The War
Rescued
cation altogether, because he thought that this one was too well known to the Germans as a hiding place where Jews might be found. Again, my cousin Boris carried me on his back, perhaps ten miles, maybe longer, and we went to Levaches, where my un- cle managed to secure a room for us in a house at the edge of the village. The owner of the house was both a farmer and the tailor for the village and surrounding area. He had been crippled many years before and limped severely when he walked. We stayed there for a short time, while my uncle and Boris built a temporary hut for us in the forest nearby. I was unable to walk at that point, so they kept me in bed, and the tailor was very nervous about this. Every day, he asked my uncle, “When will you remove the one who is lying there?” We relocated to the hut when it was completed and stayed there for the entire summer, perhaps six months or longer. Little by little, my feet improved slightly. They fashioned crutches for me from branches, and stuffed wads of cloth into big shoes to cushion my feet and hold them in place. I was finally able to get up off my bed and hobble around a bit. Lots of Jews wanted to be near my uncle. They felt safe with him because he and my cousin Boris had rifles. The farmers in the area had great respect for him, too, although some were also afraid of him. My aunt was a very good-natured person. Word of her kindness spread like wildfire. If anybody had a wound or other problem, they came to Chava for help. We were surrounded with eighteen to twenty-five people. For safety reasons, the huts were spread over several locations. People used to come, even during daylight hours, to find food or help. My uncle always had enough food at that location. This was the summer of 1943. The war was not going well for the Germans. I suppose they no longer had as much time to run around the woods hunting for the few individual Jews who had taken refuge there. The Russian underground, the partisans, were establishing a stronger presence in our area and I would see them from time to
121
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online