"What's there to say?" Mendal would shrug. "We have a great Father in heaven and He will not abandon us. In my lifetime I have seen them come and go--the Coassacks, the Denikins, the Petluras. Now it's the Germans. We've survived our enemies then and we'll survive them now." The need to believe Mendel's words was so strong that moment at least they endowed this simple water carrier with the powers of a prophet. And to the hope raised by this pious Jew they added their own--the world. The world, they would tell themselves and each other, will not stand idly by and let this madman swallow up Poland. Because if it does, other countries will be next. For its own protection the world must stop him in his tracks.

p.2