So many people are shoved into the cattle car that you cannot even count them. there is no room to sit or lie down; you are crushed against each other with hardly enough room to breathe. The train lurches forward. For days you are trapped inside.
The cramped conditions and long journey are too much for some of the passengers, especially the older ones; many of them die. Inhumanity like this is unbearable. Conditions like these make you decide to escape.
An older man next to you takes his last breath and sags against the side of the car. You stare in terror at his gaping mouth and glazed eyes. You lower your eyes, looking away from his frozen face. In his hands is a walking stick, which stirs your imagination. You take his walking stick and, using it as a tool, begin to pry up the floorboards of the cattle car, little by little, splinter by splinter, until there is a hole large enough for your body. You wait until dark and lower yourself to the tracks. Fortunately, the train is moving slowly, and you are not injured as you fall to the track bed. You huddle close to the ground; the train passes over you.
You begin walking east. If only you can make your way into the Ukraine, you can probably find a partisan unit to protect you.
After two weeks of sleeping under bushes and stealing food, you
stumble upon a partisan camp. After identifying yourself to the partisans,
you tell them your story. They believe what you say and accept you. They
offer you the opportunity to join one of two Jewish units, the 106th
division or a unit called The Vengeance.
If you decide to join the 106th division, continue to page 42.
If you choose to join The Vengeance,
continue to
page 43.