Warsaw (37 page)

Adam nodded and then wiped his sweaty palm upon his
trousers, re-fixing the Mauser securely in his hand.

"Listen carefully. If you did not already know it, your
sole and simple task is to try and make it to the end of the street. I am not
going to lie to you; I'm a good shot (Christian here smirked to himself). If
you do make it to the end of the block however I give you my word that you will
be allowed to return back to your families."

Yitzhak Meisel's overcast expression changed a little. This
is why it had been worth remaining with the woman and boy. There was always a
chance that something could happen and they would be set free, into his
custody.

A final prayer bloomed from the girl’s lips - her words like
wisps of smoke spiralling up into the night.

“The Lord is my shepherd;

   
I have everything
I need.

He lets me rest in fields of green grass

   
and leads me to
quiet pools of fresh water.

He gives me new strength.

He guides me in the right paths, as he has promised.

Even if I go through the deepest darkness,

I will not be afraid, Lord, for you are with me.

Your shepherd’s rod and staff protect me.”

Thomas crept along the street and dropped to one knee like
some nineteenth century skirmisher. He wrapped the strap of his rifle around in
his hand in order to keep it out of his way. The soldier took a deep breath and
exhaled. He flexed his hand a couple of times to take the tension out of it. It
was a routine that Thomas had gone through many times - mostly before the war
when he had gone on hunting trips. He heard Kleist's voice in the background
but blanked it out as he ran his eye along the barrel of the rifle.

"When you hear the sound of the -"

The bullet thudded into the officer's back and came out
through his chest, shattering his bottom left rib as it did so. Blood
immediately flooded his lungs and vomited up into his mouth, his intended words
becoming muffled in a series of gurgling noises.

Thomas did not even look to register the result of his first
shot before he efficiently fired upon the figure standing next to the
Lieutenant. A disorientated Dietmar barely had a chance to be so before the
terrible sound ripped through the air again and he was slammed against the
windshield of the truck. The bullet sliced through his right shoulder. Shock
and terror stopped his heart as the youth felt the blood splash against his
face and pump out from the smoking wound. He fainted, slumping down in the
cabin next to a still breathing, but dying, Christian.

After the first shot Adam began to run, his heart beating
wildly. He gulped for air and - either just before or after the Thomas' second
shot rang out - Duritz began shooting himself. He ran with his arm raised and -
squinting in some gesture towards an aim - he fired twice. The first shot,
directed at the heart of the group, somehow managed to miss everyone. Adam's
second pistol shot however caught one of the Germans. He had been squaring up
to fire upon the Jewish assassin but the pistol shot had caught him in the
chest, flooring him instantly.

Kolya attempted to grab his sister by the hand but he
somehow got separated from her in the confusion. Man-made thunder and lightning
rained down on the street. So possessed had Kolya been by the idea previously
that the boy altered not his plan to make it to the sanctuary of the building
across the street. When he reached the protection of the doorway he looked
back. Bullets scorched the air, zipping through the night like demonic
fireflies. Flashes of light sneezed out from rifle barrels but then darkness
shrouded over the scene again. Various chaotic sounds scoured the scene -
fruitlessly attempting to find some common order and coherence.

She called out his name, more to herself than him. Her faith
in God and Adam were inexplicably linked.

Thomas started to run towards the nearest truck. It had been
his intention to take out the soldier manning the searchlight for his third
shot but he couldn't help but notice how quick the Sergeant upon the back of
the second truck had reacted. He was on his feet immediately after his
Lieutenant had been taken out and the flash from Thomas' second shot had
alerted the experienced Sergeant to the assassin's location in the blacked out
street. Two rifle shots rang out in quick succession, almost simultaneously,
from the Sergeant and Corporal respectively

Jessica desperately turned around again. The frantic woman
took two paces in one direction, then two paces in another - yet ultimately it
still seemed as if she were rooted to the spot. Another Jewish woman, fleeing,
bumped into her. The row of intended victims were as confused and frightened as
anyone, if not more so - but they finally started to scatter into the
camouflaging night.

Remembering how important it was for him to take out the
soldier with the machine-gun Duritz devoted two carefully aimed shots at the
panic-stricken Corporal. The first struck the man in his right shoulder, but
the force of the pistol shot swivelled the man around. The SS Corporal was
still conscious enough though to unleash a burst of machine-gun fire, which
commenced a few yards to Duritz's left and the continued in a one-hundred and
eighty degree arc. The result was that the Corporal unwittingly ended up
scything down his comrade next to him - whilst also firing upon the escaping
Jews. The second shot from Duritz's Mauser however felled the Corporal, hitting
him just below the throat.

Before collapsing to his knees from the burning wound in his
abdomen the obdurate SS Sergeant had been able to get out his own shot. Thomas
winced as he felt the sting and bite of the bullet tear through his right
thigh.

Yitzhak Meisel had ducked for cover beneath one of the
trucks and crawled through the other side when the firing had commenced. He
instinctively headed for the area which appeared to be devoid of soldiers and
fighting. The infernal din temporarily prevented the policeman from collecting
his thoughts - but then the policeman spotted his little fugitive in the
doorway of the building across the street. For a moment Kolya was paralysed as,
at almost the same moment, his eyes met the constable's glare. After a strange
pause, in which Yitzhak Meisel might have even wolfishly smirked at his prey,
the policeman scrambled out from underneath the truck. The clatter of the
machine-gun fire deafened Kolya and distracted his attention for a moment (and
so too he fleetingly saw Jessica). But the youth then darted into the tenement
building and fled up the stairs - terror and desperation coursing through his
veins like adrenaline as the diabolical policeman pursued him.

  
The tall soldier
with the harelip had first ducked for cover in front of the first truck,
overestimating the extent of the force which had unleashed the surprise ambush.
As almost a token gesture he had fired a couple of shots upon one of the Jewish
youths attempting to escape. The bright burst of machine gun fire not ten feet
away which followed shortly after forced the soldier to duck down again though.
He pressed his back against the grill of the vehicle, gripped his rifle and
trembled.

Perhaps it was due to the tirade of sound from the MP40 -
one stray bullet had even clanged and ricocheted against the truck door - but
Dietmar regained consciousness. The adjutant kept his head down with the fire
fight still raging on. His shoulder throbbed with a pain that Dietmar had
scarce imagined before, let alone experienced. He was naturally distracted
though by the figure of his Lieutenant propped up against the passenger door of
the truck. Christian took short, rasping breaths. A giant splurge of blood
soaked his coat. His face was coral white but for streaks of raspberry-red
blood which marked his chin. One might have thought that the Lieutenant would
die with anger in his expression at being murdered so, or seething in pain, but
no. His lasts thoughts were for Dietmar as he tried to raise his hand towards
the attractive boy's face. There was a rare tenderness in Kleist's countenance,
his lips even contorted in an attempt at a comforting smile for his companion.
With great pain and effort Christian tried to speak, but failed. He passed away
in the attempt - blood, rather than his wish for him to be buried back in
Germany, trickling out from his mouth.

Slightly deafened from the cacophony of the machine-gun fire
Duritz barely heard the bullet which shaved past his head. He fired another
brace of shots but even through the smoke and darkness Adam could see that they
both missed. Distracted; he could see Thomas out the corner of his eye. Was he
hit? The driver of the truck had appeared as if from nowhere, a pistol similar
to his in the soldier's hand. A shot also passed way over his head, emanating
from the man positioned by the searchlight on the truck. It was all happening
so quickly, yet slowly. Dream-like. Courage led Duritz on but when he saw an
additional soldier run out from behind the same vehicle his heart sank. There
were too many of them. David so seldom conquers Goliath. Surprise had helped,
but it had not been enough. Where were Jessica and Kolya? He hadn't seen them.
Two shots left.

After rushing up a flight of stairs, roaring it occurred to
the policeman that he had the boy trapped. Yitzhak Meisel was familiar with the
old tenement block having carried out two aktions on its tenants before. The
exit to the roof had been sealed shut. There were no fire escapes. He could
take his time in catching up with the troublesome youth, enjoy it even. Indeed
the policeman slowed himself down, smiling as he listened to the doomed boy's
feet scamper up the stairs. He didn't want to be out of breath when he got hold
of the child - nor did he want to give the rascal a chance of slipping back
past him.

"Keep running boy. The higher you get up the stairs the
less time it'll take to get to heaven - or hell, when I toss you off this
god-forsaken building," Yitzhak bellowed up the stairwell.

The truck stood in between Thomas and the group of soldiers
who were about to unleash a volley of fire into Adam. The Corporal didn't even
have the angle to fire upon the soldier who had worked the searchlight on the
first truck, but he did not need it - as the soldier was now half way down the
street, fleeing the ambush. Two shots remained in the magazine of his Karabiner
Kar. Out of the corner of his eye he witnessed Adam fall.

Thomas' heart sank upon seeing his friend fall, but then
rose up bravely, savagely. He ran and orestia-like leapt up upon the back of
the nearest truck - his wounded leg giving way slightly as he landed. Thomas
stood now over the two soldiers who had just fired upon Adam. The soldiers temporarily
froze out of fear and surprise, that it had been a fellow German who had
attacked them. Thomas fired down upon them. Two shots. Two dead. Fortunately
Adam had just been but clipped in the arm from a pistol shot. He propped
himself up and desperately fired again at the enemy, emptying the magazine into
the two Germans that Thomas was shooting down upon as well.

The tall soldier with the harelip who had come out from his
cover to attack Adam let off one round from his rifle before he checked his
offensive - after seeing a Jew dressed in a Wehrmacht uniform loom over his
comrades and fire down upon them. With the same wild haste the terrified
Private motioned to retreat but was again checked in his decision by hearing
the telling click of the empty weapons. He turned back towards the already
wounded enemy. There was a moment which seemed to be frozen in time. Adam bowed
his head and collapsed on the street, defeated. The soldier pointed his rifle
at the murderous Jew dressed up in a soldier's uniform upon the truck, his
victorious and sadistic sneer even more pronounced. Thomas was momentarily
crushed by the thought that they had come so close to saving Jessica and Kolya.
It had all been for nothing. But then Thomas was struck by another thought. He
smiled back at the sneering soldier and winked at him, mischievously -
fraternally almost. Whilst the tall Private was momentarily surprised,
distracted, by this strange gesture Thomas whipped his rifle from his hands and
launched it at the soldier, throwing the weapon as if it were a frisbee. The
improvised missile clattered against the Private's own rifle and knocked it out
of his hands. The futile attack would earn but a stay of execution for the two
assassins though as the tall German would quickly retrieve the loaded rifle and
immediately fire upon the enemy.

Thomas gritted his teeth in fiery pain as he put pressure on
his wounded leg and hastily bent down to pick up the dead SS Sergeant's rifle.
The scene was strangely reminiscent of a Wild West showdown, with both men
attempting to be quickest on the draw and fire. The bullet blasted through the
Private's sternum at such close range that he was knocked off his feet,
unconscious before even hitting the ground.

Still fired up - and worried in case the tall Private was
not the only soldier still left standing on the street - Thomas leapt back down
from the truck. He stumbled upon landing on the hard road as the soldier's
bloody leg gave way. Adrenaline picked the man up however and, rifle ready, he
glanced both ways along the corpse-littered street, the air filled with the
acrid smell of gun-fire. He then limped around to the front of the first truck.
Thomas opened the driver's door of the vehicle to find a cowering Dietmar. A
large epaulette of blood covered his shoulder. He whimpered upon seeing Thomas
level the rifle at him (did Dietmar even recognise it was his old Corporal at
this point?). Kleist was dead. The Corporal removed the two rifles from the
cabin out of precaution. You may argue that Thomas should have murdered Dietmar
too, leaving no witnesses to his crime. But the soldier could not murder the
youth in cold blood. The good German was at this point also distracted by Adam,
calling out his name in a desperate plea for assistance.