Read Online I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree by Laura Hillman - Free Book Online Page A

Girls in high heels walked the streets, as did women with shopping bags and children carrying satchels on their way home from school. When I slowed down a little to take all this in, the captain told me to hurry. It wasn’t what he said but how he said it that gave me a fright. His voice was harsh, and I immediately sensed a change in him. Oh God , I silently prayed, let this turn out all right. I am no longer sure if he is out to save me or to kill me .
    After we had walked awhile in total silence, he ordered me into a building. My suspicion that something bad was about to happen grewwhen he started pushing me up the stairs to the third floor.
    The apartment we entered was in total disarray. The floor was littered with the contents of drawers and cupboards and two pictures of a pretty girl in a summer dress. The pictures had been trampled on. I remembered what he had told me about “letting” a Polish girl disappear. Was he going to do the same thing to me? How could I have been so blind, not seeing through his scheme?
    He did not keep me guessing very long as to why he had brought me here. Grabbing me by my hair, he said, “Whore, before I am finished with you, you’ll tell me about the commandant. I’ll fix that swine for getting involved with a Jewish pig!”
    â€œWhat are you talking about?” I began. But then it suddenly became clear why I was here. He never had any intention of helping me. All he wanted to do was bring the commandant down.
    He yanked my hair again. “Tell me now or I’ll have to kill you.”
    â€œI—I have never even talked to the c-commandant,” I stuttered, too dazed to speak clearly.
    â€œHe brought you to Kranik!”
    â€œYes, he did, but since then I have had no contact with him. He forgot about me.”
    â€œYou are lying, you filthy, dirty slut!” He squeezed my arm too tight.
    â€œYou’re hurting me!” I cried out.
    Abruptly, he started to laugh. It sounded unnatural, almost maniacal. I was frantic. Before I knew it, he had pinned my arms behind my back. Then he threw me down on the bed.
    â€œAre you ready to tell me now?”
    â€œThere is nothing to tell. Please, let me go!” I begged.
    He threw himself on me, ripping my clothes off. His gun and the buckle of his belt pressed into my belly. I heard a zipper being undone and pleaded for him to stop. He breathed heavilyand smelled like an animal in heat, paying no attention to my cries. I tried sliding away, but each time he yanked me by my hair, pulling me under him again. With my arms still pinned behind me he did what he set out to do and finished by punching me in the face. At that moment the phone rang.
    â€œAll right, all right,” I heard him say to the caller in an agitated voice. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
    I got up, arranging my torn clothes as best I could.
    â€œI will come back to kill you if you talk to anyone about this,” he said in a menacing voice. “Now get out.”
    He pushed me back down the stairs, into the streets. I was bleeding profusely and my legs could barely carry me, but he rushed me to the camp’s entrance and left me at the gate.
    If I had hoped to get to my room unseen, I was mistaken. Manek was waiting for me, visibly agitated.
    â€œLook at you! He beat you up in spite of what you told him. Did you think you could save yourself by selling us out?”
    â€œWhy . . . why didn’t you warn me if you knew what he was after?” I cried.
    â€œYou’ll have to figure that out for yourself. I’d like to know one thing: What did you tell him?”
    â€œNothing! I had nothing to tell him. I don’t know what goes on here. He thought I had something going on with the commandant.”
    I left him there and hurried to my room, where I relived the horror of the last few hours and tried to stop the bleeding. Avraham, the Judenrat policeman, soon called for