We arrived back at the base before dawn. Our lookouts, positioned a few miles from the summit, saw us. They called out to us, and we shouted back the password—rofeh holim.
Salo and Maxie, who had not come with us, unloaded the sacks and were delighted with every drug. We even brought a directory of medications.
It’s so good to be back at the base. The pack drops from your shoulders, and a sandwich and cup of tea await you in the kitchen. True, we also got sandwiches before leaving, but the long hours of the night, the load we carried, and the high alertness all starve the body. This sandwich tastes of all the seven flavors, and the cigarette is a tonic.
And, as always, there is news, good news and less good. Russian radio again announces that the German Army is in panicked retreat and urges partisans to blow up railroad tracks and chase away the occupiers. “We should be happy,” I heard Salo say. But our actual situation has its ups and downs. There is a group of survivors who are recuperating, who wear clothes and can drink tea standing up. They stare into space, and their movements are unsteady, but they have begun to ask, “Where are we, and what will we do when we get well?” But most of the survivors are still feeble and sick. Salo and Maxie and their assistants Karl and Victor and Hermann Cohen are in charge of hygiene and food; some of the sick understand that they are in good hands and thank the medical team with tears in their eyes.
Dr. Krinitski sees the sickest patients every day but thinks that without blood tests and the right medicine they don’t stand a chance. Krinitski has been with us for several weeks but has still not come to terms with his capture by the Jews. He continues to insist that his detainment is illegal and insinuates that the Jews do not respect the laws of the land. “I know the Jews well. They lived among us for many generations.”
Even as a prisoner he is unafraid to express his opinions, and he told Kamil, “Armed Jews do not frighten me; it’s out of character for them. They seem to be masquerading.” Felix was furious. In his opinion, such anti-Semitism in the wake of mass murder is an intolerable crime. When Felix is furious, he doesn’t raise his voice; instead, his lips tighten, and he looks like he will leap and strike at any moment. Kamil reminded Felix that three urgent surgeries are scheduled, and only afterward will we settle our score with the doctor.
We brought many different types of medicines. They are now stored in the bunker. The owner of the pharmacy, Aaron Shmulevitz, could never have imagined where his medicines would end up. God bless him, too, for his chocolates, coffee, and cocoa. Now we can make the children happy.
The German officer burns with fever, and his hallucinations make him cry out loudly at night. He swears again and again that he was loyal to his homeland and his leader. Krinitski examined him and declared that his life hangs by a thread. In a day or two he will be dead. Krinitski stands beside the officer’s mat with an ironic smile, as if to say, entire villages were subject to the whim of this junior officer; now he lies here like a corpse.