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  • 1 Englander99thetwentyseventhman

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    Charlie Higgins
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    englander the twenty seventh man

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    1-Englander99thetwentyseventhman

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    englander the twenty seventh man

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    13 views13 pages

    1 Englander99thetwentyseventhman

    Uploaded by

    Charlie Higgins
    englander the twenty seventh man

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 13
    ae WE pol cl bene Mle Isa tas ele 2 prs The we pe inthey Orth opi tat ep he take single m thes wl Tooke a Capit © ss by Naha oar Al gs eve er te nes Cognit Comcemon iishelathe United States Aled R. Kup earth snes Cay Kano ons of Cala [Dnt by Rn Hee Ine, NewYork ol Bor Bk, eral ction ween piss feo. -The Tomblin meron Sev han (a 98, 00.30 Th lof Fark Ann ante Marl a) "The Last Os ‘Wap Dh sender Jy 8, gp Forte Heo ‘ibaa ese igen Tcay eth This tn werk indent ee se Jon. Me aes shart a hts of han agian or are Sy hy reenact a ores pple Tengo de rete andet, Natan out ct uns aes ath Engr — te ta sans grease alk pg) Jom Saiandetote—Fton 2. Jos encentone Piston 3, Oso alan Ft Ota siy'gecian Bere Maat he Unit tes of os For Mele N, Englonder = The Twenty-seventh Man vad ontelle “Tress tr gon Saco ote a tsevo. He relayed them to the agent in charge with no greater emotion than forthe killing of hula or clergy or the ‘outspoken seves of very dear fiends. The accused were to bbe apprehended the same day, arrive at the prison gates at the same moment, axl —with a gasp and simeltaneous final breath—be sent off to their damnation in a single rattling burst of gunfire Tt was not an isue of hatred, only one of allegiance. For Stalin knew there could be lyaltyto only one nation. What he ‘id not know swell were the authors’ names ois ist. When presented to hin the next morning he signed the warrant any- ‘way though there were now twenty-seven, and yesterday there had been twenty-six No matter, exvept maybe to the ewenty-seventh. The orders lft little room for variation, and none for tard ness, They were to be euried out in seerecy and—the only point that wae reiterated —semltancousy. But how were the “agents to get the me from Moscow and Gok: Smolensk and Penza, Shuya and Podolsk, to the prison near the village of X at the wer same time? The agent in charge felt his strength was in leadership and give up the tle ofstrategst tothe inside of hs at. He ut the list into strips and sprinkled them ito the freshly blocked Na tale Po ste ila has od pro ina Onl opie chat doe bon ‘um het sing) does look A fat soy The Twenty-seventh Man crow, mixing careflly so as not to disturb its shape. Most of ‘hese writers were in Moseow. The handfl who were in theit native villages, taking the vaters somewhere, or locked in a cain tying to finish that seminal work would surely receive a tif eaing when a pair of agents, aggravated hy the trek, stepped through the door. ‘Ater the lottery, those agents who hal drawn 2 name war- raotng &Tong jountey acepted the good-natured insults and mockery of fiends, Most would have it easy, nothing more to ‘worry about than hurrying some old rebel to a ea, oF getting ther shits wrinkled in a heel-dragging, aie pulling ural ‘sean that could be as mesy as necessary infront ofa pack of superstitions peasants “Then there were those who had it hard. Such asthe two gents assigned to Vasily Korisly, who, seeing no way out, wat prepared to exit his bedroom quietly but whose wife, Paslina, struck the shorter ofthe two officers with an Oriental- sive brass vase, There was a scuffle, Paulina was subdued, the short offer taken out unconscious, anda precious hour lost ‘ontheir estimated time ‘There was the pair assigned to Moishe Bretzy,a true lover ‘of aka ands country of origin, One would not have pegged hinn as one of istry’ most sensitive Vidish poets. He was ze, slovenly, and smelly as @ horse. Once a year, during the ‘Ter Days of Penitence, he would take notice of his sinful ways an saber up for Yorn Kippur. After the fast, he would geab pen and pad and write furiously for weeks in his sister's vent. Jes htelen—the shroud of atonement sill draped over bis, splitting head, The Brished work was toasted with a brim ming shot of vodka. Thon Bretzky’ thirst would begin to rage aan} off he would go for another year. His sisters husband ‘yeuld have put an end to this annual pratie if it weren't forthe rubles he received forthe sweat-curled pages Bretzky abandoned, 5 Ie took the whole ofthe night for the two agents to locate Bretaly. They tracked him down in one of the whorehouses that did not exit, and sf they did, government agents surely did not frequent therm, Nonetheless, having eseaped notice, they slipped into the room. Beetaky was passed out on his stornch with a suiling tollop pinned under each arm, The time-consuming proces of feing the whore, geting Bretzky "upright and moving him inte the hallway reduced the younger ‘The senlor agent let his partner in charge of the body while he went to chat with the senior woman of the house Introducing himself numerous tines, asf they had never met, Ihe explained his predicament and enlisted the help ofa dozen “Twelve ofthe house’ strongest companions —inan aray of pink and red robes, froulrou slippers, and painted toenals— turried the gant bear tothe waiting cat amid a roar of gigles. Ttvas a sight Bretzky would have enjoyed tremendously had he boen conscious “The least troubling ofthe troublesome abductions was that of Y. Zunsey, oldest of the group and a target ofthe fist sexi fous verbal attacks om the cosmopolitan back in '. In the February 9 edition of Litraturnaya Gazeta he had been ent ieized as an obsolete author, accused of being anti-Soviet, and chided for using a pen name to hide his Jewish roots. tn that same edition they printed his real name, Melman, stripping" ‘hin ofthe privacy he had so enjoyed “Thee yeas later they came for him. The two agents were not enthusiastic about the task: They had shared a Jewish lit trator instructor in high seiool, whom they admired despite his ethnicity and who even coerced them into writing a poem fr two Hoth were rather decent fellows, and capturing an tighty-one-year-old man didnot exactly jibe with their vision of bravely serving the pasty. They were simply following The Twoenty-seventh Man lnstrutions. But somewhere amid ther justifications lay a Uoep fear of punishment Tyas not yet dawn and Zanser was already dressed, sitting vith a cup of tea, The agents begged him to stand up on his ‘on, one of them trying the name Zunser and the other plead- fing with Melman, He refuse, “Lill either resist nor help. The responsibilty mus rest {nly spon your eonsience.” “We have orders” they sai “Lid not say you were without orders. suid that you have to bear responsibility ‘They ist tried iting him by his arms, but Zunser was too Aelicate forthe maneuver. Then one grabbed his ankles while the other claped his chest. Znnsers head lolled back. The gents were afraid of killing him, an option they had been ‘warmed agunst. They put him onthe floor and the larger of the ‘wo scooped him up, radling the oldman like a child. “Zunser begged a moment's pause a they passed a portrait of his deceased wile, He fancied the picture had a new mo: roseness toi, as ifthe sepa-toned eyes might well up and shed tear. He spoke aloud. "No matter, Katya. Life ended for mo on the day of your death; everthing since has been but rostalgin” The agent shifted the weight ofthe romantic i his ‘ams and headed out the door. ‘The solitary complicated abduction that took place out of “Moscow was the one that should have been the easiest ofthe twenty-seven, It was the simple task of removing Pinchas Pelosts from the in ox the rad that ran to Xand te prison yond “Vinchas Pelovits had constructed his own world with a compassionate God and a diverso group of worshipers. I it, I tested these people with mora lemmas and tragedies 7 testing themn sometimes more with joy and good fortune, He recorded the tals and events ofthis world in is notebooks in the form of stories and novel, essays, pooms, songs, anthons, tals, jokes, and extensive histories that led up to the era in which he dvelled His parents never knew what label to give their son, who ‘wrote all day but didnot publish eho laughed and ered over his novels but was gratinglylogial in his contact with the ceverylay world, What they di know was that Pinchas wan't going to take over the inn, ‘When they became too old to ran the business, the only able option was to sell out at a ridiculously low price— prosided the new overs would leave the boy’ his room snd feod hin when be was hungry, Even when the business became the property of the state, Pincha, in the dreamers room, was left in peace: Why bother, he's harmless, sort of @ ood-tuck charm for the nn, no one even knows he's here, ‘maybe he's writing history ofthe place and we'll be made famous. He wasn't. But who Jaws, maybe he would have, had his name—mumbled on the lips of travlers—not found. its way onto Stalin’ lit. The two agents assigned Pinchas arived atthe jan div ing a beatup droshkyy and posing asthe sons of now poor landowners, touch they thought might ekle cher superiors. One carried « Lager (a trinket he brought home from she war), and the other kept a billy club stashed in his boot. They. found the narrow ballvay with Pincha room and knocked lightly on his door "Not hungry" was the response. The agent wth the Luger gave the door « hip check; t did't dg. “Ty the handle,” sald the voice. The agent did, swinging it open. “You're coming with us," sald the ono with the club ins boot “Absolutely not,” Pinchas stated matteroffaetly, The The Twenty-seventh Man agent wondered iis “You're coming wth us" had sounded as bol “Pat the book down onthe pile, put your shoes on, and let's go The agent with the Lager spoke slowly. “You're under rest for anti-Soviet acts. Pinchas was balled by the charge. He meditated for a rmonyent and eame tothe conclusion that there was only one moral outrage he'd been involved in, though it seemed to him abit excessive tobe incarerated fort ‘Well, you can have them, but y'te wot realy mine “They were in a copy of «Zunser book that a guest forgot and I ids know where to return ther, Regardless, studied them thoroughly, You may take me away.” He proceeded to hand the agents five posteards. Three were intricate pen-and-ink

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