The Thirty-Six by Siegmund Siegreich

Author:Siegmund Siegreich [Siegreich, Siegmund]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Random House Australia
Published: 2011-07-01T04:00:00+00:00

On a mid December weekday in 1942 Marysia and I set out from our quarters. We had discussed precautions for the journey and decided that we had to keep visual contact at all times while walking separately. We would talk to each other only when no-one was present, otherwise we would behave as strangers. If one of us was stopped, the other must not be involved. And if we were forced to separate, we would make our way alone and meet in Będzin at Marysia’s address, which I had memorised.

We arrived in Wolbrom shortly after 7 pm. It was already dark and the streets were blanketed by freshly fallen snow. People in the streets were in a holiday mood, carrying bags and parcels full of Christmas shopping. For them, life went on as if nothing had changed. Generally speaking, the Polish population benefited after the Jews were sent to the death camps. Most ‘legally’ obtained possessions were sold to the Poles for a notional sum but the greater part was ‘illegally obtained’ or looted, and looting was common practice for both Germans and the Poles.

Within minutes Marysia and I had reached the guide’s house. I waited outside and soon she called me in. A man in his thirties with a trustworthy face greeted me in the entrance hall and led us upstairs to a small dark room with a simple iron bed, a large flowerpot and a small window. He told us we had to spend the night here and early in the morning he would take us over the border to the German Reich. He forbade us to turn on the light and then locked us in; the window was also locked and had a grille across it.

We were trapped in this attic room at the mercy of this stranger. We sat on the bed and noticed the stars shining in the dark sky. I was amazed how much light these few stars generated on a frosty winter’s night. There was no chamber pot or bowl so I used the flowerpot; Marysia wet her pants. She was petrified that the guide would be angry with her and tried to mop the floor with her wet undies, wringing them out in the flowerpot. We sat on the bed and talked until finally, still dressed, we fell asleep.

The guide woke us up early, asking for his payment. We left the house half an hour later. We walked through almost empty streets to the outskirts of town, passing through fields and into a dense pine forest. In the forest a group of about twenty young people – mostly teenagers but also children – waited for us, carrying bags and backpacks full of food. These were smugglers who moved a variety of foods, like dairy and meat products, from the Polish-occupied territories into the German Reich. Our guide also carried a fully laden backpack. They knew exactly where to cross the border and told us the whole operation should take no longer than forty minutes.

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