Yeshiva University High School For Boys - Elchanite Yearbook (New York, NY)

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THE KISS by Soloman Roodman, '34 UNSUNG and unacclaimed, The vicTims of race persecuTion perish in oblivion. The he- roes of The baTTlefields are lauded and eulo- gized. Those on whom bigoTry wreaks iTs fury are forgoTTen wiTh The sTifling of Their agoniz- ing cries. The spoTlighT of hisTory which illu- minaTes so vividly The glamorous deeds of our uniformed deTenders of Times, unforfu- naTely fails To lighT up ThaT oTher sTage of conflicT, on which is enacTed The grim sTory of The suTferings and TorTure, The courage and griT of Those enmeshed in The neT of racial oppression. Absorbed in his plans for his enforced flighT To Luxembourg, Joseph Wasserman prepared To close for The lasT Time his Ham- burg sTore. The TumulT wiThouT iolTed him back To The presenf. The wild uproar of The sTreeT, The whisfling and The howling and The shaTTering of window panes resounding in his ears, were eTfecTive messengers of The TacT ThaT The Nazi drive had again unleashed iTs deadly Terrors. His hearT heavy wiTh anxieTy for The safeTy of his dear ones aT home, he closed The lock wiTh Tumbling fingers. Evad- ing The raving hands of boisTerous drunken HiTleriTes he slowly sTole down The long wind- ing sTreeT, his hearT forshadowing all calamiTy. His eyes upon The sTones, he aT lasT reached his quainT dwelling. Much To his despair he found neiTher lighT nor murmur. The welcom- ing cries of his liTTle ones were no longer To be heard. Rebecca, Tailing To leave any sign oT her safeTy bewildered his Thoughfs. He rushed from one end oT The house To The oTher shouTing in vain, Rebecca, Rebecca, where are you! Rebecca! Like The crackling of a conflagrafion, The howling had sounded now near, now more dis- TanT. Now iT was unmisTakably approaching nearer. Suddenly Wasserman was conscious OT The sounds surrounding him from all sides. WiThouT warning a shower of rocks flew inTo The room Through The shaTTered panes. The nexT insTanT young Nazis wiTh Tlaming drunken faces, carrying bayoneTs, came sTreaming Through The door. Realizing ThaT iT was use- less To resisT Them, Wasserman darTed from The chair and crawled under a soTa, before The very eyes of The rioTers. The Nazis roared boisTerously. There is a fool for you, and one of Them grabbed Wasserman's leg. Hey, you, geT up! The Jew realizing The danger of defi- ance began To weep like an infanT. Boys, he pleaded wiTh Them paTheTically, Take my belongings, my money, everyfhing, why kill me, my wife and small children? BuT mercy was noT Their moTTo, nor clem- ency Their order. Some roved To The corri- dors and rooms, plundering and wrecking as They wenT. His sacred ornamenTs, The arTicles he considered significanT above all They ren- dered inTo shreds before his very eyes. The oThers beaT him, scraTched him, sTruck him, kicked him wiTh mad Tury. He groaned and whined. BuT Their hearTs were of sTone. Their murderous assaulT conTinued. GoTTfried, you know me! Your faTher worked for me. l paid him well. Gofffried, save me, save .... A violenf blow from a club on his head cuT shorT his enTreaTies. Two sTorm Troopers sTreTched him ouT on The cold floor and confinued wiTh The punishmenf. You paid him, did you! He worked for you, so you paid him. I would dare you To refuse paying him. NeverTheless GoTTfried was pleased ThaT Wasserman should appeal To him for mercy, and Thereupon Turned To The oThers: Com- rades, enough, leT The carcass be. You can well see ThaT he is pracTically dead already. 28

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w'g'G:9'N::11Fzz:v:f:a::':f:s 1':'1:::f THE E LC H A N1TE1::Z1'FZ9m'vQs'fFW ELCHANITE STAFF Edifor-in-Chief NATHAN LEVI NSON Associa+e Ediiors HAROLD ENGEL IRVINC5 FELDMAN Senior Edifor SAUL GORENSTEIN Sporfs Edifor V Humor Ecli+or ISAIAH EISENBERG HARRY WALKER Ari S+a'Ff HERZL FREED MILTON SHAPIRO Business Managers Advertising S+aff HERBERT RIBNER LEONARD WALDMAN, Manager JACQB ABRAMQWITZ CHARLES YURMAN, Ass? Manager NATHAN ZELIKOW GABRIEL OOLDSTEIN TYPin9 5+aFF Circuiafion Manager MAURICE sci-IQENBRUN JQSEPH GOTTUEB JOSEPH wusE CHARLES SHQULSQN Facuify Advisers , MR. SAMUEL LEBOWITZ MR. ISAAC ORLEANS MR. IRVIN6 ASTRACHAN 27

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THE EL CHA NITE szzzwazuvrzzzvcfrzwvrzza RelucTanTly They Tore Themselves away Trom Their vicTim one by one and Tiled ouT OT The house. Well, Wasserman, GoTTTried Turned To The prone vicTim. You should Thank me Tor your sTill being alive. Hadn'T iT been Tor me, They surely would have made shorT work OT you. He was aT The poinT oT leaving when his bruTal insTincTs Torced him back. There, he said, exTending his TooT To Wasserman. Kiss! The laTTer, crazed wiTh pain, was unable To undersTand. GoTTTried was Turious. Kiss, do you hear? Kiss, l Tell you. Wasserman sTirred noT. GoTTTried's Tace colored wiTh rage. You Jew Tacel He gnashed his TeeTh and drove his open hand inTo Wasserman's Tace. You hesiTaTe? Boys he bellowed Through The window, come back here. His comrades who had been anTicipaTing such a demand, soon reTurned. Ah, nu! geT To work. Since he's such a Tine genTleman, leT him kiss my TooT, IT he won'T .... Two youThs liTTed Wasserman Trom The ground and Tlung him aT GoTTTried's TeeT. Remove ThaT booT, GoTTTried com- manded, kicking Wasserman in The mouTh. His consciousness reTurning, pain racking every Tiber in his body, blood sTreaming Trom a dozen wounds, Wasserman Torced himself wiTh The uTmosT diTTiculTy To remove The booT Trom The Nazi's TooT and Then Tell back on The Tloor. GoTTTried shoved his TooT close To The Jew's Tace. A dirTy red TooT, smelling sTrongly oT perspiraTion, and a beaTen up Tace wiTh a long, noble beard. STrangely enough The beard had noT been removed. IT was Torn and plucked in buT a Tew spoTs buT iT sTill reTained iTs digniTy. Kiss, l Tell you! Wasserman, now Tully conscious, remained moTionless. AnoTher kick in The Tace Tollowed. For a momenT all was silenT. Suddenly Wasserman raised his head. GoTTTried emiT- Ted a sharp TrighTTul cry. His Tive Toes had disappeared inTo The Jew's mouTh. The Two rows oT sparkling TeeTh sank deeply inTo The dirTy sweaTy Tlesh. The Nazis sTruck Wasser- man wiTh Their booTed TeeT. They pulled ouT his beard in handfulls. They dug Their nails inTo his eyes and Tore The Tlesh from his Tace. His body squirming and TwisTed, buT his TeeTh closed on relenTlessly. Suddenly someThing was heard To crack inside Wasserman's mouTh. The TeeTh? The bones? Perhaps boTh. All This while GoTTTried shrieked like a smiTTen pig. IT was only when They saw ThaT Wasserman was no longer moving ThaT They resisTed Their savage inclinaTions. Shudders shook Their bodies when They beheld Wasser- man's eyes hanging loose Trom Their bloody sockeTs. His TeaTures were no longer recog- nizable. BuT a Tew congealed sTrands oT his once noble beard remained, maTTed wiTh blood. GoTTTried wriThed aTTempTing in vain To release himselT Trom The deaTh grip. He TwisTed like a snake. From his ThroaT came long hoarse sounds. IT became evidenT To his comrades ThaT he had losT his mind. G-d, oh G-d, help us! The TrighTened Nazis cried as They Tled The house. On The sTreeT The Nazi Tury was raging wiTh all iTs beasTly TerociTy. AmidsT The TumulT none heard The cries oT a living man who was slowly expiring in The iaws oT a dead one- a dead one, on whose crushed and baTTered Tace The Trace OT a conTenTed smile was TainTly discernable. 29