Podhale region. If there’s one thing Germans do well, it’s keep records. Krakow is headed by Obergruppenfuhrer Kruger, who is a very unpleasant man, but I think Dr. Frank is presently in Krakow or at the resort south of there, I can’t remember the name.’

  “‘Rabka?’

  “‘That’s it. I’ll go tomorrow morning. They’ll give me access to the records. Elzie, I’ll need two dresses.’

  “‘I’ll go with you,’ I said.

  “‘No. It’s better I go alone. You’ll just get in the way. How would I explain your presence?’

  “‘I have to go,’ I said. ‘I’ll wear one of your old uniforms. I can pass for a Nazi.’

  “Otto just shook his head. ‘It’s too risky and Dr. Frank knows you. You’ll get us both killed.’

  “I realized that I had no choice and I’d have to rely on Otto. We agreed that I would stay at Elzbieta’s and wait for him.

  “The next three days were unbearable. I didn’t want to alarm my parents, so I didn’t return to New Town. I figured that if Otto brought the girls home safely, and if everything was all right, I would have frightened my parents unnecessarily. So I sat at Elzbieta’s for three days listening to the radio and going nuts. She was very kind to me and tried to calm my nerves. We had discussions deep into the night about our lives and how the world had changed. But every time we heard a noise, we panicked. I would duck under the bed or into a closet.

  “Finally, on the third day, in the middle of the night, there was a knock on Elzbieta’s door. When I heard Otto’s voice I came out of hiding. There stood Hannah in Elzbieta’s dress.

  “She ran to me and I hugged her tightly for several minutes, afraid to let her go. Otto shut the door.

  “‘Where’s Beka?’ I said.

  “Otto shook his head and held up his hand, as if to say ‘I’ll tell you later.’

  “‘Otto rescued me,’ Hannah said. ‘We were in Zakopane, at a hotel, being held prisoner with other women. So many women, some as young as fourteen. We were all confined in an empty ballroom, like penned-up cattle. German officers would come and go, look us over and pick the ones they wanted, like a slave auction. They took Beka, but Otto’s going to go back and get her.’

  “‘Tell me what happened, how did you wind up at Zakopane?’

  “‘Beka and I had just come back to the cabin from gathering berries and there was a car parked in front. Three soldiers stood on the porch and shouted at us. We thought about running but they had rifles, so we figured we’d try to talk our way out of it. They asked for our papers. We played dumb and coy and said we had never been issued any papers, that we just lived in the mountains and we didn’t know anything. We said we weren’t Jewish and the two of us were living alone since the death of our father.’

  “‘They said something in German, but they were eyeing us, especially Beka. They told us that they would have to take us to Zakopane, register us and bring us right back. But they didn’t, of course. We were taken to the Palace Hotel and locked into the ballroom with dozens of other girls. SS and Gestapo were everywhere.’

  “Hannah shivered and seemed unsteady. Elzbieta led her to the couch and gave her a glass of water. Hannah hadn’t eaten much in the past several days, so Elzie made her a sandwich.

  “‘Even though it was a hotel, our confinement was harsh,’ Hannah said. ‘We were only allowed to use the toilet twice a day. Food was meager. We slept on the floor. From time to time the SS would come into the hall and take out a group of girls. We all talked about it. There were rumors that we were going to be sent to army camps to be whores for the Germans. I kept remembering what Krzysztof told us about Rabka and the parties that went on.’

  “‘It was during the second day that Dr. Frank came into the ballroom with an older officer who gazed lasciviously at the collection of young girls. It made my skin crawl.’

  “‘They looked us over like they were in a café selecting pastries from the dessert cart. The nasty, lecherous old man who accompanied Dr. Frank pointed his fat finger and one of the girls was pulled to her feet by a guard and hustled out of the room. Dr. Frank’s eyes fell upon Beka. There was instant recognition. ‘Rebecca. Seventeen,’ he said, smiling, and motioned for the guards to bring her along. Beka cried as she was yanked away.’

  “Hannah stopped and covered her face. Elzbieta sat next to her, put her arm around her and let Hannah cry into her shoulder. It took a few minutes for Hannah to compose herself. ‘I never saw Beka after that,’ she said. ‘Two days later, Otto walked into the room, pointed at me and said, “I want that one.”’

  “‘He led me from the hotel and out to his car. Then he gave me Elzie’s dress, told me to put it on and act like his girlfriend if we were stopped. We drove directly back to Zamość.’

  “Hannah looked up, with a small, hopeful smile. ‘Otto says he can go back and get Beka in a few days. I’m so worried about her, Ben.’

  “Elzbieta poured us each a glass of wine and we drank to Hannah’s freedom and to Beka’s impending rescue. But after a while, Otto took me aside and said, ‘I can’t get Beka.’

  “My heart
sank. ‘Why?’

  “‘She wasn’t with the others when I got there. Dr. Frank took her up to Rabka. The villa is filled with SS officers and it’s heavily guarded. I’m not on the guest list. I’d be recognized and questioned. They would ask me what I was doing there.’

  “The thought of Beka being used by those monsters sickened me. ‘I thought it was forbidden for SS officers to have relations with Jews,’ I said.

  “Otto lowered his eyes. ‘Don’t be naïve. Besides, Hannah and Beka said they weren’t Jewish and no one in the Podhale knows them. Rabka’s a decadent resort where anything goes. The SS officers who train guards at the academy all stay at the villa. That’s what makes the academy so popular. And they have a ravenous appetite for young girls.’

  “Visions of those filthy Nazis violating my sister boiled my blood. ‘Let’s go,’ I said. ‘We need to get Beka out of there.’

  “Otto waved his hand. ‘We can’t. There’s a detachment of Ukrainian guards securing the villa. There are soldiers everywhere. You’d never get near her.’

  “‘I’ll take the chance. Let’s go.’

  “Otto put his hand on my shoulder. ‘You know I’d do anything for Beka. But we have to face reality. She’s beyond our reach. There’s absolutely nothing we can do for her.’

  “‘That’s it? You’re going sit by while she’s abused in a whorehouse by fucking Nazis?’

  “‘The abuse is saving her life. She’s alive because officers desire her. The girls at the Plaza Hotel, the ones that aren’t chosen to go to Rabka, are sent to Majdanek.’

  “‘If SS officers can get into the villa, then you can get into the villa. I’ll go with you. We have to get her out.’

  “Otto shook his head. ‘You’d just wind up getting us all killed. Give it up.’

  “‘You won’t go?’

  “‘No, Ben, I won’t.’

  “Well, I will. Give me one of your uniforms and some identification. Let me have your car. I’ll go in and bring her out.’

  “Otto turned to Hannah and Elzbieta. ‘Can either of you reason with him. He’s committing suicide. No, worse. He’s implicating me. Maybe all of us.’