At last one of the underground fighters, Pipe, born in Odessa, said shyly, “Taradash. Clever. From taradaj, a talky woman.”

“No,” the commando replied. “From Torah Dat. Torah law.”

“Ah! Ah!” went the presser. “A Jew!”

At that, the discipline within the little band gave way completely. The fighters began to totter, to weave. Some sat on the ground. Nisel Lipiczany clutched at the stranger. “I am kissing you,” he said. “Kissing you!”

The leader of the resistance recovered first. He came to attention in front of the Soviet airman. “Commander Einhorn here. The Edmund Trilling Brigade.”

Nachman Kipnis, who could barely see anything, only outlines, cried for all to hear: “Friends! It’s an historic moment! Stand up! The progressive forces have joined!”

The buttonholer Chaffer, however, lay down completely. He began to throw dirt over his knees.

Then the Commando, in perfect Polish, started to speak. “Comrades! Brothers! Now you know you have not been forgotten!”

Yet another person, the cannibal woman, sank down on her haunches. And the brigaders who remained on their feet were swaying, as if they too might fall.

Taradash continued. “Comrades, the day of your liberation is at hand. In forty-eight hours you will see the brightness of its dawn. I must, therefore, speak briefly. Together we have much to decide.” For an instant he paused, blinking in the torchlight. Like a mantle, his parachute spread out behind. “The partisan forces, the Fourth Guards, and the Second Division of the Red Army have now combined. All are racing westward, racing to you, Comrades, and in two days’ time the advance units will arrive at the bank of the Dolna. Naturally we expect the Beast, in his last frenzy, to blow up the bridges. To prevent this we have a plan, Operation Ural Mountains, in which your brigade has been assigned a crucial role.

“By surprise, from behind, in darkness, you will break out of the Ghetto and seize one of these vital spans. It is understood that you will be unable to hold this position for any length of time. Therefore, before your assault on the bridge, two inflatable boats, under my command, will have already set out from the eastern shore. Within two minutes after you open the engagement, these boats, each with twenty fighters, will join you in the battle. You should know this: the landing party will be made up entirely of Jews, Jews who have escaped from Poland and who have fought so bravely with the partisans and the People’s Fourth Guards. This is an honor we have been given! The instant the bridge has been secured—in no more than a quarter of an hour—the Red Army will stream forward in force to liberate the Ghetto and the town. Thus we shall destroy the enemy together, arm in arm. Revenge, Brothers! Revenge!”

“Forward! We are with you!” A single voice let out that cry. That of Nachman Kipnis. The rest were still.

With his bruised, shadowy eyes, the parachutist looked around. “What is it, Comrades? Do you object to the plan?”