The Horse Adjutant traveled southeast down to the river that divided Poland and Russia. They followed the river until they could find a spot low enough to cross and entered Russia. They ended up in Lwów. Max, loved this city. He said, “It had everything I could have wanted.” Max started to trade on the Black Market. It worked out brilliantly. The flint he brought turned out to be worth a great deal. He sold them to a few people, earning 500 Zloty on his 100 Zloty investment. This money made it possible to live well, at least for a little while. Then a combination of concern for his family and the need to replenish his supply of stones led him to think about going back for more, which is exactly what he did. On his second trip, Max went to the river again and crossed it. It was now early Fall, but there was still no snow or ice on the ground; it was just chilly. As he was crossing, a Russian shot at him. Since he was halfway across the river, the shooter must not have been so accurate, because he missed. After brazenly crossing the river, Max was full of nerve and went directly to the Gestapo. At the office, he casually said, “I need a permit to go to Grybow and Nowy-Sacz.” The Gestapo did not ask many questions. It would be unthinkable that a Jew would ask for a permit, so the man behind the desk did as requested and gave the permit to him. Max meandered his way back into Grybow, being careful to avoid the authorities. Even though he had a permit, there was no reason to flaunt it. When he saw his father, his father’s eyes lit up with joy. Then Max pleaded, “Papa I found the City of Lwów. It is a good place in the hands of the Russians. Our family will be safe there until after the war. I want to move you and the rest of the family there as soon as possible.” His papa forever the optimist refused saying, ‘The war will be over soon, and things will return to normal.’ He would not budge. Then he said with a serious look of concern, “Max, they are looking for you already.” “Who?” Max asked. “The Gestapo,” his father replied. Max wondered out loud, “Why, why are they looking?” His father said, “Because they are saying you are with the partisans.” The very last thing he said to Max was, “You better leave right away!” Max said goodbye to his family and left, carefully picking his way through the town. Before he would go back to Russia, he wanted more stones back in Nowy-Sacz. These stones had a Yiddish name: ‘Szteindlech.’ It’s a slang term. It comes from the combina- tion of Sztein meaning ‘rock’ and Lech meaning ‘small.’ Their value had nothing to do with their size. Their value had to do with the spark they could create when you scratched them, and their size made them perfect for kerosene cigarette lighters. Self-
109
Made with FlippingBook Digital Proposal Creator