Read Online In the Sewers of Lvov by Robert Marshall - Free Book Online Page A

instant she was reminded of her own mother and some instinct moved her to stay close to the woman. Chiger was still shepherding his family to the opening, where they balked at the prospect. His brother-in-law Kuba was first to descend, to show how it was done. Then Paulina – ‘… someone pushed me from behind. I was pushed down through the shaft.’
    Kristina and Pawel, already frightened by the stream of strangers pushing their way to the shaft, were determined not to follow. Kristina recalled with horror: ‘I saw the entrance to some dark place. I didn’t know what it was but it smelled terrible and my father said you have to go there.’ She remembered struggling against her father’s grip. ‘I started to cry. I was scared and I said, “I don’t want to go, Daddy!” And he said, “You must, Krisia, you must, please.”’
    His strong hands on her shoulders edged her forwards until there was no escape. With her father standing behind her, she slipped to the floor and was pushed from behind into the shaft. As she slid against the rough concrete she suddenly felt a pair of hands take hold of her ankles and pull her the rest of the way down – into her personal nightmare. ‘It was total darkness and all I could hear was rushing water, like a waterfall – and screaming. I was terrified.’
    In a moment Pawel was beside her and, eventually, her father. Back in Weiss’s room, the situation had quickly deteriorated. Before anyone could have done anything about it, the place had become choked with people, some clutching a few belongings, most of them total strangers. They streamed down into the cellar, most of them completely ignorant of where they were going.There was nothing Margulies or the others could do but usher them towards the shaft.
    ‘Don’t stop, keep going down. Don’t block up the hole!’ cried Margulies. He and Berestycki knelt above the entrance, helping each one to edge their way down. Klara and her sister Manya finally reached Weiss’s room. It was packed with people, struggling and fighting towards the hole in the floor. By the time the last of their friends had arrived, it was hopelessly chaotic and they knew it. All their preparations were in jeopardy. There was nothing they could do to stem the tide, except urge them to move more quickly down the shaft.
    Outside, the night sky was filled with flames and clouds of swirling sparks, while the streets were littered with the dead. News arrived that a fleet of lorries had arrived and they were herding people aboard. A new wave of panic swept through the room. Down in the cellar, Margulies and Berestycki began shouting and man-handling people in an effort to quench the hysteria. They pushed them down the shaft and if they got stuck, stamped on their shoulders – anything to speed up the exodus. Then Weiss’s wife burst out with some news.
    ‘There’s no need for this. They say we’re going to be safe. They say they’re going to take us somewhere where we will work – somewhere else – making clothes.’
    ‘Who said?’ asked Margulies from the cellar.
    ‘Someone in the street,’ she replied. ‘We’ll have rest and proper food and warm clothes to wear.’
    ‘They are killing people in the street!’ shouted Margulies. ‘This is the end.’
    He came up into the room and took hold of Klara’s hand. She, in turn, held Manya’s.
    ‘Come now,’ Margulies ordered.
    ‘But Manya won’t come.’
    Margulies looked at Manya who was staring at the hole in the floor. She shook her head.
    ‘I couldn’t face it again. How long would we be down there?’ Manya asked. No one could tell her.
    ‘Until the
Aktion
is over,’ someone ventured.
    ‘I won’t go down there.’
    Meanwhile Weiss and Berestycki had ushered old Mother Weiss and Halina towards the cellar. Weiss’s wife and daughter stood apart, stony faced. Mrs Weiss looked across at the youthful Halina and then at her husband. For anyone who had noticed her expression, the