The Ghostly Promenade

Observing the tragic conditions of the remaining handful of Jews in the ghetto, crammed into thirty huts and, fearing new 'actions,' spending nights in bunkers or in open fields, the camp Jews felt that for the time being their lives were safer than those of their brothers in the ghetto. The camp Jews had been spared during the recent 'actions,' and it was said. that in the future the Jews in the camp would be permitted to live. Many unfortunates in the ghetto wished to be accepted into the camp.

Since the ten Jewish policemen had arrived from Tarnopol, the panic in town had reached a point of desperation. One knew that the days of his life were numbered. Truthfully speaking, the Shavuot 'action' had extinguished the last spark of Jewish hope and illusion. The shtetl had been declared Judenrein. Then, too, the camp had been spared. Now, however, the last Jews who had managed to hide and to escape the liquidation 'action' came there begging for admission. Except for a few who succeeded in gaining admission, the camp, with its 400 Jewish inmates, remained a barred enclave. It was one of the few remaining legal Jewish settlements in the area.

By then the ghetto had been destroyed and leveled. Nevertheless a few scores of Jews remained, hidden still in undiscovered underground bunkers. One by one, driven by hunger and thirst, they were forced to leave those hiding places and to find shelter elsewhere. During the night, moving like shadows, these cast-out souls wandered the backroads and streets. At the very edge of the abyss they still sought some way to stay alive. Many fell into the hands of unscrupulous peasants, who first robbed them and then turned them over to the police - to death.

Some of these wanderers slipped into the courtyard of the camp and hid in the piles of furniture and other household goods that had been brought there from the Jewish homes. With almost acrobatic skills they made nests there in crannies, and in the nooks of closets, twisted and huddled together. Some used pocket knives or their own fingernails to scratch out mole-like lairs. These people clung to life with the last remnants of their strength. Their limbs cramped, hungry and dirty, they lay there all day wretchedly, still and afraid to move. But late at night, when all the camp was wrapped in sleep, they would crawl out of their hiding places and soundlessly, on tiptoe, make their way to the garbage dump in the courtyard in order to find some potato peelings or other kitchen waste. These were the provisions that sustained them.

Such was the ghostly promenade that stole through the camp courtyard night after night without anyone's knowledge. At times, rain would wash their skeletal bodies: refreshing them, waking them and cooling their fevered brows, while their parched tongues licked at the raindrops as though they were wine. Although their clothes were rotted and revealed their ribs, and although they were almost devoured by lice, yet they longed to survive: to live!

When the camp Jews discovered the colony of living corpses in their courtyard, they considered themselves luckier despite their own disaster. Some would sneak out of their barracks during the night and, in great secrecy, hand the unfortunates bits of bread and potatoes. This fraternal aid of the camp Jews eased the lives of their rejected brothers.

Who knows how long this “idyllic life” might have continued had the camp administrators not learned of it. “This is impossible!” they shouted, “What will Rebel say if he learns of it? All of the camp Jews will suffer!”

The leadership decided to put an end to the entire affair. One moonlit night, at about 1:00 AM, Nirler, Kommandant Rus and Shikale-ganif appeared in the courtyard, rolled up their sleeves and began to remove the piles of furniture and other junk from the yard. Soon they were dragging out, one after another the living beings, who hardly resembled people by now: emaciated, with dark, sunken eyes, they stood, terrified, trembling on shaky twig-like legs. Although to the camp leaders these were familiar people from their own town, it was difficult to recognize them; their faces were pale, their clothes in tatters, as though they had in fact been found in the garbage. Their shoulders twitched with itching, and they gave off a

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nauseating odor. Amid the noisy and constant banging and scraping of moving furniture, this group of some fifty unfortunate souls stood, awaiting further developments. The scene, lit by the moon, was a ghastly horror, as though anticipating a dance of skeletons.

“If you want permission to remain in camp, you must hand over your money, gold, rings, watches and any other valuables. If you don't have them you must leave,” announced one of the three pursuers, holding out his hat and indicating with a slight move of his hand where the valuables were to be deposited.

“Oh, dearest Jews, here you are -just let us live!” the Jews responded and each of them gave whatever he had. Those who had nothing were placed to one side.

“Though you have nothing - you will be included as well,” one of the three leaders said magnanimously.

The round-up lasted more than two hours. Dawn was about to break and the group of stragglers was allowed to remain alone and unguarded. There was no fear that any of them might escape - for where would they go? Nor did any of them have the strength to run, but now they could breathe fresh air and the hope of being permitted to remain in camp gave them a new strength. They held their aching limbs, rigidly, as though in a trance. Their movements did not appear voluntary but convulsive, as dying people do moments before death.

“But why haven't they admitted us into the camp,” someone asked. “We've paid, after all.”

“Because we're lice-ridden,” someone else replied. “In the morning, when the camp Jews will be gone to work, we will have the chance to wash and they will give us clean clothes and food.” Food...a logical observation, everyone agreed - if one could manage to survive until morning.

In the morning, the Schupo arrived and led all the unfortunates away. They were taken to the cemetery and shot - putting an end to their suffering and to their lives.

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