MODERN DOCUMENTS
463
At the sight of the sea we felt like shouting "Hurrah." Slowly the
train slid through the harbor district to a freight station where it was
switched to a sidt- track. "They are doing this," said one of our friends,
a former railroad worker, "to get us as closely as possible to the water·
front." Several big steamers lay at anchor. Which one was "ours"?
We hadn't yet got off the train when our spokesmen were called to a
conference. We thought they would be going there to receive special in–
structions as to how to get us on board ship in an organized fashion. To
our astonishment we saw them coming back in a few minutes. Unable to
restrain himself, one of them cried out from afar: "It's half past four; at
seven the German troops are expected to arrive here; the railroad people
are trying to get another locomotive and a machinist who could drive us
back to where we came from; we have the start; now all depends on
whether we shall be able to use that to our advantage."
He must have gone mad. All of them must have gone mad. Or had
we
suddenly become deranged? Even the bravest of us must, at that moment,
have felt a choking pain in his throat. "But the paper,'' one man stam·
mered, "the paper said that the Germans halted at La Rochelle."
"Whence you can get here in no time by car," replied another one
dryly.
We all knew that nothing could save us if we were unable to leave
Bayonne
at once.
A locomotive arrived and fortunately they also found a machinist
who declared himself willing to drive us bar.k. The train was to leave in
half an hour. According to the latest news, the Germans were advancing
towards
Pau.
For a couple of miles our train was to travel in the same
direction they came from. This meant that we had to be ready, at any
time, to jump.
Upon hearing this, two Jews seized their prayer books and betook
themselves to the synagogue. Some of us went into the harbor in the vague
hope of getting on a boat. The decks of the big steamers looked deserted.
No smoke came out of their funnels. Others ran up to the highway because
they thought one of the refugees who passed by in their cars might give
them a lift. The rest sat down to sort their luggage and to tear up letters
and documents. The commander called up the Spanish authorities at
/run,
to find out whether they would permit us to cross the border. The answer
was, of course, "NO."
The train started. We sat on what was left of our earthly possessions.
None of us was able to say very much. The men in the rear of the train
tried to thrust themselves into the front cars, fearing that the first section
of the train might break loose and leave them on the tracks. Their appear·
ance caused much anger and dispute. How could one hope to get quickly
out of a car which was so terribly overcrowded? Three elderly Viennese,
each one carrying two heavy suitcases covered with hotel stickers, came in
where we sat.
"If
you bring your junk here, we'll open the other door
and fling it into the river," said two poor fellows indignantly. They had
