the rifle on us, while the larger one took some bread and milk. The smaller one paced from side to side, never taking his eyes off us. The larger one didn’t speak at all.
‘ Right! We need some information from you. You’d better tell us the truth or we’ll blast you to Hell!’
‘ W-what is it you want to know?’ replied Volodimir.
‘ We want to know how to get to the mountains. To join the Resistance. You tell us how to get there from here, and tell us good!’
‘ What about the Red Army? Shouldn’t you be with them?’
Still holding the rifle, the smaller one stepped closer until we could see right down the barrel of the rifle. I caught a whiff of gunpowder.
‘ You want to know about the Red Army? Okay, we’ll tell you about the Red Army. They make us march on empty stomachs. They give us weapons, but don’t show us how to use them. And anyway, not all of us get weapons. They treat us like dogs, but expect us to fight for the glory of Stalin and his Bolshevik ideals. We’ve had enough. Now tell us how to get to the mountains!’
Well, in their situation, the two young Soviet soldiers couldn’t have struck it luckier. Volodimir’s love of the countryside, together with the fact that, as a family, we’d travelled west many times to visit relatives, meant that he was able to tell the two young soldiers the best way to get to the Carpathians in Galicia where it was common knowledge that the Resistance was based. The two of them listened to Volodimir closely and what he said to them must have rung true. To head south west, stay near to the waterways and the southern border. It all made perfect sense. While they listened to him they finished off what was left of the bread and milk. The smaller one threw down the bag, took a step closer and shoved the rifle in our faces. ‘Right you two! Lie down on the ground! Face down!’ We dropped to our knees and lay down.
‘ Put your hands out flat in front of you, and don’t move!’
Then everything went quiet. Everything stopped. I don’t know for how long. Even the blades of grass brushing my face seemed to stand still. The birds weren’t singing. I searched inside my head for a prayer.
The silence was broken by two pairs of feet swishing through the grass. We didn’t move a muscle until the sound was very faint, until we couldn’t hear it. Then we pushed ourselves up onto our knees and turned around. We took a few deep breaths. In the distance we saw the two boys. They’d raced off so quickly they were already more than a hundred metres away on the other side of the road. Volodimir and I stood up and brushed off the soggy leaves and the dirt. My hands were shaking. Even though we were used to seeing armed soldiers around, it was the first time I’d ever had a rifle pointed at me at such close range. Volodimir put his arm around my shoulders, ‘Come on Stefan, let’s go home.’ I just nodded. I couldn’t speak. We stood up. My legs were heavy, as if they were rooted into the ground. I took a few steps and we walked back the way we came. It was a slow walk, but I was never happier to be going home and lifted my face up to soak up the sun which was now shining down on us. Once we’d gone about a mile we stepped back onto the road where it was easier to walk. We thought it unlikely that any Soviets were in the immediate area.
As we got closer to the village Volodimir jumped up off the road onto the verge and climbed up onto the top of a wooden fence.
‘ Where are you going?’ I asked.
‘ Come on Stefan, let’s have a look around here.’
We were some distance away from the place where we’d run into the Soviet soldier boys and I was feeling a little better. So I jumped up and we climbed over the fence. We were in an overgrown meadow area with trees, shrubs and long grass all around us. Wild flowers of all shapes and sizes flicked around our knees as we made our way through this lovely glade. Volodimir led us through some trees until right in
‘ Right! We need some information from you. You’d better tell us the truth or we’ll blast you to Hell!’
‘ W-what is it you want to know?’ replied Volodimir.
‘ We want to know how to get to the mountains. To join the Resistance. You tell us how to get there from here, and tell us good!’
‘ What about the Red Army? Shouldn’t you be with them?’
Still holding the rifle, the smaller one stepped closer until we could see right down the barrel of the rifle. I caught a whiff of gunpowder.
‘ You want to know about the Red Army? Okay, we’ll tell you about the Red Army. They make us march on empty stomachs. They give us weapons, but don’t show us how to use them. And anyway, not all of us get weapons. They treat us like dogs, but expect us to fight for the glory of Stalin and his Bolshevik ideals. We’ve had enough. Now tell us how to get to the mountains!’
Well, in their situation, the two young Soviet soldiers couldn’t have struck it luckier. Volodimir’s love of the countryside, together with the fact that, as a family, we’d travelled west many times to visit relatives, meant that he was able to tell the two young soldiers the best way to get to the Carpathians in Galicia where it was common knowledge that the Resistance was based. The two of them listened to Volodimir closely and what he said to them must have rung true. To head south west, stay near to the waterways and the southern border. It all made perfect sense. While they listened to him they finished off what was left of the bread and milk. The smaller one threw down the bag, took a step closer and shoved the rifle in our faces. ‘Right you two! Lie down on the ground! Face down!’ We dropped to our knees and lay down.
‘ Put your hands out flat in front of you, and don’t move!’
Then everything went quiet. Everything stopped. I don’t know for how long. Even the blades of grass brushing my face seemed to stand still. The birds weren’t singing. I searched inside my head for a prayer.
The silence was broken by two pairs of feet swishing through the grass. We didn’t move a muscle until the sound was very faint, until we couldn’t hear it. Then we pushed ourselves up onto our knees and turned around. We took a few deep breaths. In the distance we saw the two boys. They’d raced off so quickly they were already more than a hundred metres away on the other side of the road. Volodimir and I stood up and brushed off the soggy leaves and the dirt. My hands were shaking. Even though we were used to seeing armed soldiers around, it was the first time I’d ever had a rifle pointed at me at such close range. Volodimir put his arm around my shoulders, ‘Come on Stefan, let’s go home.’ I just nodded. I couldn’t speak. We stood up. My legs were heavy, as if they were rooted into the ground. I took a few steps and we walked back the way we came. It was a slow walk, but I was never happier to be going home and lifted my face up to soak up the sun which was now shining down on us. Once we’d gone about a mile we stepped back onto the road where it was easier to walk. We thought it unlikely that any Soviets were in the immediate area.
As we got closer to the village Volodimir jumped up off the road onto the verge and climbed up onto the top of a wooden fence.
‘ Where are you going?’ I asked.
‘ Come on Stefan, let’s have a look around here.’
We were some distance away from the place where we’d run into the Soviet soldier boys and I was feeling a little better. So I jumped up and we climbed over the fence. We were in an overgrown meadow area with trees, shrubs and long grass all around us. Wild flowers of all shapes and sizes flicked around our knees as we made our way through this lovely glade. Volodimir led us through some trees until right in
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