The fourth soldier Irwin chose was a Lithuanian carrying an MP28 submachine gun. He had spotted him just before dusk by using the binoculars, and decided that he had to get the gun. His people would need such a weapon for when they were attacked by a group of Nazis coming to take them away. Irwin knew it would not be a matter of if, but when. Bunches of Jews were being herded out of the overcrowded ghetto and into railroad cars every day. None, of course, had ever returned, but the crude comments of the storm troopers could not be discounted. The Jews were being sent to mass executions.

Irwin used the same technique that had worked successfully thrice before. The soldier had just started to turn when the muzzle of the revolver, backed by 70 kilos of charging 25-year-old, hit him just below the right shoulder blade and knocked him off balance as Irwin Mann pulled the trigger.

Click.

Whether the round of ammunition had gone bad or whether the gun's mainspring was just a little too weak to always fire the cartridges reliably, Irwin Mann would never know. What he did realize in the instant that he landed on top of the startled soldier was that he was going to have to use his bare hands to kill a man with a machine gun.

The soldier was young and in good physical condition, and his reflexes were quick. He had been taken completely by surprise, however, and this was the first time he had actually fought for his life at close quarters. As he landed on his left side with the young Jew tumbling on top of him, he made the common error of trying to get his weapon into play rather than react with a quicker though less lethal response.

Irwin Mann instinctively pounded at the soldier's face with his right fist, which was still holding the revolver. The barrel punched into Private Mueller's right eye socket just as Irwin Mann did another instinctive thing, and pulled the trigger.

The gun did not misfire this time.

The explosion of the cartridge was again contained, but this time within a much smaller and less elastic space than the chest cavity of a grown man. This time the pressure was released inside a small chamber made of thick bone. Fluid dynamics dictated that the soldier's brain matter be driven out of his skull through the paths of least resistance, and it was. The bullet severed the left optic nerve, and Private Mueller's left eyeball was blown out of his head. It came to rest almost ten meters down t he street, where it was soon eaten by one of the many scavenging creatures that fed on corpses before work details hauled them away. Brain matter followed the eyeball, and a small amount also came out the dead man's ears and nostrils. The balance of the grey tissue followed the bullet out the hole it made in the occipital region at the back of the soldier's head.

The soft lead bullet was stopped by Private Mueller's helmet, and it left a visible dent, which gave the steel headpiece the incongruous appearance of a large, green, woman's breast. The helmet also prevented the bullet from shattering Irwin Mann's left hand, which it would have done if the young private had been bareheaded.

Irwin Mann scrambled to his feet. This time the sight of the dead man had a definite effect on him. The soldier's face had been barely a foot from his own, and seeing the man's brains spilling out of the eye socket and clinging to the back of Irwin's hand had suddenly made the young grocer feel lightheaded and faint.

Mann realized he could not afford to indulge in revulsion. He wiped his right hand, which still clutched the revolver, on the soldier's tunic. For a final time that day he dragged the dead weight out of sight where it would not immediately be discovered. The sling of the MP-28 submachine gun slid off the dead man's shoulder, and Irwin ran quickly back to the middle of the street to retrieve the weapon.

This time he did not strip the corpse. Irwin removed his own coat and slung the short weapon over his neck after removing its magazine. When he put the coat back on and fastened the two buttons it still retained, the gun was not visible. The man had carried no sidearm or other weapon, and Irwin soon learned why. To his great pleasure he discovered that the soldier had been carrying six spare loaded magazines for his MP-28, in addition to the one that had been in the gun.

Irwin would not know exactly that he had another one hundred seventy-five rounds of ammunition until he unloaded the magazines and counted the cartridges, but he knew it was a lot. Fine work for my first day on the new job. He put the seven magazines into the left side pocket of his coat. They were too long and protruded several inches out the top. Irwin cut a section from the dead soldier's shirt and tied it around the exposed ends of the magazines. Dusk had come, and the makeshift cover would be adequate for the journey back to where he had hidden the other weapons.

Irwin Mann walked briskly out of the alley and down the street. His discomfort at the sight of the man's ruined face was completely forgotten.

April 18, 1943 The people in the crowded room stared silently at Irwin Mann. Their expressions showed admiration, respect, and horror. Lying on the blanket in front of them were the weapons, ammunition, money, and other assets he had acquired the day before. It was Stern who finally spoke.

"You have done what others would not, young man. I am proud of you. Proud, and thankful."

"He has murdered in cold blood! He is no better than the Nazis themselves! Look at him! He has their blood on his hands and clothing even as he stands here before us!" said a man of about 40 at the side of the room. Stern fixed the speaker with a penetrating stare.

"You have forgotten your Talmud, sir. 'He who comes to kill you, arise and kill him.' Sanhedrin 72a; Berachos 58a and 62b; Makkos 85b; and Midrash Tanchumah, Pinchas:3." His gaze softened slightly. "Leviticus 19:16 is worth remembering, as well: 'Thou shalt not stand idly by the blood of your brother.' I am afraid we have all stood idly by for far too long." He turned to Irwin Mann. "Perhaps it would be best if you were to advise us on the proper use of these tools." Stern nodded to Irwin, transferring his authority to the younger man.

"We have three rifles, three pistols, and a small machine gun," he started. "The three rifles all use the same ammunition, and we have thirty-one of those cartridges. Two of the pistols and the machine gun all use another kind of ammunition, and we have two hundred twenty-one of that type. The revolver here," he said, pointing to the Nagant, "uses a third type of ammunition. We have twelve shots for it." The group looked on silently, waiting for him to continue.

"Our armament is minuscule compared to that of the Nazis. For this reason, we must not waste a single one of these bullets. If we make each one count, we can continue to replenish our stocks." He saw nods of agreement among several of the assembled men, and he went on.

"This is the way the rifles work," he said, picking up a Mauser and manipulating the bolt. "They hold five cartridges in here." He pointed to the magazine well. "This lever prevents the gun from firing." Mann flipped on the safety and made a show of pulling the trigger. Nothing happened. He flicked the safety to its previous position and pulled the trigger again. The striker made a loud click as it fell.

"How do you aim it precisely?" a man asked him. "If you want to shoot...something that is not so close to you?" Everyone knew what 'something' was going to be.

Irwin took a deep breath. He was rapidly approaching the limit of his knowledge of firearms. "You line up the notch in this piece of steel here," he said, pointing to the blade of the rear sight, "with this thin piece here," pointing to the front sight, "and then put the two of them both in line with the Nazi you intend to shoot."

"Let me try it." Irwin handed him the empty rifle. The man put it up to his shoulder and squinted. "Hard to hold it steady." He stepped over to the wall and pushed his left hand, which held the stock's forend, against the door frame. "That's a lot better. Is the front sight supposed to stick up over the notch in the piece at the back? Is it supposed to cover up the spot where you want the bullet to hit?" Irwin started to say he wasn't sure, when another man spoke up.

"Let me look at it, please." He took the rifle and examined the rear sight carefully, noting the numbered markings on it, how it moved up and down, and how it clicked into different settings when he manipulated it. Then he sighted along the barrel as the other man had done.

"The rear piece adjusts, and is marked for different ranges. By moving this piece to a higher numbered position," he demonstrated by raising the rear sight to a new setting, "the rifle will be aimed upwards to a slightly greater degree, and the bullet will strike a more distant target. Here. I will illustrate." He reached for a stone to scratch with in the dirt on the floor.

"You are familiar with weapons?" Irwin asked in surprise. The man paused and shook his head.

"No, but I have a degree in mathematics, and I am well-versed in the physics of moving objects. Though I have no experience with guns or bullets, I am absolutely certain they must obey every one of Newton's laws."

He scratched a curve of decreasing radius on the floor, and lay a small stick in line with it, touching the start of the curve. "This stick is the rifle. The bullet will describe a parabola through the air, like this scratch. Up close, the path will curve so slightly as to appear to be a straight line." He held his hands on each side of the first six inches of the curve. The section did indeed appear to be straight. "At greater distances, the curvature will be much more apparent, and errors in aiming or in range estimation will be more pronounced." He moved his left hand farther away from the right, and the curvature of the scratch was obvious.

The mathematician laid a straight piece of wood above the small stick, parallel with the start of the curve. "The edge of this wood represents a straight path from the eyeball to the target. That is the shooter's line of sight. Suppose we raise the rear sight, like so." He lifted the back of the piece of wood, and then picked up the rifle and held it level. His finger touched the weapon's rear sight, and he made a motion for the group to imagine that it stood up much higher. He angled the gun so that the imagined new rear sight and the sight on the muzzle were once again level with the floor. "If we line the sights up with the spot we wish to hit, you see that the barrel of the gun is angled upwards slightly. The path of the bullet will rise at first as the bullet approaches the target, because the gun is angled upwards. As gravity continues to exert its relentless pull, the bullet will curve back towards the ground." He ran his finger along the curve to illustrate his point. "If the shooter has estimated the distance to the target correctly, and placed the rear sight in the appropriate setting, the path of the bullet will intersect the line of sight at the target He paused to make sure everyone was with him. There were only a few puzzled looks, so he went on with his explanation.

"You see that if the rear sight is raised higher than it should be," he said as he tipped the rifle's muzzle up farther, "you will shoot over the target. If the rear sight is set too low..." Here he held his finger against the barrel to indicate a lowered rear sight, and leveled the gun once more, "and the target is far away, the bullet will strike too low, because gravity is pulling it down as it flies towards the target."

The mathematician looked at the group and saw nods of understanding and a few tentative smiles. "As to exactly how the two sights should be aligned, I am not certain, but I suspect the gun should be positioned so that the top of the front sight is level with the sides of the rear sight."

A short, balding man cleared his throat and spoke for the first time. "I do not know for certain, either, as I know nothing of guns, but I am an optometrist. I can say with conviction that the eye and the brain are very good at detecting whether or not two identical shapes standing side-by-side are level or if one is slightly above the other. The eye and brain are not so good at recognizing whether or not a difference in alignment is exactly the same as a previous misalignment. It would be easiest for the person using the weapon to duplicate his results if he aligned the sights in the manner you have described." Further nods followed this explanation. Irwin Mann felt a surge of hope. The men in the group were applying themselves to the problems at hand, and working together. Confidence and sense of purpose were building.

"How critical is distance estimation?" asked another member of the group, directing his question to the mathematician.

The scholar nodded. "A good question. It becomes more critical with either increased distance or smaller target size. Or both." He examined the rifle's rear sight again. "From these markings, it appears that at any distance under one hundred meters, the path of the bullet will be near enough to straight that no adjustment is needed."

He held the rifle up, bracing it against the door frame and aligning the front and rear sights with a distant point visible through the broken window. He raised the rear sight to the 200 meter setting while continuing to stare at the distant mark. "Even at two hundred meters the change is slight-less than ten centimeters difference." He was thinking quickly as he analyzed the unfamiliar weapon using the comforting logic of mathematics. "That should not be critical on a target the size of a man's chest. The most important requirement will be careful alignment of the sights, holding the rifle steady, and squeezing the trigger carefully so as not to move the gun before it fires. Whoever uses these rifles should also have excellent vision." He smiled ruefully. "A steady hand, good muscle control, and calm actions may be difficult to achieve when the natural tendency is to panic."

"Who among us is a surgeon?" The question startled the group with its seeming incongruity, then everyone saw the logic of it. It was no accident that Stern was a leader.

"I am," two men said, very nearly in unison. They were both gaunt, like almost everyone else in the group. One appeared to be in his late fifties, the other was almost completely bald and therefore looked older. Stern looked at both the men.

"If both of you are capable of delicate surgery in the face of complications, I suspect your eyes and coordination are good, you have steady hands, and are not likely to panic." He paused a moment and continued. "Your knowledge of anatomy would also be a definite asset," he added without elaborating further. "Shooting carefully at a distance should not require the energy and stamina of a young man. Will the two of you accept this task for us?"

The two doctors looked at each other, and nodded. "You brought us these weapons," Stern said to Irwin Mann. "Do you concur with my suggestion?"

Mann nodded his immediate agreement. "We must make the best possible use of the individual talents we possess. There is a third rifle," Irwin pointed out. "This man," he said, indicating the mathematician, "does not strike me as someone prone to panic, and his inherent understanding of the flight paths of bullets is probably far superior to that of anyone else here. I think he should be our third marksman." The mathematician was startled by the term used to describe him, and felt a surge of pride as he saw the entire assembly nod agreement to Irwin's suggestion.

"Is anyone here especially good at estimating distances? Each of these three men will need someone to help determine how far away the targets are." It was a new participant speaking. Everyone in the group looked around, but no one had a vocation which required an ability to accurately judge unknown distances.

"Perhaps I have an answer." A man of about forty was now speaking. "My training is as an architect. Distances can be determined mathematically by the simple method of proportionality, if the size of an object at the unknown distance is known. Since most soldiers are about 1.8 meters tall, I think that with this gentleman's help," he said, indicating the mathematician, "we should be able to construct a simple rangefinder out of a ruler and perhaps a piece of string or thread, to hold the ruler a known distance from the eye."

"An obvious answer," said the mathematician with mild embarrassment. "I don't know where my mind is." He did not say that he had been preoccupied with how Irwin Mann had referred to him as a marksman.

"Are all of you insane? What you are describing is utter suicide! We have no chance at all against the forces that will surely be massed against us if we persist in this madness!" The speaker was the man who had earlier accused Irwin of being no different from the Nazis, and had been rebuked by Stern. A few voices murmured agreement. Anyone who stopped to think about what they were planning could not avoid being overwhelmed by the enormity of the task they faced.

"Perhaps I can convince you otherwise." All heads turned towards the newest speaker.

"I am not a Jew, I am from Warsaw originally. My wife is a Jew, and I am a teacher. A teacher of history, who has some knowledge of warfare and battles." He paused, framing his explanation in his mind before speaking. "In every war, but particularly those wars that have been fought in the last 150 years, there have been many examples of superior attacking forces being repelled by defenders with woefully smaller manpower and weaponry. Many scholars wrongly assume that this is the result of embellishment, because of our natural tendency to wish that the weak prevail through sheer bravery, just as David smote Goliath." He shook his head slowly. "That is not at all the correct explanation." His audience waited for him to continue.

"The nature of warfare changed forever with the development of weapons which could be carried by a single soldier and yet were capable of dealing a lethal blow at a distance." He paused to let those words sink in.

"With the advent of such weapons, the determining factor in any single ground conflict was altered for all time." The man's nervousness vanished as he fell into the familiar role of teacher lecturing his class. It had been two years since he had been a free man, but the rhythm and method came back immediately.

"With swords and shields, all conflicts were out in the open, and the combatants had to be close enough to touch each other for any fighting to happen at all. Sheer numbers were by far the most important factor in determining the outcome of a battle.

"When the bow and arrow came into use, this was changed somewhat, but arrows fly slowly enough to be visible, and are effective only at short distances. A shield easily stops them, and the bow is unwieldy when the enemy is close at hand and charging with his sword and shield."

Irwin Mann could see where the scholar was leading, and the hairs on his back stood up. The speaker continued his explanation.

"The crossbow was powerful enough to penetrate shields and armor, and could be used at greater distances. A man who concealed himself behind obstacles could make life very unpleasant for six strong men who were trying to kill him, if that man had a crossbow and could use it well.

"The advantage shifted much further in favor of the defending side as more accurate and compact weapons were invented that were usable at greater distances. We are all familiar with how an American band of farmers defeated the finest army in the world during their War of Independence.

"I am perhaps more familiar than the rest of you with the events of that war, not only because of my former profession, but also because Casimir Pulaski and Tadeusz Kosciuszko, two Poles who fought with the Americans, are national heroes here. Perhaps a history lesson about that war will be helpful to our own plans." He saw that he had their attention, and launched into his lecture. The old habits of teaching a group came back instantly.

"In 1775, with the exception of Switzerland, every single country on earth, if it was ruled at all, was ruled by kings-kings that had the divine authority to do anything that they pleased by virtue of their birth." He paused to let that sink in before adding, "Men who often behaved much like Adolf Hitler.

"France was ruled by King Louis XVI. What we now call Germany was ruled by King Frederick II of Prussia. Russia was ruled by the Tsar Peter Ill's widow, Catherine the Great. China was ruled by Emperor Ch'ien Lung. Japan was ruled by Emperor Tokugawa. All of Latin America was ruled by King Charles III of Spain, except for Brazil, which was ruled by King Joseph of Portugal. Scandinavia was under the power of the King Gustav III of Sweden. Africa was a vast continent of waning tribes, each with its own tribal king. That continent had small coastal pockets of organized civilization. Every one of those was ruled by the king of the European country that had colonized it, like King George, who ruled England and all its colonies." He stopped to take a breath, and saw that the group's attention was total. "That included the colonies in America."

Lecturing transformed the Pole into a different man. There was unmistakable steel in his voice as he continued the history lesson, and the men in the group were transfixed by his words. He was a powerful instructor.

"In 1775, King George sent his armies to America to make the Colonists give up their weapons. At Lexington, British Major Pitcairn said 'Drop your weapons and disperse, rebels.' The Colonists said no, and fired on the British soldiers." There was no sound in the crowded room except for soft breathing.

"We must never forget just who these people were. The British soldiers' uniforms of the day were bright red, and it is far too easy to think of them as amusing, costumed characters in a children's play. Perhaps you have recently noticed some ornate uniforms which by themselves might be seen as amusing." This brought nods of understanding from his audience. "The British Army was one of the largest, strongest, best trained, and best equipped armies in the entire world. In 1775, they were the SS. They were the Gestapo!"

"A bunch of farmers said no to that army. They said they would not be ruled by a king. They said they were going to determine their own destiny. Those farmers fought that world-class army, and they drove it all the way back into Boston. The men in that world-class army who were still alive hid in Boston and were afraid to come out because those fanners would kill them as soon as they did." He paused again and tried to make eye contact with every man in the room.

"And that is why a famous American poet called it 'The Shot Heard 'Round the World'. It took a long time for the sound of that shot to reach France, and Germany, and Italy, and Asia, but reach them it did. Do you think there would have been a French Revolution if the Americans had not shown that it could be done?" Most of the men in the room shook their heads involuntarily.

"In some countries, the people have not yet been able to wrest control of their destiny from tyrants. That is why America has become the adopted home of many of the world's oppressed people. "Bravery and heroism are absolutely necessary, make no mistake about that. We will certainly fail if we are unwilling to take the risks required. But those American farmers had an advantage in addition to their bravery. They had weapons which could be used from positions of concealment, and were skilled at using them. That is how they protected themselves from the attacking forces. It is how we will do it as well."

"But the Nazis have many more of these same weapons, and are much more skilled at using them!" blurted out one of the group. The former history teacher smiled and addressed his pupil.

"That does not matter to nearly the degree that you believe, my friend. As defenders, we possess a great advantage. In order for the Nazis to do us harm, they must come search us out. Look for us. Smash in doors and break windows, never knowing what they will find. They cannot do these things without regularly exposing themselves. From our positions of concealment, we can kill them, take their weapons, and return to different hiding places." The men in the group looked at one another, further sobered by the speaker's words.

"In modern ground warfare, when an attacking force intends to overpower an entrenched adversary, the attacking force must be vastly superior in number, and must be willing to pay a very high price of heavy losses of its own soldiers. I am not at all convinced that the soldiers assigned to guard Warsaw will be eager to pay such a price."

"The Storm Troopers had no trouble before, when they broke our windows and smashed our doors to send us here like sheep for slaughter," a voice said from the back of the room. An older man standing next to Irwin spoke up in reply.

"The Nazis were not stupid. In fact, they were very logical. They knew that in order to accomplish what they intended, we had to pose no threat. We had to be stripped of the ability to defend ourselves. Do you not remember the law passed five years ago prohibiting us from having guns without government permission?"

The history teacher nodded. "The Americans wrote that very issue into their list of fundamental citizens' rights, a part of their Constitution, so that such tragedy could never again occur in their country." He paused, a sudden realization coming to him. "Does it not seem odd to you that the Nazi leader has avoided any effort to send his troops to invade tiny, rich Switzerland? That instead he should concentrate on a larger country far more distant, and requiring a crossing of the English Channel?"

Another man spoke up quickly. "I have been to Switzerland several times, and England twice. Each Swiss home I have seen contains a machine gun." At this statement, the group erupted with protests of disbelief. "No, it is true," said another over the hushed arguing. "I have seen it myself."

"When I was in England," said a man who was speaking for the first time, "A few of the wealthy had shotguns for shooting game birds." Murmurs of disapproval coursed though the assembled men. Killing animals for sport was contrary to Jewish law. "I saw no weapons such as we have here, that would be most suitable for repelling invaders."

"The English expect the Americans to rescue them," said a new voice. The history teacher replied to this.

"Is that not ironic, given that it was the English who attempted to disarm the Colonists a century and a half ago?" Puzzled looks greeted his question. The teacher looked startled. "Have you never heard of one of their favorite stories? Of Paul Revere?" A few heads nodded. "Paul Revere is an American hero because he warned the Colonists that the British were on their way to seize their weapons, and the Colonists said no."

"If the Colonists had said yes, and stacked their arms for confiscation as we did five years ago, the Colonists would have been executed, and every country ruled by a king in 1775 would probably still be ruled by a king today."

"You cannot be serious! We are, what? Thirty in number?" Once again, it was the man who had pointed out the blood on Irwin's clothing. Now Irwin spoke up.

"I was only one, and I am still healthy. You, sir, I do not trust. I do not trust you to help us, and I do not trust you to resist betraying us." He reached into his coat pocket, withdrew the revolver with which he had killed the four soldiers, and handed it to one of the men he knew well.

"Take him to another building where he cannot hear the rest of what we have to say. Give us half an hour. Then give him the gun and let him go." Irwin turned to face the protester.

"There is one cartridge left in the gun. If you return with a German military weapon, it shall be yours, and I shall apologize in full for my lack of trust in you. Now go." Several in the group began to protest, but Stern raised his hand.

"He is asking only what he himself volunteered to do for all of us." The others fell silent, and Irwin's friend pushed the protester out of the room. No one there ever saw him again.

After the pair had left, Irwin held his hand out to the Polish history teacher. "My name is Irwin Mann." The teacher nodded.

"Piotyr Halek."

"Piotyr Halek, you have given us all much wisdom and hope. Somehow I feel that there is another shoe you have not let drop." Halek nodded at Irwin's intuition.

"With the weapons we possess, we can effectively counter Nazi attempts to search us out. But there are methods they can use which are equally effective at dealing with entrenched adversaries." "Yes?" Irwin said, waiting for Halek to continue.

"Methods which are much older that the weapons in this room. Ones that the Nazis have already been using against our people."