Next Steps Alone

Having waited until dark, Józef starts to make his way stealthily and with some trepidation, towards the village, several times he has to dive for cover as German soldiers in carts or on foot pass close by him…

At one point five rogues on foot nearly barged into me coming from the village and talking rowdily. Sometimes I felt as if my blood was freezing in my veins or that the hair on my head was standing on end, I also had goose bumps at the thought they would like to cut my throat here in the middle of nowhere…

Eventually he manages to reach the outskirts of the village but soon realises that there are Germans there – probably sleeping in the barns, so he quickly continues further into the village. He reaches a cottage where he decides to stop and rest in the garden which is densely planted with trees, thus providing a reasonable hiding place.

By this time I was tired, hungry, breathless and almost completely exhausted, so as the sky was already beginning to glow, I decided to wait in the garden until morning. Then I would make the acquaintance of the householders, find out what I could and move on. I swilled the last drop of coffee then curled up under a bush, satisfied myself that everything was all right and that I couldn’t be seen and stretched out on the soggy ground with my rucksack laid under my head. But this time I couldn’t get to sleep. This journey had been too nerve-racking with too many edgy shocks to my emotions for me to fall asleep. It was 3.30 am so it had taken me a full eight hours to go just two kilometres. Hah. Well, maybe I could laugh at that point, but things could have turned out very differently and with no laughter.

21/09/39

The householders got up at about 5.00 am. In front of me was a large property with a garden full of fruit and no trace of this dreadful war, which had ravaged so many villages, so many towns. First the housewife came out; she let out the geese and then went to the barn to feed the cattle. Behind her came her daughter, maybe ten years old and wearing a rustic dress. She came into the garden close to me and afterward went to the corner of the house and just settled down there. I took advantage of this time to get out cautiously from under the bushes. She finished what she was doing, turned around and almost screamed with fright.  She just clutched at her chest, frightened she stopped and opened her mouth. I waved my hand to calm her down and asked her briefly “Are there Germans here?” “No” she replied, “but they are in the village there in that straw.”

With a feeling of relief I took a breath and followed her out of the garden. Alone, looking around again fearfully, she disappeared into the cottage. Just then the housewife came out of the barn with a bucket of milk so I approached her and the first word I spoke was “Food.” “Will you sell me a little milk and a piece of bread?” She glanced at me harshly and shielding herself with one hand as if she wanted to push me away, she exclaimed with contempt in her eyes “Get away from here as fast as you can, I won’t give you anything because I haven’t got anything” (and this ‘pauper’ had a full bucket of milk in her hand), “and anyway the Germans warned us that if anyone in the village takes in a Polish soldier or feeds him, the whole village will be burned down. Go away from my courtyard”. Strangely enough I wasn’t even irritated with her, my mouth just watered at the sight of milk, unseen for so long. With an even more apologetic manner, I asked her almost in a whisper, because I couldn’t manage any other voice, “Could you please at least point out, which way I should go from your house to avoid falling into the hands of the Germans?” “Go that way and goodbye” she said pointing beyond her house and in the direction of the sunrise. And so I left…