On Monday, the 11th, at 5 a.m., we, that is, my mother-in-law, sister-in-law
and my three guests from Warsaw, decided to leave the flat. The three guests
had been with me since Wednesday, the 6th. The reason for their staying with
me was the Kałuszyn experience of 1920.¹⁰¹¹ Although I was not in Kałuszyn
at the time, I heard of the terrible Kałuszyn experiences of 1920. I advised
against running since, after every attempt to get away, we came back. This
time, we decided to leave the flat situated next to the road, and go to the edge
of the town near water and swamps, where if a bomb drops it will not explode.
We get up very early, before the morning stars appear. We carry linen and
goods down to the cellar, take a hand basket, a piece of bread, lock the flat and
go to the appointed place. Upon coming there, we see only water and swamps,
there is no road, not even a path. The town has moved to this place as if it was
organised. Everyone came to protect their own life. All the Jews are silent, do
not pray together, and say selichot. After several hours in this new part of town,
not a single aeroplane appeared. As if from beneath the earth, several soldiers
appeared on foot, in disarray, even their jackets unbuttoned. I ask one of them
who happened to be a Jew, “Where are you coming from in such silence?”
“Yes,” was his reply. “No more bombs will be dropped. It will only last
a few minutes.” I am surprised at what he says about minutes and ask, “But
there is no road here, no path?”
We stand deep in our thoughts: too bad, a surprise, and that’s that! Let
it be... And then, Polish artillery drives from the swamps and, without thinking
twice, [they] position the cannons along the entire breadth of our new
town. I give a shout: Back to town, because the gunfire will go over us, [4] but
it turned out that we passed through the artillery so that the officer turned
to me, Nie plątać się.¹⁰¹² It soon became clear to me that people were fighting
for land, and that human beings had no part to play.
1011 In August 1920, Kałuszyn was captured for eight days by Bolshevik troops, whom the local Jews greeted with enthusiasm. There were a few Jews among the members of the Revolutionary Committee which took power in the town. After the Bolsheviks’ retreat, a group of about 30 Jews tried to flee from Kałuszyn. They were murdered by peasants in the nearby village of Bojmie. The members of the Revolutionary Committee were executed for treason. See Marian Wocial, “Wspomnienia z wojny 1920 roku, “recorded by Andrzej Wocial, Rocznik Kałuszyński, 2 (2002), pp. 91–92; Chmil Ajzensztejn, ”8 dni pod władzą radziecką,” Rocznik Kałuszyński, 2 (2002), pp. 93–94.
1012 (Polish) Don’t loiter here.
