Stephen Shooster sing and mass killing surfaced, they were thought to be rumors.
December, we were all in danger of freezing to death. There was plenty of coal in the area, but we were not allowed to buy any nor did we have any money. The cold was turning deadly. The small children suffered the most. My mother was beside herself, nursing my baby brother. She was rocking back and forth nervously in silent des- peration. Temperatures relentlessly dropped. In total desperation, we had to come up with a plan. We needed to do something before there would be a catastrophe. My father and I discussed how I could go to the railroad center 3 kilometers away and get coal from the huge pile used by the train. The trouble is I would have to do this late at night and probably I wouldn’t be the only one desperate or foolhardy enough to do it. That pile of coal would most likely be guarded. We knew about this cache of coal because Chaim Kant, one of my relatives worked at the station. Chaim also had a brother, Norbert. He was a lawyer that lived in our town and someone we could trust. So we hoped he would be there to help us. I did not know it then, but Norbert, his youngest brother, would become crucial to me one day. To prepare to get the coal my father helped to take the bells off the horse. We both knew this must be done stealthily. Before I left, he told me how sorry he was to have to send me on this dangerous mission. I nodded my head in agreement. We both knew that if I had been caught, I would most likely have been killed on the spot. But if we did nothing, we all would have frozen to death. So we continued to prepare the horse for the silent run. As the darkness of the night enveloped everything, I took the horse and sled out in the bitter cold and picked my way carefully through the local streets onto back roads. Once I felt safe, I quickened the pace and hurried to the station. I didn’t see anyone along the way, and more importantly, they didn’t see me. When I finally ar - rived, I realized this was not going to be easy. A new fence surrounded the coal, and I could not get to it. Luckily, some good people on the other side tossed some of the coal over the fence, and I began to load the sled. It was only a few minutes before I was discovered. At first, I heard indecipherable shouting mixed with the wind. This was immediately followed by the sounds of a machine gun being fired towards me. I was in immediate and dire danger. Without thinking, I raced away with my horse and sled. This was crazy because the roads were slick with ice and the sled became unstable. I was in a race for my life, sliding around dangerously. I almost got tossed off the road. As I was running away, I heard motorcycles coming toward me. The only thing I could do was continue my reckless driving. I found a small side trail and got off the road. I stopped for a moment and
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