Upfall

The sayeret drove hard and fast to the southeast for two hours after leaving Treblinka. Several times they noticed German aircraft, but only once did a plane react as if the pilot had any interest in them. That plane was a Storch. Whether it was looking for them or on some other mission they could not know.

Yatom wanted to put distance between the sayeret and Treblinka, but not at the risk of a German air attack. Afier seeing the Storch the column changed direction to the southwest, and at the first opportunity drove off into a mixed forest of oak and pine. One of the new trucks contained a single camouflage net which was big enough to cover both Kubelwagons. To hide other vehicles from fiirther aerial observation everybody cut and gathered branches until Yatom was satisfied that the column was sufficiently disguised. Then everyone stopped to eat or sleep, with the exception of the unfortunate few who had to pull the first guard shift.

Yatom could not wait for nightfall to get going again, even at the risk of observation. late in the afternoon, after seven hours of rest and refitting, the column was hack on the road, heading southeast again, driving as fast as the roads allowed. Yatom kept one Kubelwagon well ahead of the main column to scout the route and warn of any roadblocks. The first shift in the scout car fell to Mofaz and Itzak.

Sixty kilometers from Treblinka the high road swung back to the southwest. Driving nearly a kilometer in front of the main column Mofaz and Itzak spotted a roadblock on a small hillock no more than 500 meters away. The Germans were silhouetted against the setting sun, busily stuffing sandbags and digging in, throwing up a zig-zag of slit trenches as fast as their picks and spades allowed. Mofaz stopped the car and radioed Yatom. Yatom ordered Mofaz to proceed cautiously and allow the column to catch up. Itzak stayed behind the wheel while Mofaz scanned the scene through his thermal binoculars.

Mofaz's Kubelwagon was 200 meters away from the roadblock when he saw the flash of a machinegun. An instant later he heard the rattle of the weapon and the snap of bullets passing overhead. The Germans were shooting high. Itzak drove forward swung the Kubelwagon off the road. He and Mofaz leapt out. Bullets sticlied the nearby roadside as the German gunner adjusted his aim. From his forward position Mofaz sighted in on the sparking German machinegun and chanced a couple of shots with his Tavor. He missed, but got the machinegunner's attention. Mofaz and Itzak pressed themselves into the earth as the German bullets carved the ground in front of them.

The shooting lasted only a few more seconds—perhaps the machinegunner had lost his aim, or his weapon jammed. Itzak used the pause to crawl into a bit of defilade, where he loaded the grenade launcher slung under his Tavor. Instead of bombarding the Germans with high explosive, the well-trained commando dropped a pair of white phosphorus smoke grenades. Within seconds the German position was shrouded in a milky haze, while within their makeshift trenches several Germans began to scream as the hot phosphorus burned through their wool uniforms and into flesh, torching skin and bone.

The main column came to a halt a hundred meters behind the Kubelwagon. The sayeret ran from the vehicles and began to deploy on the roadsides, followed by Fliegel's men. Moments later Mofaz next heard the delightful clatter of Roi's Negev as it sent tracer into the hastily piled sandbags. Two MG—34s manned by Fliegel's men joined in, pinning the Germans within the position.

Mofaz crawled over to Itzak, tapped him on the shoulder and said "after me."

The two commandos ran toward the German entrenchment while behind them Yatom directed increasingly heavy fire onto the cowering enemy troops. The Israelis dropped more phosphorus on the Germans, mixed with high explosive rounds. Ilan and Bolander began sniping at any helmet that popped over the rough parapet. The crescendo of smoke and fire allowed the Mofaz and Itzak to splint to within twenty meters of the German entrenchments. From there they could hear the surviving Germans calling to each other. Although neither Israeli spoke German well, they could easily understand the sound of panic. Mofaz stirred the pot by tossing a hand-grenade into a nearby slit—trench. The explosion blew a bloodied helmet into the air, which tumbled down the hill. Itzak threw a grenade, producing a heart-rending scream of horror or pain. Satisfied that enemy was about to break Mofaz radioed Yatom to cease fire.