They all listened intently.
“I don’t know what a courier is,” she said. “Is that a newspaper delivery person?” She put on her best na?ve expression. “I don’t know the PPR or the Sikorskis; I’ve only heard them mentioned in conversation. All I know about the partisans is that they live in the forests and attack unarmed people. If I knew where they were, I would gladly tell you. If I wanted to lie, I’d come up with names already.”
Now the Gestapo men were furious. The interrogation had gone on for three hours, and still, nothing.
Asked about her education, Renia replied that she’d attended elementary school up to the seventh grade.
“No wonder she won’t talk.” They laughed. “She’s too stupid to understand that her life is more precious than others’。”
One of them interjected, “Just as she lied about everything else, she’s lying about her education. A simple girl who didn’t attend high school couldn’t cheat this way.” They all agreed with him.
Realizing that his efforts were futile, the chief ordered that Renia be moved to a different room, large and vacant. She was followed by several Gestapo men holding thick whips. “After this lesson, you’ll sing like a bird. You’ll tell us everything.”
They kicked her to the ground. One of them held her feet, the other, her head, and the rest started lashing her. Renia felt pain everywhere. After ten lashes she yelled out, “Mama!” Even though they were holding her, she began convulsing like a fish caught in a net. One of the murderers wrapped her hair around his hand and dragged her across the floor. Now the lashes struck not just her back but her entire body—face, neck, legs. She became weaker and weaker, but still Renia didn’t speak. She would not show frailty. She would not. Then everything went dark, and the pain faded away. Renia fainted.
She woke up feeling like she was inside a pool, swimming in water. She was wearing nothing but a skirt. Around her were buckets they’d used to pour water on her and revive her.
Two Gestapo men helped her stand up. She fumbled for her sweater, and put it on, embarrassed.
They resumed the interrogation.
They checked if her testimonies matched. Why wouldn’t she confess?
A pistol in his hand, one Gestapo man said, “If you don’t want to talk, come with me. I’ll shoot you like a dog.”
Renia followed him down the stairs. The gun glistened. Renia felt happy. Finally, an end to this torment.
She turned to the sunset for the last time. She drank it in, tasting each color, each shade of the ombré. So perfectly beautiful nature was, demarcating each transition and transformation with accuracy and grace.
Outside, on the street, the Gestapo man asked her with genuine wonder, “Don’t you feel it’s a waste to die so young? How can you be so stupid? Why won’t you just tell the truth?”
Without thinking, Renia responded. “As long as there are people like you in the world, I don’t want to live. I told you the truth, and you’re trying to force a lie out of me. I will not lie! I’m content with being shot.”
He kicked her a few times, then took her back inside and handed her over to the others. “He was probably sick and tired of dealing with me,” Renia later recalled.
One of the Gestapo men pulled out a chair for her. Renia figured he was trying to get at her with kindness. He promised that if she told the truth, they’d send her to Warsaw to work for the Gestapo as a spy. She agreed, but she did not change her testimony.
The commander told them to stop playing with her. “Administer twenty-five more lashes until she begs to tell the truth.”
Two Gestapo men started beating her with fury, merciless. Blood poured from her head and nose. The interpreter couldn’t take seeing the torture and walked out of the room. The pain made Renia jump from one side of the room to the other. The commander told the men to continue, and he too joined in with a few kicks.