the town “echelons”176 carrying evacuees were bombed by the Germans. They moved on under a downpour of missiles, carrying people fainting from fear and despair. It was a horrifying sight – those unfortunate individuals, oppressed from the land and from the air by ruthless power. It was not until just before the old Soviet–Polish border that the Bolshevik escorts decided to open the doors of the echelons. Half-dead figures crept out, looking for family members they had lost; a moment of reflection and all the survivors decide to return to Grodno. Many of them eventually reached that destination, coming across … the Warsaw quarantine on the way there. [3] The German army was moving forward, bringing fire and death. In their wake, the soldiers left smouldering ashes and the sound of groans and curses.
The capture of Grodno
The capture of Grodno on 23 June and the setting up German garrisons was a peaceful affair. No trace was left of the Bolsheviks. The Poles greeted their neighbours from across the River Oder with great joy and enthusiasm. The gap that for centuries had divided the countrymen of Bismarck,177 Frederick,178 and founders of “Hakata”179 from the descendants of Bolesław180 and Jagiełło181 was bridged in an instant. The Jews, on the other hand … did not follow suit, but hid in basements, burying the remains of their miserable belongings. The Jews did not greet the Western culture of the “Kulturtragers”182 very enthusiastically.
