Mila 18 - Leon Uris [235]
“No, Father. It is an act of survival. I will not let Andrei be destroyed!”
He studied the animal fury in her eyes. She was a savage with the most basic of all instincts. And then he was puzzled. Had the absence of a prescribed ritual made their union less pure? Could a man and a woman cherish each other more deeply, sacrifice, give fidelity, truth, with a greater ability because of a prescribed ritual? Had not Andrei and Gabriela behaved in a manner completely sacred to the eyes of God? He did not like these questions of himself.
Gabriela stood and turned her back to Father Kornelli as the defiance ebbed from her, and her voice was shaky. “I have one terrible regret. I must leave the Church. Andrei’s child must be raised as a Jew.”
He was dazed and hurt, but at the same moment of anger there was admiration for the completeness of her giving. He walked to her. “I cannot condone that and I cannot be your priest,” he whispered. “But I can be your friend and I want you to know that I will help you.”
She nodded and remained rigid, then suddenly spun around and faced him in anguish. “Will I be forgiven?”
“I shall pray for you and your child as I have never prayed before.”
Andrei suspected that Gabriela and Father Kornelli would be immersed in a deep and intimate conversation. When he left Stephan he made sufficient noise upon entering the church to alert them of his presence. He entered the vestry chalky-faced.
“How is Stephan?”
“How? His heart is broken.”
“What is he doing now?”
“He’s trying very hard to be a man, but he’s doing what any fourteen-year-old boy would do. He’s crying himself to sleep.”
“Please know, Andrei, that Gajnow will protect those children. I will personally do everything in my power.”
He patted the priest on the shoulder. “I am very grateful, Father.”
Father Kornelli changed the tone by opening the curtain to the storage closet for his vestments. He took out a bottle of vodka. “Look! I have been saving this for a special occasion. Take it, Andrei.”
“Father ... I couldn’t ...”
“No. Go on. I want you to have it.”
Andrei looked toward Gabriela, who nodded that it was all right.
“You two children look completely done in. Now Count Borslawski’s hunting lodge is vacant and at your disposal. Just a mile into the woods. The horse cart is hitched up. You’ll find a roaring fire in the fireplace and a meal for royalty. Be off! Go on, get out of my sight.”
“By God, Father Kornelli,” Andrei said, “if there were a few more priests like you around, I’d seriously consider becoming a convert!”
Chapter Thirteen
Journal Entry
ALL WEEK DETACHMENTS OF special troops have been arriving in Warsaw from Globocnik’s headquarters in Lublin, the labor camps of Trawniki and Poniatow, and the extermination camps. They are staging in Praga over the river. Oberführer Funk has issued them extra schnapps and promised a mere three to four days’ work in liquidating the ghetto. They have named themselves the Death’s-Head Brigade after Globocnik’s Lublin butchers.
Strange. The two extreme political philosophies in the ghetto have been able to get the closest co-operation on the Aryan side. The Communists and the People’s Guard on the left, the Revisionists and ND Brigade on the right are in close alliance. Unfortunately both undergrounds are small and semi-effectual. We can expect no further help from the Home Army.
The ND Brigade is even discussing trying to get the Revisionists out of the ghetto to form a partisan unit. (It would weaken our forces badly if they left, but they are not under our command.)
The Communists have two trucks in hiding in the Targowek suburb. We have heard rumors of Jewish partisan units forming in the Machalin Forest. The Communists have agreed to transport any people we can slip out of the ghetto to the forest.
We have two short-range transmitters. One is at Mila 18 and the other at the Franciskanska bunker. We only transmit messages in case of emergency. We know that German direction finders are trying to get bearings on our bunkers when we transmit, so