We Were the Lucky Ones

Genek and Herta have been released from the Siberian camp and are once again traveling in a train car. This time, the doors to the car are left open, and there are many more sick people. Many die along to the way. At a stop at a train station, Genek is excited to see soldiers in Polish uniforms. The soldiers feed them bread and grain coffee. Genek is told that the whole Polish Army in the USSR is moving to Central Asia and they will join them.

As the train continues to Uzbekistan, the exiles on the train suffer from extreme hunger. When they reach Wrewskoje, Genek goes to the recruiting station to join the Polish Corps and feels a sense of purpose for the first time in a long while: “Perhaps, he thinks, this was his fate all along, to fight for Poland” (184). Genek overhears a man in the line protest when he is told that he cannot join the Corps. The officer in charge tells him that according to Polish law, Jews belong to a Jewish nation and are thus not Polish. Genek is determined to get around this law, since if he cannot enlist, there is no telling what will happen to his family.

Genek leaves the line and angrily makes his way through the city, trying to think of a plan. He thinks about how he never would have been taken from Lvov if he had not insisted on maintaining that he was a Pole, and now the Polish government is denying him citizenship rights. Genek finds his friend Otto, who was with them in the Siberian camp, and asks Otto to teach him about Catholic rituals so that he can tell the army recruiters that he is Catholic. The plan works, and Genek becomes officially part of General Anders’ Polish Army.

Mila and Felicia are riding in a train car, part of a select few chosen from Radom’s Jewish professionals to emigrate to America. Mila was skeptical of the offer because America was now at war with Germany, but news reached them that a group of Jews sent to Palestine from German-occupied Poland safely made it to Tel Aviv. Mila took the chance and applied.

Felicia worries that her father, who she cannot remember, will return to Radom and not be able to find them, but Mila tells her that they will send their address when they arrive in America. Although Mila has no idea what to expect when they get there, she feels as though she had no other choice: “The one thing that was undeniably clear was just how dangerous it had become for Felicia in the ghetto” (189).

Mila tried to find a safe situation for Felicia, with a Catholic family outside the ghetto, but that family reneged on their deal. Felicia then became very ill with pneumonia, and Mila feared her daughter’s death. Although it broke her heart to leave her parents, Mila accepted the offer to go to America for Felicia’s sake. Mila felt less guilty because Jakob, Bella, Halina, and Adam returned to Radom, so they could care for their parents.

The train stops by open fields, which strikes Mila as strange. The doors open and everyone is told to get out. Mila realizes something is wrong, as the men taking them out are Ukrainian, not German. Mila is horrified that she has voluntarily put them in this situation.

The Germans march the prisoners onto the field and command them to dig with shovels. The instructions are to dig or be shot. Mila begins to dig, Felicia sitting at her feet. Some of the others are sobbing, but most are silent and defeated, as they dig.

Mila sees a German officer by the train, watching them all. Felicia gestures over to the train and whispers to her mother to look. Mila sees that a Jewish man, a prominent dentist from Radom, has dropped his shovel and is walking over to the German officer. The officer listens to the dentist, then allows him to climb back into the train car. Mila realizes that the dentist likely worked on German officers in the past and would be considered useful.

As Mila continues to dig, there is a gunshot, and a man falls into the dirt. Felicia stares at the man’s bloody body. Some of the Ukrainians yell that that is what happens to those who run. Mila struggles to keep herself from falling apart in front of her daughter.

Jakob has run from Radom to the gates of the factory where Bella has been assigned to work. Jakob shows his papers to the guard and begs to see Bella, saying that her parents are very ill and that he must tell her. Jakob last saw Bella five months prior, when she left for the factory. She was still deeply in despair over her sister’s death. They exchanged letters, and Bella finally asked Jakob to come join her at the factory. Though it meant abandoning his job as a photographer for the Germans and risking his life, he felt that he had to find a way to be with Bella.

Bella comes out from the factory doors: “She smiles when she sees him, and Jakob’s heart warms. A smile” (197). They hug briefly, and Bella says that she will talk to her foreman about a job for Jakob. Bella tells her foreman that her husband, an excellent worker, has come from the ghetto. The foreman has treated Bella decently, and she has proven to be an efficient worker. She begs him to allow Jakob to stay, offering her gold and pearl brooch. After a moment, the foreman refuses the brooch and agrees to let Jakob in, saying that he will do this only for Bella.

Mila has dug the hole, which she knows is meant to be her grave, but the Ukrainian guard shouts at her to dig it deeper. Her hands are caked with blood. Two more Jews have left the field and were allowed back into the train by the German officer.

Suddenly a young blonde woman drops her shovel and walks quickly to the train. The Ukrainians point their guns at her, but the captain instructs them not to shoot. The pretty young woman says something to the German officer, making him laugh: “Mila roils with a mix of disgust with the captain and jealousy of the beautiful, unflinching blonde” (199). The Ukrainians shout to the others to continue digging. Mila wonders how she could flirt with the officer also, to save herself and Felicia, but she realizes she does not have the ability.

An idea comes to Mila, and she tells Felicia to look at the woman by the train. She tells Felicia to run to her and pretend that the woman is her mother. Mila insists that Felicia hold onto the woman and not let go. Felicia protests and wants her mother to come too, but Mila says she must go alone. Mila kisses Felicia’s forehead and sends her off.

Felicia runs towards the train: “Suddenly, every pair of eyes in the meadow is locked on her daughter’s small frame, watching as she runs, knees high, arms wide, appearing discombobulated, as if at any moment she might fall” (201). She screams out “Mamusiu” (201) to the blond woman, crying as she runs. The young woman looks at Felicia, confused, then looks in Mila’s direction. Silently Mila begs her to pick Felicia up. The woman lifts Felicia onto her hip and kisses her cheek.

When the holes are dug, the Ukrainians command the Jews to take off their clothing, which they collect as their prisoners try to cover their nakedness. Mila fingers the buttons on her blouse but does not take it off: “She knows there are only seconds before someone notices her, forces her to strip, but the moment her shirt comes off, it will be over. Her daughter will see her mother shot before her eyes” (203).

Mila runs towards the train as fast as she can, her eyes fixed on the German officer. She reaches him, her legs shaking and presses her wedding ring into his palm. He looks at her and assesses the ring. Felicia, in the blond woman’s arms, turns and sees Mila. Mila hears a rifle shot and instinctively covers her head. She realizes that another woman tried to run towards the train and was shot in the field. A Ukrainian kicks her into one of the freshly dug holes. The German officer pockets Mila’s ring and tells the women to wait. Mila whispers thanks to the woman, who is still holding Felicia.

The soldiers yell to the Jews to line up by the holes, and the German officer gives the soldiers orders. Mila and the woman hurry to the train car to join the spared others. As soon as they are out of the soldiers’ sight, Mila gathers Felicia to her. Felicia realizes what is about to happen, and somehow her young mind knows that she will never forget this day and all its horrors, as the shots rings out one after another.