Douglas Jacobson - The Katyn Order

The jarring explosions outside were coming closer. The cellar walls shook, cracks widened and chunks of mortar dropped from the ceiling. The Germans had pounded Old Town with unrelenting ferocity for three straight days, and in the streets above the cellar St. John’s Cathedral and the Royal Castle lay mostly in ruins.

In the escalating chaos Natalia’s commando unit had been decimated, and those that survived were hunkering down wherever they could. Even so, she’d managed to find a way through the rubble to come to the cellar every night, hoping he would be here. But she knew from the battle raging in the streets that time had run out. She was filthy, hungry and exhausted. And all she could think about was Wolf.

It was crazy. What did they have? A few hours of conversation, a few brief hours when they each let down their guard? She hadn’t been surprised when he didn’t show up that first night, but she’d come back every night since, hoping he would return. She was disappointed, perhaps even saddened, but not surprised. Anything could have happened. He could have been sent on another mission, he could be injured, he could be…

She shook her head. It could also be that he just decided not to come. She knew what he was.

No, that wasn’t right.

She knew what he’d become. What the war and the killing had turned him into. She didn’t have any idea what this man called Wolf had been like before, except an enthusiastic American boy who loved baseball.

The potato slipped from Natalia’s hand as her eyes closed, and her head drooped to her chest. She had almost drifted off when she felt someone shake her knee. She looked up, her eyes bleary. She couldn’t focus in the dim light.

He knelt in front of her, leaned close and whispered, “Natalia.”

Wolf? “My God!” She grasped his hand. “I’m so glad to see you. I’ve been—”

“We’re evacuating Old Town.”

She stood up abruptly. “Evacuating? When?”

“Tonight. I just got the word from Colonel Stag. General Bor has ordered the AK to evacuate Old Town. It’s the only way to save the civilian population.”

“What? That’s crazy! These Nazi bastards have been murdering civilians for five weeks. Why would they stop now?”

“Bor has made an arrangement with the German Commanders. If the AK evacuates Old Town, they’ll let the civilian population leave peacefully. We can’t hang on any longer; it’s the only way. The entire district will be pulverized to dust in the next few days.”

Natalia wiped the grime from her forehead. “So, what happens to us, the AK? They’re just going to let us walk out?”

Wolf shook his head. “The deal is, we lay down our guns and surrender. Then the Germans will treat us as prisoners of war instead of insurgents.”

“Like hell they will!” Natalia hissed.

“Colonel Stag is giving every AK operative in Old Town a choice. Assemble in the square at noon tomorrow and lay down our arms—”

“Or?”

“Or escape, at midnight tonight, and regroup in the south end of the City Center.”

She glanced at her watch. It was a little after ten. “Escape how?”

Wolf was silent. But she already knew the answer.

They sat on the dirt floor, a few meters apart, facing each other but not talking. The shelling was almost constant, the damp ground trembling beneath them, the air musty and thick with plaster dust. Adam scratched at the dirt with a stick, twisting it into the ground, still seething at the blatant lie he’d been told by the Russian general, Kovalenko. He’d known it the instant the general said, “We’ll be there soon.” He could see it in the man’s dark eyes. It was nothing but a fucking, bald-faced lie.

“The Russians aren’t coming, are they?”

Adam flinched. “What did you say?”

“The Russians aren’t coming.”

Adam cleared his throat. What the hell?

“I could have saved you the trip,” she said sarcastically. “They’re devious, murdering barbarians, and they will never—not in a million years—lift a finger to help Poland.”

“What are you talking about?”

“That’s where you went. They sent you across the river to talk to the Russians.”

“Jesus Christ, Natalia, how did you—?”

She smiled at him. “I guessed. But it makes sense. Sooner or later Bor and Stag had to find out for sure. The Russians would never talk directly with the Poles, so they sent you. You’re an American. You’ve been gone for three days, and now we’re evacuating.”

Adam stared at her, unable to respond.

“I’m right, aren’t I?”

He kept silent.

“And I’m willing to bet that whatever lying, son of a bitch Russian you talked to assured you they were coming in to help. That we should keep on fighting and they’d be here soon. I’m right about that too, aren’t I?”

Adam glared at her, slowly shaking his head. “I said once before, you ask too many questions.”

“And you’re an expert at silence. But it doesn’t make any difference now, does it? We’ll all probably die before we get out of here.”

“I can’t talk about it.”

“Can’t… or won’t?”

He didn’t respond. What is it about her? No one had ever been able to get under his skin like this.

They were silent for several moments. Finally she looked directly into his eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to get you, to tell you about the evac—”

“No, I don’t mean right now,” she interrupted. “I already know that. I’ve been coming here every night hoping to see you, hoping we might… and when you finally show up… it’s to deliver a news bulletin.”

“I’m sorry, but I just got the word and I thought—”

“What are you doing in Poland, Wolf? In this war, what are you doing here?”

He felt his face flush, but there was nothing he could tell her.

She persisted. “Seriously, I’d like to know. You’re an American. Why would you come back here and get involved in all this?”

Adam abruptly stood up. Goddamn it, get out. Get out while you can. He took a step toward the tunnel, then stopped and stood facing the opposite wall. Fighting back the anger that could so quickly rise to the surface, he silently recited the mantra: Focus on the mission. The past is over. You have no past.

“My, there’s an awful lot going on in that head of yours,” Natalia said.

He turned and looked down at her. “I’ve got to go.”

“No, you don’t have to go, Wolf. You have to run. Run away from whatever it is you’re trying to escape from.”

“What the hell do you know about it?” Adam snapped. “You don’t know a thing about me!”

“Oh yes I do, an awful lot more than you think. I can see it in your eyes. You’re hurting. You lost something that was very important.”

“So, now you’re a psychologist? I met a psychologist once, a long time ago, and broke the little prick’s nose.”

“Ah, now we’re getting somewhere,” she said.

“No we’re not. I said I’ve got to go.”

Natalia shrugged and motioned toward the tunnel. “OK, go on, run off. But let me tell you something, Mr. Wolf, or whatever the hell your real name is, you’re not the only one who’s lost someone. We all have—some more than others. I lost my parents when the Russians invaded. And I lost my brother, Michal. He was a cavalry officer, captured by the Russians and probably murdered in that forest in 1940—the Katyn Forest—where those Bolshevik bastards slaughtered thousands of our officers, then blamed it on the Germans.” She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, turning her head away. “So go ahead and run off.”