Mila 18 - Leon Uris [67]
“You brought the Germans to Poland,” Zoshia cried. “The priest told us so! It is all the fault of the Jews!” She spit in hatred in their faces and waddled from the room.
Deborah leaned against Paul and cried softly, and he tried to comfort her. “I can’t believe it,” she murmured. “I can’t believe it ...”
“There is nothing we can do. The Germans are encouraging them to do what she did.”
One of the moving men came in.
“We have a wagonload. You said you wanted to come with us to Sienna Street and show us where the things go.”
“Mrs. Bronski will be out in a moment. She will follow you over.”
The teamster tipped his cap and left.
Deborah dried her eyes. He walked to his office and returned with the armbands. “You and the children will have to wear these,” he said.
She took them and stared at them, then put one on her right arm. “Isn’t it a shame,” she said, “that the first time we really must tell the children they are Jews ... it must be like this. ...”
Chapter Five
Journal Entry
ANDREI WARNED ME THAT we could not depend on Paul Bronski. How right he was. We continue to canvass the Jewish community to see who among us will come together for a leadership meeting. We are picking up strength, but not fast enough. A few more of these German directives will do more to convince them than any of our arguments.
I am going to see Rabbi Solomon. If we can win his support, it could well put us over the top.
ALEXANDER BRANDEL
The Rabbi Solomon’s name was most often preceded by the word “great.” He was one of the most learned men not only of Warsaw but of all Poland, and that constituted the heartland of religious Jewry.
He was a humble man who was beloved for giving his life to study and devotion and teaching. His rulings set the vogues among the religious Jews.
Not the least of the man’s many qualities was a political agility. When one came to earth from Talmudic and ethical writings to things real, deftness was required in order to be able to get along with all the diversified factions of Jewish opinion and philosophy. It was because of this wizardry that he was often called upon to use his good offices to mediate between extreme thinkers, from Communists to neo-fascists.
All organized Zionists believed that only they were the true standardbearers of Zionism and that the others outside their ranks were merely pseudo Zionists. It was the same with Rabbi Solomon. His Zionism, he felt, was certainly the purest form, for it came from the books of the Bible which told him a “Messiah” would return to earth and lead the scattered children of Israel back to their “Promised Land.” This was not so much Zionism to him but rather fundamental Judaism.
All the new ideas—revisionist, socialist, communist, intellectualism—were merely expedient and radical ideas which took the place of the true basic faith.
Although he did not agree with the new ideas, he was compassionate toward them. He understood that it took enormous inner strength not to be able to rebel against the abuses the Jews had suffered. These new forms of Zionism, therefore, were rebellions by weak men who could not suffer in silence and dignity, to pray and to accept as part of life the penalties imposed by God for being worthy of being the chosen guardians of the Holy Law.
After the Germans shut his synagogue, he worked harder than ever keeping up the morale of his people. During the storm of directives his quiet strength and counsel were constantly sought.
It was after such a strenuous day that Alexander Brandel arrived in his study. The old man looked forward to the relaxation and verbal swordplay with the learned Zionist historian.
They recounted the terrible things of the day with mutual sadness, went through all the accepted amenities, then Alex got down to business.
“We feel the urgencies of the day call for us to set aside the things which