Stephen Shooster not happy. If the Gestapo found out there would be serious trouble. Both the police and I would have been held responsible. Plus the action could result in punishing the whole community. Months went by while I continued to bring the little I could into the ghetto. One day I saw a young boy was standing by the stables looking at the horses, just like I had a few weeks before and I startled him by asking, “What are you looking at?” The boy was at first shy and speechless. He had just arrived from the roadworks. I knew exactly how he must have felt. The memory was fresh in my mind when I did the same thing. I prodded him, “What do you want?“ I met Leon when he was 16. He was looking at the horse and carriages and wanted a job.
Leon Schagrin in Tarnow
Leon Schagrin - The difference between my friend, Moshe, and I is that I had a way with horses, and the large gelding, Maciek, quickly bonded to me; this was reinforced by sleeping in the stables. If you can get a horse to bond with you, they will follow all of your actions during the entire day. Moshe made friends with everyone, or at least he did not make enemies. His only friction came from the Jewish police, and they were hungry too. In a short time, he would get to know the people at the marketplace. In fact, they expected him. He would buy from them every chance he got. To get past the guards, he cut them in on some of the bounties. As much as it sounds like a lot of food, it wasn’t much. The risk of getting caught was always prevalent. And even if he wanted to, he was not driving the carriage all the time. There was much downtime, waiting for jobs. Long periods were spent at the stables just taking care of the animals, and now with me doing much of the clean- ing, Moshe could stretch his legs. Sol was the owner of the stable and a young man himself. The ghetto was overpopu- lated. People were starving, and being deported by surprise. But, whenever anyone came to him and asked for something he always gave a little. On many occasions, he would reach into his pocket and take out some money to give it to anyone who asked. Moshe and Sol became good friends. They both helped each other. With the risks, Moshe was taking to bring things into the ghetto, and Sol’s natural love of people they made a fine team and even a little money. But still, Moshe felt like a beggar, living on the street in comparison. Moshe was too embarrassed to go into Sol’s home to eat. He preferred the stables.
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