The Cowards by Josef Skvorecky

Author:Josef Skvorecky [Skvorecky, Josef]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-36414-2
Publisher: Knopf Canada
Published: 1994-11-07T16:00:00+00:00

Wednesday, May 9, 1945

The next morning, as soon as I walked out of the door of our building, I was caught up in a regular maelstrom of people. The German Army was pulling back from the frontier. The streets were packed. There were Germans in dusty uniforms, some armed and some not, and a few on bikes, all heading west as fast as they could go. And there were refugees – swarms of them. And townspeople. While I stared, Franta, the glassmaker, burst out of the house next door with his shirtsleeves rolled up and made straight for the Germans, grabbed for a rifle slung over one soldier’s back and started yanking at it. The German tried to push him away – but not very hard – then unhitched the strap and let the rifle fall, and the next minute Franta had already picked it up and was heading back to his house, holding the rifle up high in both hands. This sparked the crowd. From both sides of the street, people moved in on the Germans, scrambling to lay hands on a rifle, but the Germans closed ranks and trained their guns on the mob. They stood in a huddle bristling with muzzles; the mob stopped, then just stood there swearing at the Germans. The Germans moved on again and the crowd let them pass and, when they’d gone on, followed along behind. I tagged along, too. Looking at the backs and rumps of those guys tramping in front of me in their tight jackets and bulging pants, I thought they looked awfully well fed. So this was our uprising. I trailed merrily along behind them and every once in a while caught a glimpse of the grey German helmets and guns near the street corner now. The crowd of guys just ahead of me were still yelling and shaking their fists. We’d already reached the anti-tank barricade at Novotny’s and there the Germans had to slow down a bit to get through the barrier. One soldier halted and waited for all the others to pass through. Then one guy jumped him and tried to wrest his rifle away from him. The crowd seethed. Two other Germans turned and lifted their submachine guns. I caught a glimpse of their faces for a second – expressionless and exhausted – and then both of those guns held ready to fire into the crowd. Then somebody yelled and the rear of the crowd started pushing up against the front. That blocked my view. All I could see now were those fat backsides working their way forward. Then two shots rang out, one right after the other. Immediately the crowd started to scatter. The guy in front of me turned and piled into me full force, sending me sprawling on the sidewalk. First all I saw were stars and then people racing off every which way and in no time at all the street in front of me was deserted except for those two Germans with their submachine guns.

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