Read Online In the Sewers of Lvov by Robert Marshall - Free Book Online
Authors: Robert Marshall
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left for his room.
Chiger peered through the window. ‘Everyone was in a state of panic. Running in every direction.’
Having seen enough, he moved back down to the cellar to confirm what his wife had already heard. She in the meantime was helping Kristina and Pawel get into their overcoats. Chiger began packing a knapsack and some bags with all the essentials they had thought they ought to take. Bandages, food, medicine, torches, candles.
Margulies had run across to the neighbouring barrack, where he lived. He climbed up through a trap in the ceiling and crawled through the attic to the water tank at one end. He reached behind and removed a revolver he had hidden there. He recalled: ‘I bought it from a man in the ghetto long before, with some bullets. It had been taken from a Russian tank crew. Sometimes, during an
Aktion
at night, I used to fire at the Germans. No one would know where the shots were coming from. But it frightened people, so I kept it hidden.’
Margulies had no thoughts of fighting that night. His mind was concentrated on getting back under Weiss’s floor. Out in the street the Gestapo had begun using heavy machine-guns. Bursts of heavy firing cut through the background of rising hysteria. The liquidation exercise, carried out by soldiers moving methodicallythrough the ghetto, took hours. Accounts suggest that thousands were shot that night. Many insist that no one left the Julag alive. One witness claimed: ‘They were just lined up against the wall and cut down. One group after another, like an assembly line. Those clearing the dead bodies could hardly keep up.’ 4
Meanwhile, amidst the utter confusion, there were horrifying scenes of families being cut down or torn apart as each member fought for his or her survival. And everywhere people were being shot. The gunfire went on, round after round.
‘It was pitiful to watch. People running in every direction, they didn’t know where they were going. It was utter chaos,’ recalled Klara Keler. As she stood with Manya by the window in their room, Margulies came running in shouting, ‘It’s time to go down. Now!’
Klara looked across at her sister, who simply shook her head. Then the elderly Mrs Weiss and Halina appeared at the doorway.
‘Come on, girls, don’t wait.’ The girls followed and met with Berestycki. In Weiss’s room, there seemed to be no sign of movement. Inside he and his wife stood silently opposite each other, his daughter clinging to her mother. Neither would move.
‘We can’t wait any longer.’
‘I’m not going down there,’ his wife shouted. She watched as people began to gather round the hole in their floor. The fear of imminent extinction did not seem to have affected her. She was not going to be persuaded, she was resolute.
Meanwhile, their room began to fill with strangers, people who had heard of some kind of tunnel. They brought with them fresh reports from the street. The Germans had begun to use flame throwers, moving through the streets sending bursts of fire into each shattered hovel until entire streets were ablaze. Stunned, mute with horror, they stumbled down into the cellar. Words couldn’t describe what they had seen. It was death on a scale as yet unimagined. Some wept for release from the nightmare, while others, though terrified, kept going.
Having packed their provisions, Chiger set about marshalling his family towards the shaft. Everyone who had actually worked on the project knew what to expect, but their families and friendswere soon horrified by the foul-smelling hole in the floor. Others had edged their way around the shaft, but were holding back from the unknown.
‘I can’t I can’t do it,’ someone screamed.
‘Feet first, feet first!’ Margulies was saying, trying not to raise his voice.
Meanwhile, Halina, Berestycki and old Mrs Weiss had also climbed down into the cellar. Halina looked across the cramped space and saw Paulina with her children for the first time. For an
Chiger peered through the window. ‘Everyone was in a state of panic. Running in every direction.’
Having seen enough, he moved back down to the cellar to confirm what his wife had already heard. She in the meantime was helping Kristina and Pawel get into their overcoats. Chiger began packing a knapsack and some bags with all the essentials they had thought they ought to take. Bandages, food, medicine, torches, candles.
Margulies had run across to the neighbouring barrack, where he lived. He climbed up through a trap in the ceiling and crawled through the attic to the water tank at one end. He reached behind and removed a revolver he had hidden there. He recalled: ‘I bought it from a man in the ghetto long before, with some bullets. It had been taken from a Russian tank crew. Sometimes, during an
Aktion
at night, I used to fire at the Germans. No one would know where the shots were coming from. But it frightened people, so I kept it hidden.’
Margulies had no thoughts of fighting that night. His mind was concentrated on getting back under Weiss’s floor. Out in the street the Gestapo had begun using heavy machine-guns. Bursts of heavy firing cut through the background of rising hysteria. The liquidation exercise, carried out by soldiers moving methodicallythrough the ghetto, took hours. Accounts suggest that thousands were shot that night. Many insist that no one left the Julag alive. One witness claimed: ‘They were just lined up against the wall and cut down. One group after another, like an assembly line. Those clearing the dead bodies could hardly keep up.’ 4
Meanwhile, amidst the utter confusion, there were horrifying scenes of families being cut down or torn apart as each member fought for his or her survival. And everywhere people were being shot. The gunfire went on, round after round.
‘It was pitiful to watch. People running in every direction, they didn’t know where they were going. It was utter chaos,’ recalled Klara Keler. As she stood with Manya by the window in their room, Margulies came running in shouting, ‘It’s time to go down. Now!’
Klara looked across at her sister, who simply shook her head. Then the elderly Mrs Weiss and Halina appeared at the doorway.
‘Come on, girls, don’t wait.’ The girls followed and met with Berestycki. In Weiss’s room, there seemed to be no sign of movement. Inside he and his wife stood silently opposite each other, his daughter clinging to her mother. Neither would move.
‘We can’t wait any longer.’
‘I’m not going down there,’ his wife shouted. She watched as people began to gather round the hole in their floor. The fear of imminent extinction did not seem to have affected her. She was not going to be persuaded, she was resolute.
Meanwhile, their room began to fill with strangers, people who had heard of some kind of tunnel. They brought with them fresh reports from the street. The Germans had begun to use flame throwers, moving through the streets sending bursts of fire into each shattered hovel until entire streets were ablaze. Stunned, mute with horror, they stumbled down into the cellar. Words couldn’t describe what they had seen. It was death on a scale as yet unimagined. Some wept for release from the nightmare, while others, though terrified, kept going.
Having packed their provisions, Chiger set about marshalling his family towards the shaft. Everyone who had actually worked on the project knew what to expect, but their families and friendswere soon horrified by the foul-smelling hole in the floor. Others had edged their way around the shaft, but were holding back from the unknown.
‘I can’t I can’t do it,’ someone screamed.
‘Feet first, feet first!’ Margulies was saying, trying not to raise his voice.
Meanwhile, Halina, Berestycki and old Mrs Weiss had also climbed down into the cellar. Halina looked across the cramped space and saw Paulina with her children for the first time. For an
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