Hidden Away

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Hidden Away

By Paul McCann 

Mr and Mrs Czubara lived with their seven children on a farm in Poland and enjoyed a quiet life . When the war broke out they hoped that it would not effect them and ground themselves in what they had always done on the farm .

It was late in the afternoon when a truckload of German soldiers arrived to the farmhouse . Mr and Mrs Czubara jumped to their feet when the officer in charge pushed open the front door of their home . Both of them were shot dead in cold blood in front of their children . Another soldier came into the home and the officer there ordered him to shoot everybody else in the house  .

Joseph who was fourteen years of age ran from the farmhouse and into the corn field . All he could hear as he ran away were the gunshots and screams of his brothers and sisters .

A group of German soldiers were searching the corn field for him . Joseph hid in fear of being found . One of the German soldiers pushed his way through the cornstalks to where Joseph was lying on the ground and as he looked at Joseph , he took off his helmet and smiled .Then he shouted out .

“Nothing over here.”

Then he pointed his finger to a nearby forest and said ,

“Run as fast as you can , Get out of here .“

Joseph dis as he was told and he kept running until he fell from exhaustion .

Young Joseph made his way from the forest down to the city where he went to enlist in the army to fight in the war against the Germans .

At first they said he was too young and he had not enough training so it would be best for him to go home to his parents , but then Joseph told them the story of what had happened to his family on their farm .

He lied about his age saying he was eighteen and that he would do anything to help . He wanted dearly to avenge the killing of all his family by the Germans .

Joseph begged the people at the recruitment centre to let him join the army . One of the supervisors looked at Joseph and made a phone call to somebody . Then he approached Joseph and said .

“There is one job you could do for us . “

Joseph replied

“I’ll do anything what is it ?”

The response came ,

“Once a day there is a ceasefire on the battlefield and during this time some people are able to collect body parts and dog tags with anyother items from the dead so they can be retuned to their families . That is what we need you to do for us .“

“Thank you so much . I will do that . “

Joseph replied .

Joseph was taken away and given a uniform and then the next day he climbed into a truck with other soldiers to be transported to the battle front .

At the end of the journey Joseph was placed into the charge of the Sergeant who took him to a wooden building that had some bunk beds and another section with a toilet and showers . .

“This is where you will live . You’ll begin collecting body parts today .

At 4 o’clock you’ll hear a siren to signify the ceasefire in place and that’s when you will go to scrounge what every you can from the battlefield .”

Joseph was very eager to get to work .

 "Yes sir , how long does the ceasefire last ?

The officer continued .

 "At six o’clock there will be another siren to let you know the ceasefire is over  and that’s when you must return to the barracks here . You have a hand cart and some bags . After you return there will be some warm food and you can clean yourself up in the showers “

Joseph began work and did as he was asked . Everyday he collected so many body parts and things from the battlefield and as he worked thoughts of his family members reminded him not to give up and to keep on going . Apart from dogs tags and body parts now and them Joseph picked up gold coins, jewellery  , fancy cigarette cases and other expensive bits and pieces that he never disclosed . Joseph had dug a deep hole in a certain spot at the edge of the battle field where he had hidden away all the treasures he managed to find . Some of the other items Joseph found were letters and photographs in the pockets of dead soldiers , small flasks of alcohol , wallets , passports , reading glasses , hand sketched drawings and poetry by composed by those who had lost their lives . It was someone else’s job to sort through all of that .

The thing was Joseph always had first pick of everything he found and as he was all alone in this née world and he had to look after himself first  , before anyone else .

No one ever suspected that Joseph was helping himself to the spoils of war and his little hide away spot was never discovered .

He continued to work away every day around the battlefield until the sound of bombs and guns had gone .

After the war was over Joseph returned to the farm where his family had lived but it was in ruins . There was nothing left there except his fathers truck that was still there in an old shed at the rear of the property .

Once he paid his respects to all of his family who had died he took the truck and returned to the collect what he had hidden away near the battlefield . He was able to sell many of the items to various merchants by the waterfront . That’s where he first heard about the jobs that were going  in Australia . He made some enquires and decided to try and make a life for himself there . He wrote a letter and applied for a job and that month received the news that his application was approved .

With a small fortune in his pocket Joseph was on an emigrant ship to Australia  . On arrival to this new country he was part of a labour force that were sent to build a new hydro electric power station in the Snowy Mountains . That’s where he met many other people from different countries who had come to Australia to build a future for themselves and start a family .

Joseph worked hard for a few years and decided to buy some property and establish a farm . Another idea he had was to try making some wine .

As he was driving around the Southern Highlands of New South Wales looking at some properties on the market he saw a man outside a large property hammering in a for sale sign into the ground . Joseph stopped the car and approached him and asked .

“How much do you want for this place ?”

“Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars “

Came the reply.

‘All I have is two hundred thousand.“

Said Joseph .

“Do you have that in cash?”

The seller answered

“Yes I do “

Joseph replied .

‘Ok , I’ll take two hundred thousand for it.“

Without even looking around the property Joseph shook hands and made the deal .

In a few weeks all the papers were signed and Joseph moved into his new property . The place was ideal for what Joseph had planned . There was a freeway nearby with continuous trucks and cars passing by which provided a constant stream of warm air rising up to the top of the hill where he wanted to grow the grapes.  This warm air would prevent the frost in the cold months from killing the grape vines .

As Joseph went around the property he found an large shed that was locked up . When he broke the chains and locks of the place to his surprise he discovered two young woman inside . They were tied up and it looked as if they had been prisoners of the previous owner . He was unable to speak their language but they were so grateful of his setting them free . He brought them to his home on the property and contacted the local authorities who came to speak with the girls . It was soon discovered that the girls came from the Philippines and were working  illegally for the previous owner who abused them and had them locked up in that shed for a while .

During the time the police were looking for the previous owner Joseph and one of the girls became very friendly and it wasn’t long before they were married . The other girl returned to her family in the Philippines .

Joseph and his new wife started a family and with the help of some of the European winemakers he had met at the Snowy Mountain project Joseph went into the winemaking business  and became very good at it .

Today Joseph and his sons are exporting wine all over Europe and is well respected by all in the business .

The End

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