The Polish Patriot Page #2

								

The officials were aware of the masses on their way, so there was great tension in the air close to the hospital as air raid sirens repeatedly sounded, warning of aerial attacks. The hospital was nearly empty as everyone was waiting for the victims of the attacks. The city was on high alert and ready for the worst. We knew that it was a matter of hours before the enemy arrived, and meanwhile, on the diplomatic front, negotiations were taking place between Russia and Germany to divide Poland, thereby preventing a confrontation. Stalin wanted to avoid war with Hitler. Nevertheless, Stalin had a strong wish for the fertile territories of his nearby neighbors, his (traditional) enemies to the west.
At the hospital, I found Adam in a very depressed mood, as he had not received any letters or information from his parents. Fleeing Jews who were arriving reported that the city of Warsaw was destroyed and that the Germans were kidnapping Jews, sending them to forced labor areas, and forcing them to wear white armbands with a symbol[4] identifying them as Jews. They also told of how the Germans were humiliating and degrading Jews on the streets while some of the local Poles volunteered and helped with hunting and turning their neighbors over to the Germans.
Everyone was looking to escape, but it was too late, as the borders were virtually closed. Those approaching from the Polish side found themselves in the Russian line of fire that shot at anyone approaching the border, while, on the other side, the patrolling Germans shot at anyone attempting to cross their border. These rumors were highly distressing, and I was terrified to hear them. Although my immediate family lived in Wloszczowa, three hundred kilometers south of Warsaw, I had aunts, uncles, cousins, and other relatives living in Warsaw.

At Brest-Litovsk hospital, Adam and I sat together for a few hours, encouraging one another. When we finally went out to the street to smoke, the street was empty, with only civil service patrols occasionally passing by the entrance to the hospital. After we went inside and separated with a long embrace, we knew that, in all likelihood, we would not see each other again. We also believed that the war would continue for a long time and that we would have to care for ourselves, but we agreed that we would send messages to each other at every opportunity.
								Rate this book:
5.0 / 1 vote