大象传媒

The Unpredictable A Novel

Chapter 1 Poland

The first incident occurred during spring 1939. I was lying on my bed resting after one of my mother鈥檚 enormous dinners, when the murmur of excited voices and the stampede of feet crept up on me and my bedroom door was flung open. A handful of my friends burst into my room surrounding me and jumping up and down before me as if in amazement.
鈥淐ome on Tadek, come on鈥� they shouted, 鈥渃ome and see the miracle in the sky.鈥� Their sudden disturbance annoyed me, it looked like they were trying to make a fool out of me and I quickly became determined not to be taken in by one of their pranks.
鈥淧lease leave鈥� I shouted at them, 鈥渁nd take your stories elsewhere, you are annoying me and interrupting my peace.鈥�
鈥淏ut Tadek, we鈥檙e telling you the truth.鈥� One of my more reliable friends pleaded with me, 鈥淚 promise, we are not fooling you, if you come outside you will see for yourself. The sky is filled with all the colours of the world, there are beautiful rainbows everywhere and I know you鈥檒l be very sorry if you miss them.鈥�
I had been outside just a few hours ago. Before I had come to rest, I had taken a short walk and I had noticed then how clear the sky was. There wasn鈥檛 a single cloud in sight, but my friend spoke of the rainbows with such eagerness, that I could not help but trust him. Despite my initial reservations, I put on my coat and followed them out.
I wasn鈥檛 sorry; instead I was overwhelmed by the vision that greeted me, it was without a doubt magnificent. When I looked up into the sky, from north to south, from east to west, I could see the colours of a thousand rainbows, blazing reds, striking yellows, intense violets and serene greens, these glorious colours of nature poured down on me and all I could do was stand and stare.
People came from their houses and just stood and stared, men, women and children, from the very young to the very old. For one short moment we lived and we breathed as one, the world fell silent. We felt as if we had been blessed; I knew I would never experience anything quite like it, ever again.
Once the colours had faded there was a distinct muttering among the older crowds. They had become nervous, many of the older people were very superstitious, they told us that the rainbows were bad signs. One woman said that she had heard of similar sights and she believed nature was giving us a warning, a warning of a great war, a war that could never come to any good. Personally, I thought that they were being ridiculous and although I was completely unconvinced by their wild stories, I listened to them with the respect I was taught to have for the older generation.
The sky full of rainbows encompassed my mind for many weeks, until the second warning arrived. It happened during the evening when my friend Lily came to visit me. As soon as she entered the room, she ran across to the window and pulled back the curtain to reveal the brilliant clear night.
鈥淭adek鈥� she enquired, 鈥� have you seen the red star in the sky, to the east?鈥�
鈥淩ed star鈥� I repeated slightly mockingly, for I had heard of no such thing, 鈥測ou can not be serious.鈥�
鈥淥f course I am鈥� she smiled, 鈥渃ome and look through the window and you will see it.鈥� I should have known not to doubt my sweet Lily, for I knew deep down in my heart that she would never lie to me, not even for a joke.
The red star hung violently in the black night, almost as if it was oozing blood. The white stars I had often gazed upon, paled into insignificance among this almost horrific sight. All I could think about was the warning from the older people; I tried to dismiss the worrying thought that pushed its way into my mind. I couldn鈥檛 help feeling stupid for thinking even for one moment that there was a slight chance that they could be right and if they were right, what could I do?
My family and I only lived a few miles away from the Prussian border and it had always been easy to cross from side to side without any trouble. There weren鈥檛 many guards who kept watch on this frontier line, not even our own. If there was a war, our proximity with the border could make things difficult, for myself and for all of my family.
When I was a young boy I had journeyed across the border quite frequently with my father to visit distant relatives. I can remember that they spoke Polish with funny accents and it was really quite amusing, but they were merry and likeable people, who were forever singing. So when I first heard about the definite possibility of a war, I wasn鈥檛 that afraid.
The posters seemed to breed at an alarming rate. They appeared on shop windows and trees. The posters called on the Polish to join Germany; and by joining them, they could have a share in their colonies. But no one would take any notice and as quickly as the posters spread, they were destroyed. Germany started calling on Poland to boycott trade with the Jews. Goods straight from customer鈥檚 hands were destroyed if it was thought that they had been bought from a Jewish shop. Many people started to believe the rumours that the anti-Semites were spreading; they said that the Jews boasted that they owned all the Polish buildings and stores while the Polish themselves owned only the streets. At this point I did not know what to believe, whispers were riding with the wind in all directions. There were even stories of German spies in Poland, who were sent to keep an eye on the Polish people.
It wasn鈥檛 long before Mother Nature decided to send the third and final sign. The morning began unusually peaceful, the skies were clear and calm and the sun was smiling gold. Just before noon everything changed, it was as if someone had flicked a switch. I looked up and I saw the skies become filled with panic, dark clouds huddled together and shuddered, a deadly silence ripped through the air, birds vanished from trees, animals hid, crouching, shaking in corners. It was as if they were fully aware of the horrors to come.
The winds rose higher, howling and whipping with an ever increasing speed and then it became dark, darker than night. People ran around in a mad panic, looking for any kind of shelter to try and save themselves. Tops of houses were lifted right off and then plummeted to the ground; pieces of wood and tiles were carried away for miles. Trees fell, and forests were devastated, people clung desperately to their lives and then suddenly, almost as quickly as it had begun, it ended.

Chapter 2
My father had been away for a few days in Prussia, to watch the movement of the German army and to report to the Polish authorities when he returned.
I didn鈥檛 know at the time, but later I found out that it was his job to watch the movement of the German army in Prussia. He had not been back long when he called me. When I entered the room he was pacing backwards and forwards and when he turned to look at me all colour had drained from his face.
鈥淭adek鈥� he said, 鈥測ou will not be safe here anymore, you must leave at once, take this money and go to your uncle鈥檚 house in the next town, your cousins will meet you there and then you must all flee deep into the heart of Poland, for soon there will be war.鈥�
Germany had invaded Austria and later, Czechoslovakia and in a gesture of goodwill gave the northern territory to Poland, as Poland had always claimed that it belonged to them. It seemed clear that Germany wanted Poland to guard them from Russia so they could concentrate on invading France then England. Many of the Poles wanted to agree with Germany to avoid war with them, but instead the Polish government made an agreement with England and France. This didn鈥檛 please Germany and they turned quickly against Poland and demanded that they hand over the Polish Corridor; they now wanted easy access to Prussia.
The agreement the Poles had made with England and France, which intended to warn Germany off, had only ignited Germany, and they would come down harder on the Polish people than ever before. Germany decided to turn to Russia and this move meant that France and England would not be quick to help Poland. Suddenly Poland had made enemies of Russia, the Germans had managed to turn them against us, because of our alliance with France and England. There seemed little point in expecting help from France and England.
I arrived at my uncle鈥檚 house later that very same night. My cousins Stanley and Grosfield were waiting for me. We had to leave together because we were all in our teenage years and living so close to the border meant there wouldn鈥檛 be a place safe enough for us, we would be taken away as soon as the enemy arrived. It was decided for us, that for the moment we would stay with another uncle living deeper into Poland.
This uncle happened to be a citizen of the U.S.A, but had returned to Poland when he had retired. We joked with him that it was too quiet, it was a false alarm and we should go back home. But he insisted that we stayed where we were. At night times none of us could get much sleep, it strange being away from our homes and I often lay awake listening for any signs of attack. After the third day everything was still quiet, there was still no sign of the enemy, we came to the conclusion that the whole thing was a joke. The third night we realised it wasn鈥檛. The Germans attacked. Our uncle woke us from our light sleep in the early hours of the morning, we hadn鈥檛 heard a thing, but he told us it was too dangerous to stay, it was time to move on. We got our bicycles and left immediately, shivering in the cool morning air.
When we got onto the main road, we were faced with the enormity of the situation. People were in flight. They were chaotic, hysterical. .
Most of the people were Jewish. We didn鈥檛 understand why they were so terribly afraid. When we reached the next town we found out. Here they told us that the Germans had attacked Poland without any warning and killed a lot of innocent people, men, women and children. We couldn鈥檛 understand what was going on, nothing made sense, all we wanted to do was eat something and then be on our way again. I didn鈥檛 want to believe this was real, none of us did.
We travelled none stop until we arrived in Osoriec a couple of hours later. It was here that during the first war in 1914 to 1918, lots battles had taken place between the Russian Czar and Germany. There were reminders all around us in the form of graves, there were hundreds of them and lines and lines of trenches and fortresses.
These sights intrigued my cousins and myself and we wanted take some time to look around. We didn鈥檛 think that we would be doing any harm. We had only been off our bicycles for a few minutes when a couple of Polish soldiers spotted us and then quickly marched towards us. They reached out and took a hold of our bicycles. They said that they were claiming them to use in the army. I looked at my cousins but they had become speechless. I had to think of something fast, we would be lost if they took them away. I quickly explained to them that we were travelling by the order of a higher authority, we had heard an appeal on the radio for young men over the age of sixteen and we hoped that we would soon be able to join the army. We were very lucky, my explanation pleased the soldiers so they handed back our bicycles and let us go on our way.
My cousins and I ventured further on, laughing nervously over our new adventures; but nothing could have prepared any of us for the sight that was about to greet us, the real sight of war. Twisted and broken bodies were strewn around; horses lay dead or dying. All we could do was turn and look the other way; we were powerless to help. We averted our eyes and marched straight ahead.
Across the potato fields we could just about make out the Polish soldiers as they crouched in bushes, camouflaged in green. It was a very different impression of war, from the ideals we all held. The wars that we were taught to believe in made all men powerful and heroic, it didn鈥檛 take us long to become accustomed to the real sight of war. This sight told us that there were no heroes, no triumphs and no ideals, only survivors and luck. We ran to our bikes and rode furiously into the wind without looking back. The ride was no longer fun, all at once the cruel truth had hit us, we were no longer innocent children protected from a harsh reality, we realised that we would never be hero鈥檚, that there was no such thing, we would only ever be survivors and the awful truth was that for the rest of our lives we would face a battle, merely to exist.
Night fell and we arrived at a village where we hoped to rest, but we knew at once it wasn鈥檛 going to be that simple. A group of men had spotted our arrival and decided to interrogate us, to them it was possible that we could by spies, to us it was ludicrous. After exhausting all questions and numerous answers they decided we weren鈥檛 spies, we were just children and let us stay for the night. They showed us the way to a nearby barn and said we were welcome to stay there as long as we needed to.
The outside of the barn was dilapidated and the roof was hardly even worth calling a roof for the little shelter it gave. We all silently wished that rain would be kind enough not visit us tonight, for if it did we would never keep dry. Still we couldn鈥檛 complain, the barn was slightly better than nothing. When we opened the door the sudden commotion sent the surprised rats scurrying to the barn鈥檚 edges. Nevertheless we found areas that looked clean and dry with enough straw to provide as much warmth and comfort that could be expected at a time like this. We were all tired and still numb from all that we had seen and we could not say a word, not even goodnight as we bedded down for the night. Surprisingly, we all slept soundly right through until the daylight woke us.
In the morning a kind faced woman offered us a few crusts of bread, which we quickly ripped between us and washed down with a few gulps of milk. The milk was warm and satisfied our aching stomachs. We offered her many thanks and then once again set upon our journey.
It wasn鈥檛 long before we reached the river Narev, the water glowed and sparkled as the suns rays pierced through its translucent skin. We looked at one another, the temptation was too strong to resist, we ripped of our clothes and then jumped straight in. Cool beads of water soothed my aching flesh and suddenly we became children again. We danced and dived through the water, splashing one another and we laughed and we laughed. We were having so much fun we completely forgot about what was going on and why we were here. It was only when we spotted some soldiers marching over a nearby bridge that we remembered. The water turned cold, we decided at once that we had had enough of it, quickly dressed and got on our bikes. This time in a hurry, for the atmosphere had again grown intensely dark and our childish behaviour now seemed extremely foolish.
After travelling some distance we still weren鈥檛 getting closer to any sort of destination. It was time to make our minds up about where exactly we were heading. Stanley wanted us to go further east to a town named Biatowieza, which was close to the Russian border, but Grosfield and I wanted to travel to Warsaw. I had relatives there and knew I would be well looked after. After a heated discussion we decided to go our separate ways Grosfield and I travelling as far as Warsaw together.
I looked forward to seeing my sister again, it would also be interesting to see my cousins that I had met when I was a little boy but no longer remembered. My memories of Warsaw were clouded and as I pedalled towards it, many incidents came flooding back . I wondered what adventures Warsaw would hold for me this time.
Eventually we arrived at Praga the eastern part of Warsaw, it was here that I said goodbye to Grosfield, we shook hands and wished each other a safe and pleasant journey to our relative鈥檚 houses. I had not gone to far when a shrill wailing ripped through my ears, people began running to and fro looking for shelter, I carried on riding calmly on my bicycle taking no notice of the chaos and panic that surrounded me, I would have carried on riding had it not been from the force of a passing policeman, who ordered me to find a shelter.
In the shelter there was hardly enough room to breath, the heat was suffocating and the smells emanating from so many different bodies was sickening. Women and children were crying with fright. The few men muttered in low voices with fists clenched tight. I stood silently in disbelief at the visions before me. I could hear bombs falling nearby and all went deathly quiet as the ground shook with the force and intensity. These shelters were not even nearly suitable for the violence of war, they were only cellars that had been there for a long time, tucked away underneath old buildings, they were not made to stand the damage inflicted upon them, and just as I had expected many people perished. They suffocated and bled to death under thousands of tons of rubble that buried them alive.
When we left the shelter I was confused and disorientated, I didn鈥檛 know Warsaw and lost confidence in finding my sister. A kind couple gave me the directions to her street. As it was a lot easier to travel by tram, I left my bicycle with the couple, who promised to look after it until my return.
I arrived at my sisters later that very same day. My sister had no idea I was coming to see her and was so overwhelmed at my sudden appearance, especially at such a frightening time, that she broke down in tears. Once she had calmed down and her fussing had stopped I began to relax, forgetting the trials of the past few days. But to my utter disbelief my short found peace was once again disturbed, sirens began to wail and howl into the night. Once again I had to find shelter but at least this time it was with the comfort and guidance of my sister. When we arrived at the shelter it was too late, it was already more than crammed full with people; they couldn鈥檛 make any more room no matter how hard they tried. We had to stay outside on the stairs along with a few others who also missed out; we stood still and silent like empty shells until the wailing had stopped.
Usually the alarms lasted around twenty minutes, but they could go on for hours, fighter planes arrived one after another, always with devastating effects. They soared through the skies like hungry dragons breathing fire at everything that got in its way. Nothing could survive the force of a direct hit, blocks off houses crumbled right in front of us, leaving nothing but dusty remains. Firebombs fell from the skies, like hot showers onto the rooftops, coming came thick and fast, it was uncontrollable. Time passed by and eventually I became used to the horrors of the attacks and instead of running to find shelter, I would stand in the entrances of blocks of houses and just watch. I could see the attackers flying high above and our defence from below, they shot frantically up towards the sky but I only saw them make a direct hit a few times. Some planes socked at the tail whilst others exploded in the air. I longed to see more of them fall; to make up for the torture that they were inflicting upon us, unfortunately our men did not have the training or weaponry to do so.
Sometimes I saw firebombs falling on the tops of our buildings, when this happened I would run as quickly as I could to the fourth or fifth floor where I fought the flames with buckets of sand, at first the heat would be unbearable but it became cooler and cooler under the sand. My sister became angry with the owners of the buildings; they ran to hide in shelters without a thought for anyone else, whilst young boys like myself were risking our lives for them. But I couldn鈥檛 sit around and watch our homes burn to the ground, it was the least I could do under the circumstances.
At night when it was supposed to be dark you could sit outside and read the newspaper because of the light that was thrown from the buildings burning, all around us. Everyone had adapted to this new way of life, it wasn鈥檛 unusual to see so much normality amongst so much terror, the fires, the flashes, the noises, the cries, they had all become so disturbingly routine, the only shocks came from the rare periods that were quiet. I tried not to think about things, for I knew thinking in this situation would lead to more harm than good.

To Be Continued..............

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