Resistance (18 page)

One day, Bobkov called the couple to his headquarters to announce that they had been invited to General Sikorski's for dinner. This dinner was very festive and lavish. Sikorski gave special presents to the women. He sat next to Mina. He suddenly called on Dr. Blumovitch, who was the chief doctor, and announced that he was removing him from his position and appointing Dr. Volkowisky instead. “I was scared,” recalls Mina.

I knew that my husband did not want this kind of a job. In general, he was a very modest man. We also knew that Blumovitch was talented and a good organizer. When we both pointed this out to General Sikorski, he became very angry. But my husband insisted that he did not fit into this position. Sikorski continued to argue: “You will have the position and Blumovitch will do everything for you.” And when no one agreed with him, he called Prognagin, who was Sikorski's Chief of Staff. He wanted him to influence my husband to agree to the switch. But my husband refused. Angry, possibly drunk, the commander asked Prognagin to kneel and then he proceeded to hit him with a whip. Nothing helped, there was confusion, there was shouting and shooting. Most of them were probably drunk.

They ran back to their unit. After a while Bobkov paid a visit to Sikorski to ask him why he insisted on having Mina. He told Sikorski that he could have had more beautiful women than Mina. Why did he insist on having her? The General's answer was that Mina made eyes at him. He saw her as very beautiful. She had
seduced him with her eyes. This brief exchange put a stop to all further contacts between General Sikorski and Mina.
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The chronic shortage of physicians in the forests meant acceptance of any qualified physicians, including Jewish. But the need for medical care did not automatically turn into full integration of Jewish physicians. Dr. Julian Alexandrowicz was a prominent professor of medicine at the University of Krakow. He was also a world-renowned hematologist, with important publications to his name. As an officer in the Polish Army, he had acquired excellent skills and valuable experience. At the end of 1939, as with most other Polish officers, he was warned by the Polish underground not to reveal his rank to the German authorities. Alexandrowicz was a Polish patriot, a highly assimilated Jew, who was surrounded by many devoted Polish friends. During the German occupation some of these friends were generous in extending help to him and to his family. Alexandrowicz was married and had a young son, born in the mid-1930s.

From the start of the occupation and beyond, his life was guided by his commitment to help those he could. He and his family had been relocated to the Krakow ghetto. In the ghetto he devoted himself to caring for the health of the inmates. He appreciated his close friendship with Tadeusz Pankiewicz, a Gentile who continued to manage his pharmacy within the compounds of the ghetto.
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This pharmacy, named “Under the Eagle,” served as a refuge for thousands of Jewish workers who each day moved in and out of the ghetto. In the end, most of them were deported.
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Operating within the walls of the Podgorze ghetto, Pankiewicz offered to Jews and Christians both aid and information—a place from which to view events and hear about what was happening.
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Alexandrowicz showed his evenhandedness when he named thirteen Jews in the ghetto who were German collaborators.
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Simultaneously, he named those Germans who risked their lives on behalf of the oppressed Jews and Poles.
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Moreover, he revealed his extraordinary courage in the risks he took on behalf of ghetto hospital patients. He sadly noted how some of the Jewish underground leaders had innocently expected that everyone would simply cooperate with the Polish underground in resisting the Germans.
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During a ghetto deportation Alexandrowicz successfully hid some of the patients, risking his own life in the process. Also, just before the liquidation of the Krakow ghetto, he received information that
all Jewish patients were to be murdered. To protect them from painful and humiliating deaths, he administered cyanide.
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When the doctor had completed his hospital duties, he guided his wife and son out of the ghetto through the sewage system. Sadly his parents refused to join them. Alexandrowicz's father was apathetic and could not work up the resolve to leave the ghetto. His wife did not want to part from him.

Overcoming many hardships, Alexandrowicz and his wife and child succeeded in reaching the forbidden Christian world in Krakow. There they received help from Polish friends. A life filled with unexpected changes and dangerous twists began. Jews who reached the Christian world knew about the need to minimize the risks of discovery. Dividing into smaller groups was the most obvious way.

The Alexandrowicz family was among the fortunate few who had an apartment waiting for them. Officially, this apartment was rented by two Poles, who were already sheltering two older women, relatives of the three new arrivals. These Polish rescuers were employed, and from seven in the morning until four in the afternoon the five fugitives had to restrict their movements as much as possible. Surprisingly, the one best suited for this requirement was the seven-year-old boy, who was absorbed in reading his storybooks and in drawing pictures. The two oldest tenants, the grandmothers, had a hard time keeping still. The doctor wondered how long their safety would last.

Within a few weeks the inevitable had happened. It was early evening, barely past the police hour. Noises reached the door of their apartment. When they asked who was at the door, the answer was Criminal Police. The door opened and three men with guns burst into the room. One gun was shoved at the chest of Dr. Alexandrowicz. The gunmen wanted to know who they were. Instead of answering, the doctor reached into his pocket for the small bottle of cyanide he always carried with him and swallowed its contents. Convinced that he was dying, he was puzzled to hear all kinds of noises around him. His legs were numb. He had expected instant death. Then the doctor's son's voice reached him. “Daddy, I beg you, live, please live!” Alexandrowicz forced his eyes to open, to see and feel his son's face covered with tears. Shaken by the child's despair, he tried to move, but his body refused to obey. Then he felt a hand trying to pour liquid through his clenched teeth. He realized that his wife was negotiating with these men, who were blackmailers, about the amount of payment. She offered
all they had. The blackmailers agreed, then even assisted her in placing a call to the nearby hospital.

The attending physician, a Dr. Zurowski, was a close friend of Alexandrowicz and took care of this unexpected new arrival. With the return of consciousness came feelings of shame. The Polish physicians who came to assist cooperated closely in restoring Alexandrowicz's health. They agreed that later he would have to move to a separate hiding place. Gestapo collaborators were closely watching. The Polish underground advised him to relocate to Warsaw, but he refused to leave Krakow. By then in good health, he relocated to new living quarters where he continued to work on his unfinished book on hematology. For safety, Mrs. Alexanderowicz and their son found shelter in a different place. Separated, they survived the war.

In his separate quarters Alexandrowicz became obsessed with the idea of joining the Polish underground, the AK. He wanted to help them take care of their wounded partisans. He knew about the shortage of physicians among the partisans and thought that he might be welcomed in the forest. Alexandrowicz's determination had probably stemmed from an official call from General Władysław Sikorski, the head of the Polish government-in-exile in London. Sikorski urged all Poles to help their underground fight the enemy in any way they possibly could.
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Alexandrowicz's friends arranged a meeting between Dr. Alexandrowicz and a representative of the AK partisan organization. Their meeting failed to produce an arrangement. His friends continued to arrange similar meetings with other AK operatives, but they led nowhere. Refusals to accept him were phrased in a variety of ways.

While Alexandrowicz waited impatiently, he devoted himself to the health of Jews hidden in the Christian world. His contacts with these Jewish patients were arranged through
Å»
egota, an underground organization in which Poles and Jews worked together. Alexandrowicz's work with
Å»
egota was gratifying, but it in no way diminished his eagerness to join the AK ranks and to devote himself to saving the lives of Polish partisans. With each rejection, his astonishment continued to grow. He failed to comprehend how a physician who had behind him a great deal of military experience in performing all kinds of operations could be deemed unsuitable for the position he sought in the forest. Eventually Alexandrowicz had to conclude that within the high ranks of the AK hierarchy were those who were infected with the anti-Semitic virus.
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But Alexandrowicz refused to capitulate to it. Through his influential Polish underground friends, he continued to apply pressure. Eventually, an official announcement came stating that Alexandrowicz had been accepted into the “Jodla” detachment. This group was located close to the cities of Radom and Kielce. This letter reached its destination only in the spring of 1944. It came with instructions about which trains Alexandrowicz was to take to Radom and Kielce and with explanations that the meeting between this new AK member and his unit would take place in two stages.

His underground name was Dr. Twardy (which translates into “Dr. Tough”). Alexandrowicz was to come to the headquarters, where he was to be introduced to several forest commanders. At the headquarters, the pistols around the belts of the AK commanders greatly impressed Alexandrowicz. With the brief introduction behind him, one of his hosts asked him if he had any questions. “Yes,” he replied. “I am eager to know when I will receive my gun?” He was told that everyone supplied their own gun. Annoyed, Alexandrowicz replied that it was much riskier to smuggle the surgical equipment bags than a small pistol. “I came armed with that which for a physician, is most appropriate for the services he can render here. . . . Besides, the AK unit in Krakow assured me that you would provide me with a gun.”

This brief exchange in no way improved Alexandrowicz's chances for obtaining a weapon. Next came his transfer to the AK detachment in the forest. The Polish partisan responsible for this move warned him to be extremely cautious. A special guide took Alexandrowicz to what looked like the middle of the forest. There they came upon a horse-drawn wagon equipped with a peasant driver. This partisan asked Alexandrowicz to hop into the wagon, assuring him that he would be back in ten minutes. An hour passed. Alexandrowicz managed to take a nap. When he woke up, the driver, no doubt the owner of the horse and wagon, begged him to allow him to leave, assuring him that the others were about to come to fetch him. Feeling sorry for the peasant, the doctor consented to this man's departure with his horse and wagon while he had stayed behind.

Now, the doctor moved slowly around the area trying to make sure not to get lost. Soon, Alexandrowicz heard voices. “Where the hell is he?” someone asked. Another replied, “He probably changed his mind. What would you expect from a Jew, except cowardice?” This was interrupted by someone yelling, “Dr. Twardy, where are
you!?” This, too, was followed by some cursing and a few derogatory assertions, that undoubtedly the doctor was a coward who must have changed his mind and escaped. They continued to call him names and curse. Convinced that these two tried to test his endurance, the doctor remained silent. Hiding behind a large tree, Alexandrowicz demanded loudly that the two should raise their hands or else he would shoot. They obeyed. The moon came out from behind the clouds and the guide who initially had brought the doctor into the forest and disappeared, recognized him. There was no point to continue the game. The Polish partisans decided that the doctor had passed the test very well. Alexandrowicz for his part told them that he would never forgive them for this prolonged and painful reception. After that, together, they moved in the direction of their partisan unit.

For Alexandrowicz, partisan life was a strange mixture of good, bad, and everything in between. When the Polish uprising in Warsaw was about to begin, partisans were ordered to send as much reinforcement as possible. Some of them hoped for the emergence of Soviet-Polish cooperation. But the Soviet-Polish cooperation happened only sporadically and not in ways that benefited the Poles. History shows how the Polish Warsaw uprising led to tragic losses of lives and the destruction of the city, movingly described and examined by Norman Davies.
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Alexandrowicz noted how the occasional cooperative efforts between the Soviet soldiers and the Polish underground did happen, however. No matter how brief, this cooperation was on some level positive in its effects. Indeed, Alexandrowicz deplored the sporadic nature of these cooperations and blamed the leaders.
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The Warsaw uprising began with a willingness to sacrifice. It ended with grave losses and bitter disappointments.

Still, the overwhelming sensation produced by Alexandrowicz's life in the forest was that of freedom. “My life was in my own hands and not any more in the hands of my enemies. I felt that if I perished I would do it only by fighting and not like a helpless creature without any resources nor as those who were forcefully deprived of all freedom.”
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For most Jews, such feelings were the exception rather than the rule. Most were deprived of the freedom to perish in meaningful ways, such as by helping others. Only occasionally were they in a position to help those in need of protection. For the overwhelming majority of the Jews, their aspirations and dreams faced insurmountable obstacles.

For example, when Zvi Shefet was accepted into the newly created Detachment 51, he was separated from his beloved family, which was placed into a special camp. Separated from them, Zvi, with a group of partisan fighters, was searching for places in the forest that would be suitable to spend the winter. While searching for such a place, Zvi and his fellow partisans were attacked by Germans. They were close to the marshes in Polesie. Soon Zvi's group ran out of food. The Germans burned large portions of the surrounding forests. During the battles that ensued, many comrades fell, including their commander, a Jew named Fiodorowicz. He had been a brave fighter. Reduced to forty-two partisans, Zvi's unit was leaderless. Fortunately, they met another Soviet partisan group, headed by Dziadzia Vassia, which welcomed them into their detachment.