Both Antonov and his Deputy were seated at their desks. Antonov was holding a beige colored postcard, a red stamp glued on it, with big letters on its surface: CCCP (initials in Kyril alphabeth, of: Socialist Soviet Republics’ Union=USSR in English). He had taken it out from a big envelope of Gepau, that was full of suspicious letters. The censorship had used to provide it daily to Gepau Headquarters.
“Listen to this letter, that cursed Rabbi Hittin has written to our Stalin: ‘I have a rich sister in America. She will receive me and my son. Please, great leader, let me go out’. . . We should shed this Rabbi’s blood, and shatter his bones.”
“I suggest,” said the deputy, “that first of all- we’ll arrest Rabbi for his hint: I mean, that in America there is better life than here, in our communistic homeland. An absurd and a lie - to write like this! ”
Since its establishment in 1918- Antonov’s Gepau Office had avoided disliked letters to be sent to the Head of the Soviet Regime (it was like preventing electronic Spam nowadays). So, Antonov was outrageous on Rabbi Aaron, because of his letter. After Natalya’s trial- Antonov had suggested to the Rabbi, that he would help him to leave Russia, ‘when circumstances would permit it.’
“But now,” he told his deputy Vronsky, “the Rabbi has dared to be impatient. All our regime is based on extreme patience. Even hundred years are not a long time for what we know as historical-dialectical- materialism. We have first to remove from the stage - any remnants of old burgousie. We should expose all its agents and cheaters -who use our country resources without shame. So, in no way should we surrender to this Rabbi’s egotism. He aspires to free himself from taking part in our enormous effort, of building a new social and political system. We all know that it is really the most justfiable and righteous in the universe. No other system is based on the scientific socialist –Leninist–Stalinist theory and practice..”
“Maybe the Rabbi has really felt himself chased,” said his deputy Vronsky, showing that he also could loudly philosophize: “As it may happen to any human being. Suddenly flashes of pure thinking pass in his mind - or happen to purify his heart feeling. By that he wanted to cause himself ‘a catharsis’, as the old Greeks had called it. So…I think that we have to crack down the Rabbi’s tough rock of his hallucinations...’
“I rememberl,” said Antonov, “that the Rabbi Aaron’s knowledge of Russian had been very poor. So, I guess that somebody helped him writing this. He had a great difficulty in learning languages. So he declared in the past, according to our file. It is a yellow document from nineteen twenty two. . .So – if he has a rebelious mind and hatred to this regime, who could have helped him? Look, this letter is written in a rounded childish handwritting, as a drill in spelling Russian, made for a teacher by a lazy pupil.
“I guess,” said Vronsky, “it’s the handwriting of Mendelevitch, his boss in the arts Gallery. The letters M and D are similar to those his long signature of the painting, that he handed to our office as a present in the last automn. The snow sledges!”
The two walked toward the wall, and compared the handwriting at the letter’s bottom - with Mendel’s signature in the picture hanging up there.
“Yes, you are right,” said Antonov, “Mendelevitch had helped him. Very well . I’ll order Suskin and dwarf Avrum to pinch his face by a ‘mild lead fist’, break him only one original tooth. Then I’ll take him for my personal Interroghation in this room. But I’ll release him this time - as a consideration for that nice painting he’d rendered to us.”
“We have to detain him the whole night here,” said his deputy, “to intimidate him – so that he would not try to help the Rabbi again.”
“Aliosha, come here,” called Antonov, and the Tall guy entered the door and stayed at his desk.
“You take this ugly postcard to our chief photographer. He should make a photocopy of that document – for our file. You should pay attention that no stain will appear in the copy, and that the letter ‘Zhey’ will not be be seen like a dark round dot – but as a real Zhook.”(=Russian word for: cockroach; that letter is in its shape).
Then Antonov told both his deputy and Aliosha:
“We have to bring Rabbi Hittin here. Let’s behave to him in a limited obscenity, well? He is unlucky to have the invalid boy. Have you seen this helpless creature?”
The deputy and Aliosha shook their heads : No.
“You would see him soon. This is what his God has done to this best God believer. Amazing Providence.”
“Well, when shall I bring him in?” asked Aliosha.
“Around seven in the evening.”
Both Vronsky and Tall Aliosha used the new three wheels car. Modernized Gepau had lately received it for bringing suspects, even less dangerous than the Rabbi. The two men told Rabbi Aaron to ask a neighbor – not explicitly mentioning Blooma - to hold the boy at her home, while he would drive with them. But the Rabbi insisted that Raphael would join him, wherever they take him. They agreed, having remembered that Antonov had told them to restrain rudeness against the Rabbi.
The new Gepau car had only two gear functions: forward and backward. But his speed was quite reasonable.
While seated inside the car, at the rear, the boy told his father:
“Pa, I’ve never travelld with such a vehicle. One day Blooma was strolling with me and her kid, and she showed us a red car in the toys’ store.”
“Yes, these Gepau people are better than those who had visited us before,” reckoned the Rabbi. Aliosha, who was sitting near driver Vronsky- understood some Yiddish words. He turned his head to see clever Raphael, and smiled at him.
After ten minutes they reached the renewed Gepau building. The whitewash smell had been still in the air, and at first Rabbi Aaron thought it would be a kind of a new school. But the darkened windows and some bars on three rooms at the edge of the building- sent a clue about its old purpose.
In the corridor - Raphael asked Rabbi Aaron what would the ‘Gepauniks’ want to ask him. He answered that it would be about his work, or about ‘your uncle Elya,’ of whom the boy had also known, but had never seen him, except in his babyhood, which he had not remembered.
The Gepau-men indicated Rabbi Aaron and his son to enter Antonov’s Investigation room. Raphael was harnessed, controlled from behind by his father, holding the famous reins and leading him by pulling them to the left or to the right. When Antonov saw him, he told Rabbi Aaron that the investigation should be strictly private, so the boy was told to sit and wait in Aliosha’s side-room.
“Let’s begin with your nasty letter to our leader Stalin,” said Antonov. “You understand, that bothering a busy man like him- is a perfect break of the law and nonesense. So, you should stop that,” he roared, “because if not- we will really get you out of balance.”
Aron nodded.
“So, keep your head and your son’s life, and don’t send any more letters. Especially regarding your uncomfortable feelings in our atheistic State. Nobody will allow you to get out of here. Millions of Russains are still God believers, to our shame, and we have to educate them. If you are allowed to get out abroad- you understand that millions like you- would want it. . .”
“It’s really a wonder, why. . . “
“Enough!” shouted Minsk’s Gepau Head, “Don’t waste my time, too. I have an issue regarding you, which is more important: D’you still stay in touch with your ex brother-in-law, Elya Ruhin?”
“I have nothing with him. I have no interest to know about him…”
“But we have such interest,” said Antonov.
“I don’t keep any kind of relationship with him. I realy hate him, and he knows that.”
“we have suspects about this man, your younghood friend. Beware our tough hand, Rabbi Aaron. If we will catch you both - as two flees in the same porridge.. . ”
“Please explain what d’you mean by that, comrade investigator.”
“Don’t tell me you don
’t meet and don’t talk. You remember the trial of that woman social worker? I saw you both there.”
“That was the last time I saw him. I didn’t talk to him there either.”
“But he intervened in some things for your favor, I know that.” said
Antonov.
“Yes, he had pity on my kid, not on me. The kid is his sister’s son.”
“We are after him- regarding his uncle, Mogid, who was arrested, you know..”
“I don’t think he had something with Mogid’s hiding.” said Rabbi Aaron.
“There are other severe suspicions about him,” said Antonov.
“Who blames him?” dared Aaron to ask.
“Not your business.” There was silence in the room, and Antonov wrote something with his pencil, and broke its coaled edge.
“Does the boy understand Russian?” asked Antonov.
“A little bit. Now he will start to get private lessons for talking and maybe reading. Elya has organized it. I say that - to praise his humansitic attitude toward the boy. Though I had opposed it at first.”
Antonov rang by his hand bell, and Tall Aliosha brought in the boy.
“Child,” turned Antonov to Raphael, “do you know a friend of your father, who’s called : Mogid?”
“I saw him in Blooma’s house. But he was not called in that name. My pa told me that – after the man was arrested by you- Gepauniks.’
“Ha ha hHa,” laughed Antonov, and Aliosha joined him.“Gepauniks, a nice name. Nik – is a suffix for many kinds of beloved men in the Russian language. Gepaunik, ha ha!. . .Now let’s be serious,” added Antonov, “Did you know, that your father had helped that man to hide in Blooma’s house?”
“No, comrade. My pa never knew the man was a fugitive criminal.”
“You have wedded the Mogid with Blooma,” said Antonov to Rabbi Aaron, “didn’t you?”
“You have certainly searched and found their Certificate of marriage, and what we call Ketuba (bill). His name there had been a Polish or German one.”
“You stop ignoring that. We will make you to confesss, that Elya Ruhin had a hand in that hiding place, and he had paid Blooma in cash for her holding Mogid in her house.”
“That’s not true,” said Rabbi Aaron, “She did it from having a good heart. You don’t believe in such a motive…”
“Don’t tell me” shouted Antonov ,”In what we believe or not…Take the boy back!” he told Aliosha, and Rabbi Aaron remained again only with Antonov.
“Enough with all your pretentding to be the only righteous man. I will pay you a lot, for witnessing against Elya.”
“Please let me go,” said Aaron, ”You have seen, that I am not a good agent even for reporting you about the Gallery visitors.”
“Here we want you to sign a note to Gepau, that you have heard him – Elya - telling you to help Mogid, and you had known that the man had been Mogid.”
“If you could guarantee – that afterward… you – Gepau, will let me go out of this mire, Russia… Then, despite it isn’t true, I would...”
Aaron raised his hand and grabbed his head. He was now in the nails of Satan. Why had he suggested that to this unreliable Gepaunik?
“I would not like to offer you a thing that I cannot provide, you understand that.” said Antonov.
“No, I would not do it. Even if you kill me.”
“I could have agreed to what you request- and then find a false argument for still holding you in this country. See how fair I’m with you, Rabbi? By the way, if you see Elya – you shouldn’t tell him anything about this discussion, that we had.”
Rabbi nodded.
The Gepau got Rabbi Aaron’s witness, declaring that he had no knowledge about Elya’s movements, and Antonov told him he might be called again.
CHAPTER 25