"Bashert" by Conrad Singer Chapter 6 Spain
six
SPAIN
Valencia
was a hungry town, suffering harshly from the effects of the Civil War.
Dockers on the quayside were waiting to unload the ship, as quickly as
possible. This was due to the risk of serial bombardment.
I was very sympathetic to the condition of the Spaniards. Whatever food we thought we could spare was distributed from the galley. Only the ship’s waiter, a Romanian fascist, was incensed about my gifts. He threatened to report me to the harbour police as soon as we returned home. I had caught him trying to sell some equipment belonging to the ship and had reported him. I objected to anybody trying to make a profit from the unhappiness of these people. This was an incident that had caused his likeminded crewmembers to retaliate. At the first opportunity they denounced me as a communist sympathizer.
There
had been several air raid warnings during the six days that the ship had
been tied up. Our Captain Bass was anxious to return for another load of
grain. The voyage had proved to be very profitable for the ship’s
owners.
Back in our homeport, the legless owner, Solomon Rujansky,
summoned the crew and told us sternly that the ship was going back to
Spain. This time it was to be Barcelona. But, on future trips, the crew
would be paid only a ten per cent increase on their basic wages when in
Spanish territorial waters. This news was coupled with the warning that
anyone who rejected those terms would be replaced. Only one person
refused.
I had five days leave and was given a tremendous reception by my
family. Everybody questioned me constantly about my experiences in Spain.
Out on the Black Sea at the start of our second voyage to Spain, a blind passenger came up on deck. He was a Yugoslav who did not speak any Romanian or Russian. We were a cargo vessel and how this man came to be on our ship was never fully explained except to say he was a guest of the captain. Later on he was to become a comrade of mine in the Catalan Regiment.