Irena's War

by Shipman, James D.

  Irena was surprised to hear that. But as she regained consciousness, her sadness returned as well. The sharp agony was gone, at least for now, but she felt the despair beginning to weigh her down again. “It would have been best if I’d died,” she said at last.

  “I disagree entirely,” the doctor said. “Your mother told me all the things you’ve done. The risks you’ve taken. You’re a hero, do you know that?”

  Irena shook her head. “I lost them. I lost them all.”

  “You did not lose them,” he said, running his hand by her cheek. “The Germans took them. As they’ve taken so many of us. No, my dear, you’ve done things I wouldn’t have believed the bravest person in the world would do. You fed thousands of families, and then when the ghetto went up, you kept all those children alive for months on end. You kept hope alive.”

  “She did all of that and more,” said a new voice. Irena looked at the foot of the bed. She was shocked to see Jan standing there, flowers in hand, wearing the familiar rumpled and worn gray suit. “She inspired me to take a stand for Poland as well. And many others.”

  “Why are you here?” she whispered.

  “I came to make sure you were okay. And to tell you it is time to lay down your burdens.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “You’ve done enough,” he said. “Risked enough. I spoke with Maria. She believes the Germans know who you are now. She spoke with the resistance. They agreed. It’s time for you to retire. Maria is willing to take your job in the ghetto. I’ve arranged for you to resume your old position with food distribution. It’s important work,” he said, seeing her expression. “There are thousands of families out there that need you, Irena. You’re an expert at gleaning every calorie from those farmers on behalf of the poor.”

  She shook her head. “No, I can’t. Please don’t do that.”

  “The decision is already made,” said Jan. “It’s for the best. If you’re arrested, you put all our operations in danger. You know too much. Everyone is agreed.”

  Her mother reached down, taking Irena’s hands in hers. “I’m so proud of you, my dear. We all are. You’ve done so much. But it’s time to let someone else carry the burden for a while. You can work regular hours. You’ll be home for dinner every night. I’m stronger now. It’s time you let me take care of you for a change.”

  Irena was overwhelmed and couldn’t think. She tried to fight through the fog in her mind, but it surrounded her, embraced her, beckoned her to more sleep. She closed her eyes.

  “That’s right,” said Jan. “You need your sleep. You come back to the department when you’re ready. You’ll have your old job back. You’ll be safe and sound—like you deserve.”

  She wanted to say more but she was exhausted.

  “It’s time for another shot,” said the doctor.

  “No,” she whispered, but she felt the light prick in her arm and soon the medicine was overwhelming her with euphoria and sleep.

  When she woke again, she felt much better. Her mind was clear. She noticed the IV was missing. The room was empty. She must be nearly recovered. She wondered how much more time had passed. A day? More? Perhaps it didn’t matter.

  Her job. Jan’s visit hit her again. They were going to take her job away. They might have done it already. They thought she might be compromised by the Germans. At least that’s what they’d said. Perhaps they simply had decided she’d done enough. That her luck had run out.

  Perhaps it was for the best. She’d risked her life for so long now that a part of her yearned to step away. She could go to work each morning at a regular time and return at night. She’d have weekends to visit Adam. No matter what else happened, she’d saved his life. Maria could keep an eye on Ala and Rami. She had almost no one left in the ghetto at this point.

  The next morning, she was released from the hospital. Her mother helped her home and she lay in bed for the next few days, reading and sleeping. Her mother did the little things for her: making sure she had fresh water and that her meals were brought to her bedside. She felt more relaxed and at peace than she could remember since the war began. She still felt the loss of her child, of Ewa, but the sadness had spread out and become part of her, a familiar melancholy replacing the stabbing agony.

  On Monday she returned to work. She found a stack of documents on her desk detailing the condition of various food distribution centers throughout the city, along with applications for welfare from new families. She ran her fingers over the paperwork. She’d hadn’t dealt with this aspect of the department for such a long time, but reviewing the familiar paperwork was like visiting an old friend.

  “Irena, you’re back,” said Jan, appearing at her doorway. He smiled down at her. “I’m so glad you’re all right. We all are. We are going to have a little luncheon for you later today.” He stepped toward her desk. “I see you’ve already got your paperwork. That’s wonderful. If you could review everything this morning, and then this afternoon I’d like to have a meeting. I have an idea for one or two new—”

  “I have to go back.” The words left her mouth before she was even aware of them. She was as surprised as he was. She thought she was ready to leave all the pain behind.

  “I’m sorry, Irena. I told you. We think you’re compromised. You can’t go back. One more wrong move on your part and they’ll kill you.”

  “I know you want to protect me, Jan, and I appreciate it. But I’m going back.”

  “Maria has already taken your place. The resistance . . .”

  “The resistance trusts me, and they’ll want me there if I’m willing.”

  He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Irena, I can’t let you.”

  “We’ve been through this before, Jan. Whether you give me permission or not, I’m going. If you take my pass away, I’ll find some other way to sneak into the ghetto. But then my life will certainly be in danger.”

  He stared at her, exasperated. “It’s a death sentence,” he said at last.

  “It’s my life to give, Jan. I don’t want Maria risking hers. If they are going to arrest someone, let it be me.” She didn’t want to tell Jan there was another reason she didn’t want Maria arrested. For that would certainly end Adam’s life as well.

  He threw his arms up. “Fine. As you say, it’s your life.” He looked down at her with sadness in his eyes. “I hope I’m wrong, Irena. I hope they don’t know who you are and what you’re doing.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out a paper. “Your pass.”

  “You knew I’d want it back?”

  “I’m no fool.” He stepped forward and took her hand. “Be careful, Irena. We can’t afford to lose you.”

  * * *

  “So it’s set,” said Ala, looking over the documents.

  Irena rose, stepping over to pour herself some tea from the counter in the hospital cafeteria. “Yes. We can take out all thirty.”

  Ala scanned the documents again. “I don’t know how you’ve managed to pull this off.”

  “There’s still room for Rami on that list,” said Irena.

  Ala looked up. She started to say something and then shook her head. “Not yet.”

  “Someday it will be too late, Ala. Think of the orphanage.”

  “You are right, Irena, and I am wrong. But I need a little more time. I know when I let her go, I’ll never see her again.”

  “You can come with her.”

  Ala smiled. “We’ve been through that before as well. I’m not coming out of here.”

  “I don’t understand you.”

  “Yes, you do. Perfectly well. We’re both fighting. You from the outside, and me from within. We both have our roles to play. Mine is in the ghetto.”

  “Do think about Rami at least. She could come with this group, if you let me.”

  Ala hesitated. “I’ll consider it. But you’ll have your hands full as it is. Some of these children have been here for a month or more. Two or three are too sick to walk very far.”

  “My cont
acts say they’ll have a half dozen escorts to help us. They are going to come out by the sewer.”

  Ala paled. “My God.”

  “It’s the safest way now. The gates are all heavily guarded. They’ve shut up the courthouse and the church.”

  “When are they coming?”

  “I don’t know. In the next week though. The fifth or sixth at the latest.”

  “I’ll get them ready.”

  “I’m sorry about the clinic.” The Germans had shut down Ala’s impromptu medical clinic at the Umschlagplatz, and forbidden her on pain of death from returning there.

  “It was only a matter of time. I want to go back. Defy them.”

  “They’ll kill you, Ala. They told you they would if you returned. Besides, you saved hundreds.”

  “For now. When will you know?” Ala asked. “The date, I mean?”

  “I’m meeting with the resistance later today. They should be able to give me the day.”

  Ala raised her teacup. “To safety for these little ones.”

  Irena clanked her cup. “And to Dr. Korczak, Kaji, and all those who didn’t make it.”

  The meeting with egota took place at the same headquarters building as before. At least they didn’t abduct her anymore, she thought with amusement. She was able to communicate through Maria now, and when a meeting was set, they would pick her up a few blocks from her office. Julian was present, along with a couple of other operatives.

  The leader of egota reviewed the documents she’d put together. They were all signed by Jan, this time with his knowledge and approval. “They are perfect,” he said finally. “Truly, Irena, you’re a genius.”

  “I couldn’t do anything without the safe houses and a way out,” she said. “You’re allowing this to happen.”

  “Let’s call it a team effort,” he said, lifting a glass of vodka and quaffing the contents. “How soon can you be ready?”

  “I could go tomorrow. I told Ala it would be the fifth or sixth at the latest.”

  “It’s going to be a little longer than that,” said Julian.

  “Why?” Irena asked, feeling a flicker of panic.

  “The sewers are getting tricky,” said one of the men. “The Germans have figured out we are sneaking people out that way. They’ve started sending patrols down and booby-trapping some of the entrances.”

  “Then we can’t go that way,” said Irena.

  “No,” said Julian. “It’s not that bad. Not yet, at least. But we’re having to learn some new routes. There are lesser branches that wander this way and that. We need a little time to make sure we have a secure trail before we bring them out. With children, we can’t afford to make a mistake.”

  “When then?”

  “The seventh.”

  “I’ll let Ala know and we’ll be waiting.”

  * * *

  The next few days passed without event. Irena briefed Jan and Maria and visited Ala each day to make sure everything was ready. Wiera was there now too, volunteering at the hospital. Ala and her cousin were reconciled. The singer had turned out to be an invaluable volunteer.

  The day before the escape, Irena stayed at the hospital, working with Ala to make sure the final preparations were made.

  “What time are they coming?” her friend asked her, as she was getting ready to depart.

  “They should be here in the morning, no later than nine.”

  “Thank you, Irena. Thank you so much.”

  “Have you thought any more about Rami?”

  “I have,” she said. Her eyes filled with tears. “I want you to take her.”

  Irena felt joy surging through her, but at the same time she shared the terrible sadness of her friend. She stepped forward and held Ala. The nurse buried her head into Irena’s shoulder and wept.

  “I know it’s an impossible decision, but it’s the right one,” said Irena.

  “You have to promise you will watch over her.”

  “I will. You have my word.”

  Irena heard feet rapidly thumping on the tiles outside the cafeteria door. The door was flung open and a nurse was standing there, face pale and eyes wide. “The Germans are here!” she screamed.

  Ala turned to Irena. “It’s too late,” she said. “We are betrayed.”

  “Let’s get to the children now!” Irena shouted.

  “We can’t—”

  “Now!”

  Ala rose and sprinted down the back hallway with Irena following closely behind. Behind them they could hear the clipped barking of German voices, followed by gunfire.

  “They’re shooting the patients!” screamed Ala. “I have to go back!”

  “Get me to the children!” shouted Irena.

  Ala pushed through another set of double doors into the children’s ward. Thirty children sat or lay on cots, lined up in a single row on both sides of a bare concrete room. Irena scanned the room quickly, noticing another door at the far end.

  “Where does that lead?” she asked.

  “Outside,” said Ala.

  “Get them up!” she shouted as she broke into a run. “We’re leaving!”

  “They have nowhere to go!” protested Ala.

  “Just get them!” Irena sprinted the length of the room and pushed the door open. Late afternoon sunshine spilled into the room. The door led onto a small concrete platform and then down a short flight of stairs to the left and onto the sidewalk. She looked up and down the street frantically. There were no Germans there, but that wasn’t what she was looking for. Finally, she saw what she was seeking. A man stood at the end of the block, leaning against the wall. She screamed in his direction and he stood up. The man turned and whistled. Three more figures joined him, and they all broke into a run toward the hospital.

  By now the first children were reaching her on the landing. Ala appeared, frantic at the doorway. “Who are those men?” she demanded, spotting the group that was just now arriving at the foot of the stairs.

  “They are with me.”

  “But you said they were taking the children tomorrow?”

  “We’ve been betrayed too many times, so I prepared for the worst.”

  Ala stared at her in surprise and then threw her arms around her. “Thank you! Thank you!” she said, the tears running down her cheeks. A thought seemed to fill her mind suddenly. “What about Rami?”

  “Don’t worry,” said Irena. “I’ll get her out soon.”

  Ala nodded as the children rushed past her, Irena helping them down the stairs as two of the men rushed inside to carry out those too ill to walk.

  Irena could hear the screaming and the shots. They were coming closer, but they would be too late.

  The Germans had been tipped off again, and they were here to spoil her plan. But she’d been prepared, and she was going to beat them. She promised herself they would never win again.

  Chapter 23

  Empty Jaws

  September 6, 1942

  Warsaw, Poland

  “You’ve done well,” said Colonel Wagner, reviewing the records. “Two hundred thousand units shipped out of the Jewish Quarter in only seven weeks.”

  “Everything is proceeding according to plan on our end. It’s the other part of the operation I’m concerned about.”

  “Yes,” said the colonel, shaking his head. “We read your report. We’ve conducted our own surprise visit. It was worse than you suspected. Don’t worry. We are replacing him with a true professional. Treblinka will run like a factory from now on.”

  “That’s excellent news.”

  “How much longer will your operation last?” the colonel asked.

  “If we could take six thousand a day every day without any issues, we’d be done in two more months at the most. But you must anticipate that things will get harder. Rumors have hit the ghetto about Treblinka, about what is really happening. We do everything we can to dispel this information, but not everyone believes us. However, we have other incentives. We are just starting a new program to offer jam
and bread to everyone who will show up at the platform for relocation. The response so far has been tremendous. We had to turn people away. So many of them are starving.”

  The colonel selected a pastry from a plate at the table and took a bite. “I wonder what it’s like to go without food.”

  “Hunger is a powerful motivator.”

  The colonel nodded. “So, two months then?”

  Klaus shook his head. “Better figure more like four. There will remain a hard core of people who will not come voluntarily. The smugglers, their little resistance movement. They will take a little more time to ferret out.”

  “I suppose that’s to be expected.” He rose and shook Klaus’s hand. “Everything looks good,” he said. “I’ll report back to Herr Frank.” The colonel turned to leave. Klaus moved back toward the mound of paperwork on his desk. “Just one more thing,” the colonel said.

  Klaus turned back. The colonel stood at the door. “What are you doing about all these Jews escaping into Aryan Warsaw?”

  “I don’t know what you mean by all these Jews. A handful have made it out. That’s to be expected.”

  “Our intelligence tells us it is quite a few more than that.”

  Klaus was furious, but he held his emotions in check. Where was the colonel getting his information? Who was the leak? “We’re aware of the situation and taking steps.”

  “What steps?”

  “We conducted a raid tonight. There was a plot to take some children out of the hospital on Leszno Street. The escape was planned for tomorrow. Even as we speak, my men are at the hospital. We will resettle these children to the east tonight. They will never see Aryan Warsaw.”

  “I’d like to see that,” said the colonel.

  “We are getting ready to go there now. The children should already be rounded up. If you’d like, I can show you the rest of the operation, and we could tour the Umschlagplatz.”

  The colonel nodded. “I would enjoy that immensely.”

  * * *

  An hour later, Klaus stood in the wreckage of the hospital with Peter and the colonel. Screams echoed down the hallway from the wounded. The soldiers were wrapping up the operation. There were blood and bodies everywhere.