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long as I live, I will never forget this; I only pray
to God that He make me well and that I be strong
enough to show my gratitude to you for your kind
heart. You really saved me from a slow death.
You gave me a gift of life!"
The man later became rich again. Whenever
he met my father, he would give him a gift for the
children. When the new war came, with its new
troubles for Jews, again this gentile man remembered
my father. Many times he risked his own
life by bringing us food. That was not enough for
him. He would say to my father: "If the situation
is ever such that your life is in danger, all
of you must run away from the ghetto and come
to me. My door will forever be open for you."
For the time being, there was no need to
escape from the ghetto. But our situation grew
ever more dreadful and more unbearable. They
had taken my old father and some other Jews to
escort some horses to Russia. I will never forget
our farewell with my father, I have no strength
to describe the scene at his leave-taking, when
we knew the meaning of his going away. But it
so happened that when the policeman practically
dragged my father to the Judenrat by
force, because he had no strength to walk, it
turned out that there were more than enough
Jews to fill the quota and they let him go.
Everyone in the ghetto understood, though
no one wanted to think about it, that the Jews of
Libivne could not possibly escape the bitter fate
that had overtaken the Jews of the surrounding
towns. In order to make their lives more secure,
many Jews built shelters, and we followed suit.
We built two shelters because we thought if the
Germans discovered one hiding place we could
quickly run into the second one.
These hiding places saved us many times.
But when the horrible day came to our ghetto, on
the holiday of Hoshana Rabba, 1942, all of us
knew that that was to be the last action. My father
pushed me out by force into the street, saying to
me, "Run, my child, wherever you can, my dearest
daughter. Perhaps you will manage to keep
alive and live to remember us and take revenge
for our leaving this world in such a dreadful
death! Run, my child, to Sidor in Vishnyeve. He
will hide you."
THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE 305
I listened to my father. I disguised myself
with a kind of shawl that gentile women wore
and ran through side streets, till I reached a gentile
whom I knew. He had a hiding place in his
stable. Above that place, my cousin with his wife
and children were hidden too; I knew about this.
But before long, their place of hiding was discovered
by the police, who shot my cousin
Pinchas Chinenson, his wife and children.
As I lay hidden for three days, I would hear
voices of the gentiles through the thin wall and
knew that danger was coming ever nearer to me.
And so I decided to run from there. No sooner said
than done! In the middle of the night, when everyone
was sunk in a deep sleep, and it was raining
outside, I crept out of my den on all fours and left
the village by side paths.
Meanwhile I collected some rain water to
quench my thirst, enjoying it thoroughly, for my
tongue had become hard from lack of water. I was
able to snatch a few beets and carrots from gardens
and I reached the hiding place of my house,
which was undamaged. I lay there all of six days.
Once during the night I heard a Jewish voice and
I was scared. It said, "Is anyone still alive from
Shmuel's family? This is Motl Grimatlicht, Motl
Pinye Lipeches, who used to trade horses."
Naturally I let him into the shelter. He told
me the only ones in his family to survive were
his grandchildren, who were hidden with 33 others
in his stable. He proposed that since both of
us knew our way about, and because it was raining,
we should try to lead these hidden Jews to
the village of Vishnyeve. I agreed, and after much
hardship, we were able to fulfill our plan.
With our last strength we were able to reach
a swampy area full of bushes and sat down to
catch our breath. Thick woods lay before us; they
were only our friends and protectors. When we
caught our breath, Motl said to me, "You, Rochl,
are well known here. All the peasants also remember
your father. And so I have a suggestion for you;
somehow you must reach the nearest farm, get
some food for all of us, and bring it here, for we
must hide in the woods."
As soon as he finished his suggestion, one of
the women gave me a five-ruble gold piece with
which to pay for the food.