When they went downstairs, he stopped for a moment between the floors. "I did not want to speak in front of my parents. They do not know about my activities. I will help you. I know what you are doing. My name is Henrik."
Violette did not answer him, and they went down to the street. The view exposed to them was terrifying; All along the road lay dead bodies, and people came down from the houses with blankets and sheets to cover them; some cried at the sight of the atrocities. Everyone who had been at that moment on the street got shot by the SS unit, fired indiscriminately in retaliation for a bomb placed under a German vehicle.
Violette was afraid to reveal her secrets to the guy she had just met and decided not to talk.
"I will accompany you; let's get away from here," he said and held her under her arm. The two walked towards the city center in the ancient fortress's direction.
A few blocks away, the atmosphere was calmer, ambulance sirens sounded, but there was no special fuss. "People got used to this routine in wartime," he said, pointing to a young woman pushing a stroller as if detached from those around her.
"Let's go to the tea house on Dluga Street and have a little chat." Violette tried to find an excuse to get rid of him and continue with the task assigned to her, but there was something about the guy she met that intrigued her; she had the feeling that she should hear him out.
When they entered the tea house, they found a quiet, dark corner where they sat. Henrik ordered two cups of tea and returned to sit next to her, holding her hand resting on the table. "We must pretend that we are a couple in love; it distracts people who are becoming more and more suspicious during the occupation." Violette did not pull her hand; she loved his decisive attitude from that moment they met on the street when he dragged her to his house.
"Not far from here, the Majdanek camp is being set up. It is in the city center. The camp is intended for the extermination of Jews. Some Poles and Ukrainians work there, and I heard from some of them building furnaces for the cremation of the corpses and gas chambers for suffocation.
Violette heard him and felt the blood run out of her body. "Why are you telling me these imaginary and horrible things?"
"I'm telling you to pass this information on to the Red Cross in Switzerland; I want the information to reach the Allies."
"I would like to see it with my own eyes; how can we get there?"
"It's dangerous. The SS chooses loyal employees; everything is done in great secrecy. If I had a weapon, I would join the Kraiowa Army, but they do not accept anyone without a weapon."
"And where will you get weapons?" She asked with feigned innocence.
"There are Jewish dealers in the ghetto, they have weapons, but they are afraid of retaliation if they take action against the Germans. For every German killed, ten Jews will be killed. "
"They will be sent to camps from there anyway. No one has returned yet. The rumors that reached the Red Cross were about excavation pits in the forests and the mass murder of Jews."
"I see that you are updated on what is happening but are silent because it does not concern you that Jews are being killed."
She was now sure he did not suspect her origins. "And why do you care so much about the extermination of the Jews?"
"This is genocide, millions of people who have lived among us for hundreds of years. Jews came to Poland about a thousand years ago; they have integrated well into culture, industry in all fields, they are part of our nation."
"Some say that Poland should be cleansed of its Jews, and their property has to be confiscated."
"And what do you say?"
"That I am ashamed of my people, they lost the codes reserved for humanity, and otherwise what sets them apart from animals?"
"Where did you wanted to go before we met in the street?" Henrik asked while he sipped his tea.
"I was on my way to the orphanage to check on the condition of the Jewish orphans in the ghetto. I must prepare a report on the situation."
"If you want me to accompany you, I know ways to enter the ghetto, not through the checkpoint."
"I'd be happy if you would come," she said, and she meant it. She liked Henrik; he was purposeful, brave, and honest; he did not show signs of anti-Semitism and seemed to dislike the disgraceful attitude of most of the poles towards the suffering of the Jews.
As they overtook the ghetto quarter, they continued a few blocks further to the Catholic district, and entered a stairwell of a Polish-populated residential building, climbed on its roof, and from there passed to the other half of the house and down the stairs of the same building but on the other side, facing the ghetto.
"Some of the apartments are empty of tenants; there were some Actions lately, and the SS took all of them out of the apartments, loaded them on trucks, and disappeared. None of them returned," he explained to Violette.
"Tell me Bozena, where are your parents? Your family?"
"My parents live in Vienna; I have no brothers or sisters, the rest of the family live in Warsaw, I have two cousins from my mother's brother."
"And you're in touch with them?"
"Occasionally, when it is possible, they're all right. Where's the orphanage?" She tried to change the subject she was not comfortable with; she felt that at any moment, she might burst into tears from missing her parents.
As they entered the Ochrona Orphanage building at 11 Grodzka Street, they met a middle-aged woman walking with a crying child, about three years old, by her hands, "How can I help you?" She asked.
"Looking for someone in charge of the place," Violette said.
"You can talk to me; I'm the head educator; my name is Henia Kuperberg," said the woman.
"My name is Bozena Kulak, and I am an employee of the Swiss Red Cross. I am here to report to the organization on the situation in the ghetto and its institutions."
"And who is with you, if I may?" Henia asked.
Violette looked at Henrik, who was not prepared for the question, and answered for him, "Henrik is my guide in Lublin and the liaison with the Judenrat." Henia looked at him with some doubt but did not react.
Violette tried to take the little boy in her arms, but he refused to disentangle from Henia and held her clothes tightly.
They passed the various departments; there were babies in big coops and children of all ages, some teenagers, all dressed well, but the sadness on their faces was evident. The children's eyes were fixed on Violette and Henrik as they wanted to be taken away to a warm home, to be loved and safe.
In another wing of the building lodged the elderly. Some in need of nursing, and others who could take care of themselves but remained alone.
"We take care of the trainees for primary education and vocational training. This orphanage has existed for eighty years, but now, the situation is different; we have added war orphans and those whose parents have abandoned them due to their inability to support them."
When they left the orphanage, they both looked stunned and thoughtful, "What about all the old men and babies? How will they get through the war? Who will protect them from the SS actions?" Henrik said with bitterness in his voice.
"Let's go to the other side of the ghetto, the fenced-in part, the so-called ghetto B, in which the privileged live," said Violette.
When they reached the gates, they realized those guards from the Jewish police were standing there to check entry permits, Violette did not want to take unnecessary risks, and they kept walking without looking in the guards' direction.
"Let's go to Saski's Garden," she said suddenly.
"It's far away; maybe we'll take a carriage." Henrik suggested, laughing.
"Romance in war times? Sounds challenging and interesting." Violette responded with a smile. It was the first time laughter had come back to her for a very long time. Suddenly she felt safe in the company of a man she just met, a Polish-Catholic, total stranger, and yet, her instinct told her that the guy was trustworthy and humane.
Two SS-men stood and checked the papers of each of those entering the Saski park. They seemed tense and nervous due to the proliferation of partisans and opponents of the occupation in the area. Henrik placed his arm on Violette's shoulders as they advanced, and they walked embraced like a couple in love.
"Papiere, bitte," said one of the Germans. Henrik took his identification card out of his jacket pocket and handed it to him. He looked at the certificate, glanced at his face, returned the certificate to him, then looked at Violette and waited a few seconds; she did not respond. "Papieren Bitte," he raised his voice at her, his face angry.
Violette put her hand in her bag that hung over her shoulder and pulled out the certificate. The German looked at the certificate and raised his head to her, "Das Bild im Zertifikat ist nicht gut," he shouted.
Violette understood what he was saying but did not answer. He held the document in his hand and asked, "Where are you from?"
"From the village of Maluszyn," she replied, without looking down.
"And what are you doing here?" He asked with anger.
"I came to be with my fiancé; we're engaged," she pointed at the engagement ring that Johan had given her a long time ago.
The soldier returned her certificate "Neues Bild Ja?"
"Ja, Ja, Danke!" she took back the certificate, and they both entered the park.
As they walked down the path, still embracing, Henrik repeated the phrase "Ja, Ja, Danke," and they both burst into laughter.
"I passed the questioning thanks to Henrik; what would have happened if I had been alone?" The thought crossed her mind.
When they sat down on one of the benches, she moved away from him a little, "The show is over," she said with a smile, adding, "And now we'll move on to more serious matters."
Henrik looked at her, curious."What do you mean when you say 'serious'? You are not going to propose to me? '
"I said the show is over and with it the jokes. You told me that if you had a weapon, you would join the Kraiova Army, would you? '
"Yes, I said, but where will I get a weapon?"
"I can help you with that," she said. Henryk's expression changed at once. "Are you serious?".
"Yes, I'm serious, and I'll prove it to you" she got up.
"Where are you going?" He asked but remained seated.
"Stay here; I'll be back in ten minutes."
As she walked away, she hid behind a large bush and looked at him; he remained seated, occasionally glimpsed in the direction where she had gone but did not get up.
Violette hurried to the stone structure, waited for there to be no people around, and then bypassed the building and moved some of the garbage she had scattered, dug with her hands, and took out the brown bag; she pulled out the loaded gun and put it in her purse, then blurred the pit and went out into the path.
"Here, I'm back, you see; it did not take more than ten minutes."
"You went to the public toilet, so why are you ashamed to say so? Everyone has his needs."
When she sat down, a small smile remained glued to her lips, "so what about the gun? Do you still want it?"
He looked at her in disbelief, "Are you repeating this? I said I wanted to, so get me with someone you know who can get me a weapon."
She opened the purse and showed him, "Here, it's yours only if you promise to eliminate as many Germans as you can."
Henrik suddenly turned pale. "Who are you?"
"Does it matter who I am? You wanted to join the Freedom Fighters; here, I'll give you a chance."
While posing as kissing her, he took the gun out of her purse and put it under his jacket inside his pants belt.
"Now you can go, a lot of work ahead of me," she said and got up. "We should split up here, and everyone should go his way."
"My name is Henrik Naroda; how can I be in touch with you?" He asked.
"I know where your parents live; if I want to contact you, I will leave a letter in the hope that they will give it to you."
"Bozena, I'm so glad we met; who knows what fate has in store for us? Maybe we'll meet again."
She hugged him tightly and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "My name is Violette," she whispered in his ear and walked away.