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LIFE, RECONSTRUCTION, AND CREATIVITY 133
We did not have to think long. My father was
so spent, so frightened, like after a big fire, at the
sudden catastrophe, that he was ready to leave the
town at once. He was afraid that if he stayed one
more day after mother died he would lose his
children too. The question washow could he
pack up the children and the few possessions,
and leave the city?
We could get neither horse nor wagon; and
even if we could have gotten them, we had no
money to pay for them. And so my father came up
with a plan. Every married couple owned a chest
about seven feet long, made of strong wood, and
bound with iron hoops. The bottom had iron bars,
screwed on with stout, heavy screws. The bars
varied in length and thickness, and could serve as
an axle, for they had iron wheels attached at each
end. It was a primitive contraption, but it was
strong. The upper part of the chest was a cover,
and it had iron bars attached to it, for use either to
open the chest or to keep it from closing. The
cover was a bit rounded, and the chest was
painted green.
On either side of the chest, at the head and at
the foot, were two iron handles for moving the
chest from one place to another. Why do I call
them the "foot" and the "head"? Because the
chest was sometimes used as an extra bed. When
a guest came, and we had no place to put him up,
the chest became a temporary bed. During the
summer, the chest held the winter clothes, for it
was big enough to hold almost all of the
household's goods. Some families would store
their Sabbath candlesticks in the chest, or silver
goblets and silver flatware, or a copper pestle and
mortar, or a silver tray. The chest swallowed
everything.
This was done for two reasons; firstly, it had
a strong lock as protection against theft; and
secondly, if the copper vessels were not put
away, the children used them a toys and would
bang on them, making noise.
My father therefore planned to use the chest
as a wagon, to move our things to the village. He
took off the heavy belt from his pants, attached it
to one of the two handles, and put all our bags and
baggage and the children into the four corners of
the chest, and off we went. He yoked himself to his
belt, and the chest was on its way.
The village was not too far from the townwe
could see the village of Vishnyeve from the
railroad station. It stretched as one long street,
about a mile or so long. On one side it bordered
the village of Masheve, and on the other end it
bordered Kotseres. It didn't take us too long to
reach the village.
My aunt Sosye an d my uncle Getsl Chinenzon
had a big house with three large rooms. We
arrived there at twilight and found a fine, large
dwelling, an exception to the little low huts of the
neighboring peasants. My aunt Sosye received us
with heartfelt kindness.
Next morning, my father found a small house
near my aunt's. It was empty because many
peasants had run away to Russia during the war.
The house was whitewashed and cleaned; panes
of glass were put into the windows and the house
became spic and span.
We all enjoyed the fresh air. The older children
were running around, free as larks, in the
gardens and the fields. Everything in the village
was freereven the gardens of strangers were
open to us. When I came to the village I was a weak
child, for in the postwar time there was no proper
food to nourish a child. We thanked God for a
piece of dry bread to fill our stomachs. And so I
became ill as soon as we got there, and I was sick
for a long time. They fed me genilkelech (small
pears), which grew not far from our new home.
These small pears ripened in late autumn. Each
peasant had such a pear tree on his lot. The pears
or were soft, a little rotted, and sour in taste.
The pear trees grew wild and abundantly in
our area. No one forbade people to pick the fallen
ripe pears, which were piled up even in the fields.
Every peasant owned such a pear tree, which also
served as a benchmark, separating his property
from another's. The trees would grow tall and
scatter their fruit far and wide.
The term genilkelech was also the nickname
of the village youth. It was a custom that village
Jews of Volhynia would come to town during the
holidays. Those living in distant villages brought
their freezing children bundled up in bedding. The
town's children would run after them yelling,
"Here come the genilkes!" and throwing