Mila 18 - Leon Uris [64]
“Sing, Brother Brandel!”
“Through us and other Zionist groups the people have organizations prepared to function in their behalf. If you and a hundred others like you take fifty men and women away, you’re stripping three and a half million Jews of the only buffer they have to protect them.”
“Alex, try and stop me.”
“We have worked together for a long, long time, Andrei, but I will not hesitate to throw you out of the Bathyrans in disgrace.”
“Then you’ll have to throw out the other fifty, because they will follow me.”
They stopped suddenly, each building to a point of no return. There was anger in Andrei that defied logic. Alex was stunned. He turned to Gaby, who threw up her hands in helplessness.
“I prayed to God that my son Wolf would be half the man Andrei Androfski was. When I saw you crawl in on your hands and knees from battle I said, ‘This is the most gallant man who ever lived. No matter what happens in the days to come, we will pull through so long as Andrei is with us.’ Now ... I see you for what you are. A man without true courage.”
Gabriela threw herself between them, looking from one to the other in desperation, and suddenly it was Alex who received her wrath. “How dare you say that to him!”
Alex brushed by her and slapped Andrei across the face. He did not even blink.
“Stop it!” Gabriela cried.
“It’s all right, Gaby. He hits like a woman and he knows I will not strike him back.”
“But the Germans do not hit like women and you do not have the courage to take their blows and keep your hands at your side.”
Andrei walked across the room to the sofa. “I will not let it be said that I destroyed the Bathyrans. Keep them here. I will go alone. There are a hundred thousand Polish soldiers who escaped over the borders who will fight again. There will be one more.”
Alex hovered over him. “You are a selfish, vengeful man with only desire to fill this great thirst of yours for personal revenge. Forget the woman who loves you ... forget your sister and her children ... forget your friends ... forget the people to whom you’re obligated. When we need you the most, run off to join your roving band of Robin Hoods. Hail and farewell to the gallant Major Androfski of the Seventh Ulanys.”
“Stop tormenting him,” Gabriela cried.
“For God’s sake, Alex,” Andrei screamed. “I cannot fight your kind of war. I am not a traitor! I cannot fight your kind of war!”
“You have fought your war your way and it was no good. Now the battle is even more unbalanced. This is not strong men against strong men. We are a few people who have in our hands the responsibility of three and a half million helpless people. We have no weapons but faith in each other. Andrei, you’ve always wanted to know what Zionism is. This is Zionism, helping Jews survive. You must give yourself to us. We cannot do without you.”
Andrei sighed and grunted. “Jesus Christ,” he mumbled, “what kind of a battle is this?” He looked up at them. “In all those years I carried the pose of being the great Androfski—and I know why. Because we were fighting a hypothetical battle. Everyone was our enemy—yet, no one. We talked about a dream, we talked about our longings, but now ... I am no longer in a dubious battle. Can’t you understand I have seen the enemy face to face? I want to fight him with these,” he said, holding up his hamlike fists. “I want to smash in the faces of those German bastards.”
“Will that keep us alive?”
“I don’t know if I have the courage you speak of, Alex—to watch murder and not lift my hand.”
“Don’t leave us, Andrei.”
Gabriela knelt beside him and tried to comfort him.
“Alex is right,” she said. “You must stand by your people.”
“Didn’t you know, Gaby, Alex is always right—didn’t you know?”
Andrei looked from one to the other. Yes ... his war was over. In his war he had been trampled and humiliated. Now he must try to fight Alexander Brandel’s war.
“I will try,” he muttered at last. “I will try.”
Chapter Four
AS A MEMBER OF the executive board of the Jewish Civil Authority, Paul Bronski had several