In the Mouth of the Wolf by Rose Zar Read Free Book Online Page B

out!”
    â€œThat’s what you say. Forget about your passport. I’m keeping it.” He lurched to his feet. “Now I am going upstairs. Good night, everyone.” And upstairs to his own apartment he went, taking my passport with him.
    I lay awake that night making plans. I had to leave. There were too many “incidents”: first the episode with the boss; now this. I had three weeks’ salary tucked away in one of my belts for just such an emergency. But I couldn’t leave without my passport. I had to get it back.
    The next morning I went upstairs to have a talk with Mrs. Kaminski. She opened the door when I knocked, but I didn’t go in. “I have something very serious to discuss with you,” I began. “Last night your husband came in drunkand tried to get me to go to the tavern with him. I don’t go out with married men, so I refused. But because I said no, he accused me of being a scabby, dirty Jew. Not only that, he took my passport away and refused to give it back to me. I need your help, Mrs. Kaminski, because if I don’t get my passport, I’m going straight to the Gestapo. I can speak German and I intend to tell the Gestapo that your husband stole my passport so he could sell it to a Jew. I hope your husband speaks German, Mrs. Kaminski, because he’s going to have to talk awfully fast when the Gestapo hauls him in. Believe me, I don’t want to make trouble for you. All I want is my passport. Speak to your husband. Maybe you can talk some sense into him.”
    By the time I finished, the woman was trembling. “Please wait,” she said. She went into the bedroom. I could hear Mr. Kaminski snoring through the open door. A few minutes later she returned with my passport.
    â€œThank you so much,” I said as I took it from her. “I didn’t want the police around here any more than you did. Isn’t it nice that we women can settle these things quietly among ourselves?”
    She didn’t answer.
    Now I was ready. I came downstairs just as Krysia and her father were leaving for church. They asked if I were going with them, as I usually did. I said I had something to take care of first; I’d be along in a while. As soon as they left, I packed my suitcase and started walking toward the railway station. Suddenly I saw the boss coming down the street. Fortunately he didn’t see me. I ducked into a doorway and waited until he passed. Then I continued on to the station, bought a ticket for Warsaw, and caught the next train out. And that was the last I saw of the leather shop in Rudniki.

Tike Man in the Railway Cap
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    Â Â Â Â Â Â I went to Tosia Altman’s apartment as soon as I arrived in Warsaw only to find she didn’t live there anymore. I still had a telephone number—the one Miss Adamowicz originally gave me—but I was reluctant to use it. The underground changed phone numbers frequently to throw off the police, and there was always the possibility of the line being tapped. I had a better idea. Every apartment house kept a registration book of its tenants. When people moved, they signed themselves out, writing the new address in the register. The registration book was always kept in the janitor’s apartment. I went down there, and in exchange for two cigarettes the janitor let me look up Tosia’s new address.I copied it down, took the tramway over, and found she didn’t live there anymore either. In three weeks she had had three addresses. Well, what works once works twice. I went to see the janitor. This fellow didn’t smoke, but he did drink. In exchange for a small bottle of vodka, he let me copy down the new address.
    This time I was in luck. Tosia was still living there. I found her in the tenants’ registry listed as a private tutor. I looked up the apartment number, went upstairs, and knocked on the door. A woman opened the door and asked what I wanted. I asked if