we walked as one

The snow I walked on was painted red with blood, as some girls my age walked barefoot. I thought this march would never end. I knew what this was; it was a death march.

It was the middle of January with a few inches of snow on the ground. That’s when it happened. They called us out of our bunks in the camp an put us into lines. The general looked at us and spoke one command: “MARCH” and with that we started to move. I don’t no how long it was, probably a couple hours, when we stopped. The pain was almost unbearable, but I would'nt give up.

As many girls sat down to enjoy the peace of not walking, I didn’t. I knew that if I sat down and rested I might never be able to get back up. When the general told us to get moving, I watched as some girls were shot dead, because they could not get back up. Many girls cried, but I would not weep. I would stay strong. I would not show weakness.

As we marched, my mind began to wander towards my boyfriend. I wondered if he was alive, if he was hurt; I wondered where he was. Was he thinking about me? Was he missing me? I prayed he has not endured what have gone through in these three years we had been apart. He was the only thing keeping me going. The faint memory of him and the picture of him in my boot. Time passed and I never even noticed because I was remembering the memories of us.

Again, it was time to stop but this time for the night. Many girls lay down to sleep, never to awake again. I lay awake all night, fearful that if I slept I would never awake. When the morning came, the army woke the girls, many of them were frozen dead, others, their toes snapped off. I was thankful for my boots that I wore every day, knowing that they were keeping me alive.

Again we marched, and I thought of home, the warmth of my bed, or my mother’s sweet embrace. Before I knew it, we have reached a town. It was the third day of the march. We started with three hundred girls, and ended with forty. While were there, we heard the sound of machine guns. Frantically we all hid, while the Nazis ran out. For a long time, it sounded as though the whole war was right outside. Then it became completely silent.

All I could think was “Is it over?”, “Are we free?” . If not, I know I will fight because I have something to fight for…………….love.