The Slave - pg. 148

Once more the Cossacks attacked Poland, once more
they slaughtered Jews in Lublin and the surrounding areas.
Polish soldiers dispatched many of the survivors. Then the
Muscovites invaded from the east and the Swedes from
the north. It was a time of upheaval and yet the Jews had
to conduct business, supervise the tilling of leased fields,
borrow money, pay taxes, even marry off daughters. A
house built today would be burned tomorrow. Today a girl
was engaged, a few days later raped. One day a man
was rich, the next poor. Banquets were held on day, the next
funerals for martyrs. The Jews were constantly on the
march, from Lemberg and back to Lemberg, from Lublin
and back to Lublin. A city that was secure one day was
under siege the next. A wealthy man would wake to find
he must carry a beggar's sack. Entire communities of Jews
turned Christian and though some later reassumed their
own faith, others remained in darkness. Poland teemed with
deserted wives, raped women, brides run away from their
gentile husbands, men who had been ransomed or who had
escaped from prison. God's wrath poured down on his
people. But the moment Jews caught their breath, they
returned to Judaism. What else could they do? Accept
the religion of the murderer?