Stephen Shooster pool of his own blood, was disorienting. Leon focused on the man’s polished shoes and tried not to absorb the full reality of what was happening. The numbing effect of such horror had only begun. He would be tested hundreds of times before it was over. As the occupation grounded on, the Nazis called for a collection of fur coats. One woman, an American citizen, married to a local Polish man, protested – waving her passport and demanding her rights as an American citizen. The Nazis dragged her and her husband into their front yard and shot them. In another instance, the Nazis called for 100 ‘volunteers’ and directed the newly formed Jewish Committee to gather up these people from the community. There were no volunteers. In retaliation, the Nazis gathered the Jewish Committee and the Jewish police and shot them all. Leon gathered the bodies of adults he knew well from the site of the execution. These bloody bodies with their stricken, familiar faces, prepared Leon for more horrors yet to come. He was becoming inured to the sight of slaughter. His family consisted of simple, ordinary people. The only thing that made them dif- ferent was their religion, and they weren’t very religious. In nearly every other way they were just like everyone else in town. What justified the particular hostility shown toward Jews? Why had it arisen so suddenly out of nowhere? What crime had Jews committed that could justify the cruelty of the Nazis? Leon could fashion no answer to these questions. All he could do was try and survive. This is the story of how he survived.
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