HERMAN (PAUL) FEDER TELLS HIS STORY (Continued)
HERMAN FEDER: But he did come the next day, with a big horse-drawn wagon, some pillows, and a pair of pants he got from the priest; they were so big I could put them around me twice. When we got to Jerry's road, a Czech policeman was waiting in front of the house. He started asking me a lot of questions. I couldn't even speak, I was so frightened of everybody.
"Don't worry. I'm a policeman, but I work for the Czechoslovakians." He was speaking in Czech. Then he took out some papers.
"Listen, forget about your real name. From now on you are Pavel Plotzk," and he gave me the identity papers of a Polish peasant, a prisoner who had run away.
When they brought me inside, Jerry's wife didn't say anything, although I had the feeling she was against the idea of having me in their house. But Jerry had brought me home and she accepted the situation. Then when she realized how far gone I was, no one worked harder than Anna to help me.
For the next few days they took care of me. I tried to clean myself, but I was so full of lice, it was impossible. They had to take off all my clothes until I was completely naked. Jerry held up a strong light, while Anna picked off the lice with a tweezers. Then Jerry made me a pair of crutches--he was very good at woodworking. I was beginning to recuperate a little bit. On the third day Anna's brother suddenly came running in from the village, crying, "The S.S. is here! They are looking for you!"
Very fast, Anna gave me two big pieces of bread, a piece of chicken, and the crutches, and I ran off to a little forest about three hundred feet away.
I was barely hidden when the S.S. pulled up to the house in their truck. From where I was lying I could see them on the road. One of them took a bicycle and entered the woods, coming straight toward me. He was within ten or fifteen feet when he laid down the bicycle. He aimed his pistol directly at my eyes. I was looking down the barrel of his gun. I stopped breathing. You can't imagine what it's like when you see that. How can I explain it? My feelings stopped, my heart stopped, my thinking stopped; everything stopped.
But, he didn't see me, or maybe he didn't want to see me. He turned to the right and went along the edge of the woods. He turned to the left, went around the other side, and came back to the place he started. He picked up his bicycle, and went away.
In a minute or two I heard the truck leaving. I just lay there catching my breath. Five minutes later I heard Jerry whistling, and I stood up. Jerry took me down to the house again, in his arms. The next day I had a very high fever.
