Irena Part 2

Introduction:

The long night of conversations over the pleasantries of relatively fresh baked deserts (even if there was hardly any sugar in them) was a sweet rarity that warmed Irena’s body and spirit. It was special times like this that made her temporarily forget, (even if it was partial) the fear and the horror that surrounded her and gripped the once beautiful city of Warsaw.

It was hard for anyone with a conscious to indulge in bread that wasn’t old and stale while so many in the Ghetto - just a few streets away, were currently starving - But there was no guilt this night, there was no shame, nor regrets. The small company of loved ones with talk of better times was a true gift to Irena - far better than any wrapped present could’ve given.

And with heavy eyes, it was in this mood that Irena finally laid her head down to sleep. And quickly, she was dreaming:

...dreaming of her youth with familiar and unfamiliar faces in both recent and distant memories. As past experiences seamlessly converged into new dreams, more and more children began to appear, filling the scenes of Irena’s resting mind. And before long, there were multitudes of young ones - so many that Irena nearly felt lost. She could no longer discern if she was in the dream or just a spectator of it. And although at the time, Irena herself was childless, the pleasant emotions of motherhood, like pride, comfort, and joy, were strongly evoked by the throngs of happy children who all seemed to be gathering around an elderly woman. A woman so old, short, and white, that it was difficult for Irena to discern who she was. The ancient woman hardly moved, but when she did, Irena noticed that it was slow, awkward, and looked even painful. And it was in the midst of this euphoric perception of feeling like a mother, that there came an unwelcome and disturbing pain. Irena could feel it in heart and perceived the old woman did as well. It was like the prophet Simeon when he spoke to the proud mother of Jesus, saying that her son’s rise and fall would pierce her own soul like a sword.

Irena’s restful dream ended with a nightmare that was just beginning...

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Suddenly the harsh pounding on Irena’s front door jolted her awake! She knew exactly what was happening and who it was, but it didn’t ease the pounding in her chest. Irena had rehearsed what she would do in this circumstance over and over and like clockwork, she reached down from her bed and grabbed the glass jar.

What was in the jar was more valuable than her own life, and for that matter, more important than the three lives of the other women in her house now - that was her mother Janina, her mother’s sister, and her good friend, Janka. They had spent the night in celebration of Irena’s naming day. But the only thing that mattered now was making sure the Gestapo would not find the jar! And they were about to break the door down.

With jar in hand, Irena ran to the kitchen window which sat above the unkempt bushes 20 feet below in her small backyard. As she lifted the window sash to toss the container down, she saw two guards standing below looking up at her.

Dear God!

This had been her plan - This had always been her plan - to discard the glass jar into the shrubs where it would be kept safe! Irena knew the SS guards were there for her alone so as a pry bar began to splinter the thin front door, Irena threw the precious container to Janka.

“These are our children - They must not be found!”

The door violently burst open just as Janka awkwardly stuffed the jar down her shirt. Nine SS guards swarmed into the small dwelling furiously barking orders. Their presence filled the entire complex with absolute terror, let alone the 4 women inside the small apartment. And that was the precise point! It was three o’clock in the morning and every neighbor’s eyes were on Irena’s flat. After three long hours of turning her small home upside down, searching for anything and everything to incriminate Irena, the Nazi’s finally stopped. It was now six o’clock in the morning and despite all their efforts to find something, the guards missed a bag full of cash and identity documents that had been in fairly plain view, but was now covered by Irena’s broken bed frame. Irena thought it was a miracle. If there were any silver-linings in this nightmare, it was that the Gestapo didn’t find anything, they only wanted Irena, and they never knew about the glass jar still hidden in Janka’s blouse.

As the sun just began to give its light, Irena was ushered into the prison car waiting on the street outside. It was crowded with SS guards, most of whom had already dosed off. Irena had to sit on the lap of one of the agents. It wasn’t far after the sedan had left her apartment, that Irena had time to gather her thoughts about where she was being taken - the infamous Pawiak Prison. It was built in the early 1800’s by the ...