Upfall

Mofaz awoke two hours after midnight on May 27 in an unusually good mood. Much as he disliked Feldhandler and his present situation, the soldier in him was grimly satisfied. Like many IDF officers, Mofaz chafed at the army's growing moral weakness and hesitancy. In recent years it seemed not only that the IDF wanted to save all its soldiers from death or injury, but the enemy's too. So many operations cancelled. So many attacks carried out halfheartedly for fear of losing Israeli boys, or killing too many Arab boys. Successful wars were not waged that way.

But under the present circumstances he and Yatom could do as they pleased. Mofaz, who had grown up in a religious West Bank settlement, didn't much like Yatom, a card carrying secular Jew, and a self-declared atheist. But the Colonel was a tough, aggressive and competent commander, and Mofaz could not fault Yatom‘s decisions thus far. Indeed, he looked forward to the flying attack on Treblinka— his blood was up.

As Mofaz walked among the men in the dark and cool Polish morning he boosted their spirits as well, with a combination of aggressive talk and deliberate fear mongering. Nothing made a soldier more aleit and serious than a good dose of apprehension. Things had gone to easy so far, but there was no place for complacency, he urged.

Even the Jews from Sandler's and Fliegel's groups got the message though Mofaz spoke little German and no P0lish—enough of them knew Hebrew, or a few words at least, to get the gist of the combative Major's words.

An an hour later, much to Yatom's satisfaction, Mofaz had the unit mounted and ready to move out, without the sayeret leader having lifted a finger. Mofaz could be a pain-in-the-ass, but he was a smart and forceful officer—it was hard to ask for more. Yatom walked along the vehicles, garbed again, somewhat outlandishly, in a German field jacket over his Israeli kit. He reminded drivers and commanders of the day's orders— drive fast, keep in column and shoot if you have to. Satisfied, Yatom climbed into the leading staff car as Nir once again gunned the engine.

A few minutes later the sayeret was back onto the high road.

According to the map they were motoring on a relatively good highway, Route 690, north to a town called Ciechanowiec. If the sayeret was lucky, they would reach the town in the sleepy morning hours when transiting the built up area inconspicuously would be easier. From Ciechanowiec, the column would turn west on a relatively straight drive to Treblinka.

The sayeret hit Ciechanowiec a little after dawn. The Israeli drivers switched off their night vision goggles and maneuvered the vehicles through the narrow Polish streets. Ciechanowiec was a big town, and it was hard to keep to the high road through an intricate series of forks and intersections. At one point the column took a wrong turn and drove around in circles, until finding themselves heading west on Route 694, the road they needed in any case. They had not been on the new highway for long before Nir pointed excitedly down the road toward a rise, about half a kilometer distant, where there appeared to be a roadblock. Yatom told Nir to slow but not stop. He scanned the distant ridge with his binoculars. Behind him, Shapira in the first truck did the same. Yatom grabbed the radio handset from Nir's pack.

"Sayeret leader here. Roadblock ahead. All vehicles keep moving. Fire on my orders."

"Go ahead Nir—faster now" Yatom said excitedly. Nir increased his speed while in the back seat Ido and Rafi readied their weapons.

Yatom considered using the MG 34 by his side, but chose the Tavor. At a hundred meters the roadblock came into clear view—four unfortunate German soldiers who had arrived by bicycle. The Israelis sped on. At fifty meters one of the Germans stepped out into the road and held up his hand, while behind him the other three held their weapons loosely. Their orders had been vague, and none really expected action.

Nir aimed the staff car directly at the German in the highway, while Yatom fired a long burst at two Germans on the right side of the road. The stunned Germans tumbled over. The German in the road dove out of the way, only to be riddled by fire from Ido's Tavor as the staff car sped by. The fourth German turned and ran, but was gunned down by Rafi, who stood in the bouncing car, and despite the movement and his awkward position, managed to hit the fleeing man.

Yatom raised his hand and the convoy came to a halt. Mofaz and Shapira ran to the front. Mofaz looked disappointed that he'd missed the action. Yatom walked over to the pair Germans he had shot. Both were badly wounded. He considered delivering a coup de grace but thought better of it and instead called out to Sandler. The former Sonderkommando hopped out of his truck followed by several of his men. They found the Israeli officers standing over the wounded Germans, who writhed in pain, their eyes wide with fear.