Atlanta Georgian., 1914-02-22

fish holiday, whether / might walk to a syna-
gogue in one of the towns nearby, but he
answered: "Is not your Taskutin sufficient for
you?" replied that did not wear one. as
was not at that time a strictly orthodox Jew.
After that gave up all hopes of seeing syna-
gogue until | was free again.
think Twas success in the army. I seemed
to be suited for a soldiers life The fact that
in regiment composed of men of unusual size
! was one of the biggest and strongest. and was
also one of the best marksmen, gave me a high
position among my comrades. The officers
thought well of me, too Although l was unedu-
Gated and only common soldier, set to
instruct the other men in their drills and shoot
ing.
'No Promotion for Jews"
But | never secured. promotion; the reason
was the fact of my being Jew. Time after
time l was passed over in favor of men whom
| myself had helped to make competent. When
] asked my superiors why | was not given
chance they always answered.: Because you are
Jew. Weare sorry; you deserve promotion it
any man does; but then we never promote
Jew"
For five years my life went on like this. with
out much change or incident lost count OF the
weeks and almost of the years. There was abso-
lutely nothing by which one day could be told
from another
Then one mornime when on parade as usual
a number of u.s. myself included called
out of the ranks by an officer He told us that
our time was up and that we were free to go
home. Our colonel then came and spoke to US
one bv Jne, and thanked us for our services
When he came to me he took hold of me and
kissed me- and he said-I shall never forget his
words BELLS you have been one of the Cars
best soldiers. am sorry You Jew. But
for that you would have had high promotion.
am deeply sorry that you must go. Take my
best thanks with you"
That night was given fourth-class ticket to
Nescherow. But did not want to go; thought
1 would try and stay in this village where was
known MS a COED. honest soldier. and might OBJ.
tain work.
| went at once to the major and asked his
permission to remain He had always been very
kind to me. but this time he replied: .I am
sorry, but If you do not leave this town within
twenty-four hours you will be arrested as Jew
who has no right to be here, and we shall not be
able to save YOU"
l took the train that night for Nescherow.
knew well enough what would have happened IL
I had defied the police and remained. / should
haye been arrested the spot. and sent by
''etap' to one of the loathesome country prisons.
There ! should have been kept until a party of
prisoners had been collected previous to being
sent to another town. This might have meant
several months. Then, when there were enough
of US. we should have been marched. under an
escort of soldiers with fixed bayonets. to the
next town. and on until we reached the Pale
of Settlement" At each stopping place we
should have been put in prison and kept there
until the Governor was ready to send us along
the next stage of the journey. This process
would be continued until at last we reached
The Pale" Then we should be freed. after
having endured all kinds of brutaities
l knew exactly what would have happened.
had heard the story so often before from other
Jews. l preferred to get away as soon as DOS
sible.
The Search for His Parents.
| settled down in a corner OF the train that
night but / could not sleep. had only once
been in train before. and the noise kept me
awake. The next morning found me tired and
hungry. / had no money leaving the army,
and therefore was unable to procure food for
my long journey. Forstwo days suffered the
pangs of hunger, hu: then some kind passengers
took pity ON me and gave something to eat.
BY the end OF the fourth day. when l reached
NcScherow. I was feeling very sick
Nevertheless, | was quite cheerful because I