Terror Has No Diary by Michael Melnick

Author:Michael Melnick [Melnick, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Biographies & Memoirs
ISBN: 9781456617325
Publisher: eBookIt.com
Published: 2013-06-22T04:00:00+00:00

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May was near over and troubles mounted. Up at 8:00, I took my pistol and went to the front room for guard duty. I quietly opened both windows. For the first time in awhile, I could breathe fresh spring air. Two weeks ago, with Zelig and Aaron, I bricked over the small cave window between the pantry and the women’s beds. Subtle food odors had attracted keen-nosed dogs, and we feared sounds might betray us to the bakers or others as well. So security sealed the fate of our whisps of outside air. Now the cave is tropical, and you notice your breathing.

Before long, others awoke and joined me in the front room. The women continued to sleep until nearly mid-day, as did David. Till now, they claim that being in the cellar for so many months causes nocturnal insomnia and they must sleep in the daytime. I argue constantly with them about this. If they would just go to sleep at 11 PM instead of 3AM they would be able to sleep and wake normally. Aside from a poor habit, their nocturnal goings-on are also dangerous. There are night bakers working above us, and I fear they can hear everything. As time goes by, some of us are less and less careful. I plead over and over for stricter discipline. “Hoch mir nisht kein chinak,” they say to me. [Stop banging on my pot!] But they are wrong about this. The majority supports me on this.

Then there was and is the matter of working in Sedols’ flat. That evening, Robert insisted that David and Michael install a loudspeaker in the kitchen of his flat. To do this, they had to drill a hole through a wall in the bakers’ flat while they toiled downstairs. I viewed this as entirely unessential, and worse, damned risky! I made my case to all three. “How does the benefit outweigh the great risk to the lives of 11 fugitives and the Sedols family?” I argued. Robert began to have doubts, but David, in a very thoughtless and irresponsible flash of anger, clutched Michael’s arm and both started up the cellar steps to Robert’s flat. Even more startling was that the women were as witless as David and Michael. In a burst of pique, I exploded: “You are here nearly 8 months and you feel too free, not because you are secure or even brave, but because you have the habit of carelessness!” David, Michael and their wives were furious. I didn’t apologize…it was true.

After two hours, David and Michael returned to the cellar. All went well. We all retired to the cave at midnight, but David and the women continued to mock discipline and remained outside until 1 AM. They wanted another hour of fresh air. This bothered me greatly. If one really appreciates the very great danger of exposure and betrayal, one must be prepared to endure weeks and months without entering the front room. If one truly believes in the important duty of revenge, one must be willing to sacrifice all.

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