from the side. [2] Machine guns were spitting fire. It was dangerous to keep
on walking and the panic intensified as people fled in all directions.
We went off to the side, intending to stay the night in order to get our
bearings by daylight and decide what to do. A peasant let us into his stable
for the night. We lay down in the hay and dozed off. An hour later, the noise
from the aeroplanes and the thunder of the machine guns grew even louder,
and we went out into the field. It was light outside, with Brzeziny burning
on one side and the flash of machine-gun fire on the other. It was terrible.
We threw ourselves on the ground and hid our heads. We heard the commands
and shouting of military troops. The gunfire did not stop. We crawled
along the ground to get away from the place where the shooting was coming
from. Crawling through mud and water, we reached the ditch along the
highway. Troops were lying there, firing in response to every shot. Our situation
became even more serious. We lay deep in the ditch, waiting impatiently.
After an hour, it grew quiet and we went back to the stable, since it
was impossible to continue on our way at night. After a short time, however,
the gunfire resumed even more strongly. It was getting dangerous, but it was
no better in the field, so we stayed in the stable. The thunder of gunfire and
the noise of the aeroplane motors did not cease. The women in there with
us crossed themselves. The children cried. We listened to the prayers of the
peasant women, mingled with the sound of machine guns. The highway was
under fire from above and from the sides. It continued almost until morning.
We realised then that there was no point in going on; it was far too risky.
We were advised to go back home.
ARG I 899 (Ring. I/961)
Description: duplicate, handwritten (MS*), pencil, Yiddish, 148×210 mm,
minor damage and fragments missing, 1 sheet, 2 pages. In the margins on p. 1,
the sign “Δ” (ink) and the Hebrew letter “ ל” (red pencil). Attached is a note by
Hersh Wasser in Yiddish: “War wanderings, 6 Sept[ember] 1939, Łódź-Warsaw,
Mordkhe Schwartzbard.” The document was kept in a binder.
