pdf available - Multiple Choices

one side and go out on the other side into another
street. This was done so that if there were many
people in it at one time, there would be more than
one exit, and they would not get in each other's
way. It was big enough to accommodate about 50
people comfortably. I even built a board into the
wall to provide a bench for sitting. Whenever we
heard the alert, warning us in a dry voice, "Uvaga
nadchodzi," [attention, getting closer], we would
flee to our shelter.
We spent two weeks this way. News leaked to
us that the German boot had forced its way into
Poland and that this army was advancing with
great speed toward us. The Jews were despondent.
News reached us from surrounding towns
that already had fallen into German hands, telling
us what they were doing to the Jews. We began to
see more and more strange faces of people who
had fled or been evacuated from the other side of
the Bug River. With lightning speed, the destruction
was approaching us.
Sheer terror filled everyone as the first troops
of the German army entered our shtetl. The
inhabitants stayed near their homes. Men hid
their wives and children inside alkers [enclosed
inner rooms]. A little later we grew more calm.
The Germans ordered us to open our businesses,
and the Jews watched the enemy, trying to divine
ON THE THRESHOLD OF DESTRUCTION
229
their intentions; and it was oddthe Germans
did not look as if they meant to do any harm to the
Jewish population. It seemed they did not mean to
treat us Jews differently from the Christians. They
only said to us, "We have made an agreement with
the Russians and we will occupy the whole area up
to the Bug. We will stay here only three days."
They told us that the town should form a security
force to maintain order until the Russians came to
the shtetl.
Instinctively, every Jew was filled with terror,
but the behavior of the Germans was a great
puzzle to us. They behaved entirely correctly toward
the Jews. Everyone wondered at this, but no
one had the answer. Not far from us, about 30
miles away, was the town of Chelm, where the
same Germans, upon entering the city, had exterminated
almost half the Jewish population, while
here they were not bothering anyone! But it is
true that the Germans stayed in Libivne for three
days, but did not touch even one Jew!
Only later did it become clear to us why the
Germans had left us unharmed the first few
days. Those regions where they expected the
Soviet army to come in, they left the people
alone, saving their plans of extermination for
the time when they would be sole masters over
the entire area.