Love from Death

Tossing and turning, I just couldnt get to sleep. It was that way for the three months I was in the ghetto. It was always cold, and smelled of rot and death. My family shared a small dark room with two other families. We all kept to ourselves, it was best for peope to not get so attached then. I wrapped my arms around my sister Sophie, who was three years younger than me. At sixteen, she was beautiful, but a rebel. When we were in town, she always hung out with the wrong people. Her 'friends' took her to the corners where the German Soldiers were, and they would taunt them and throw rocks at them. I was just about to fall asleep when our father burst into the room. He was part of a secret watch we formed because we had heard of the Soldiers in other towns raiding the Ghettos and taking people away in large trucks. Our father told us that the soldiers were here, going in houses and dragging whole families out into the street. We rushed outside, trying to run or hide, but they were already in our block, putting everyone in trucks, and if they tried to resist, were sick, or even cried, they shot them right there infront of everyone. The next thing I knew, I was being lifted into a truck by my hair. An old fat German Soldier was screaming at me, his spit hitting me in the face. I turned around and saw Sophie. She was about to be pulled into another truck when one of the Germans she used to make fun of saw her. He said that he would deal with her himself. He stood behind her, and kicked her down. Then he pulled out his Luger. The last thing i saw through the crowd of trucks and screaming people was the flash of that Luger, and my sisters dead body hit the ground.

A couple of days? A week? A month? I dont know how long we spent traveling. We were all pushed into a cattle cars, about 70 of us in each one. We didnt have any food, and little water. The only thing i can really remember during the trip was the few stops we made. Every stop, more bodies were taken out of the train, and more people pushed in. One woman even gave birth while we were in there, and at the next stop, the screaming baby was pulled from its mothers arms and flung into the pile of dead bodies.

We arrived at the camp with a jerky stop. The soldiers grabbed us and pulled us out of the train car and forced us at gun point into two seperate mobs of people. Men and boys of about 14 and up were in one, and women and children were in the other. The men were then filed through a gate and down a long dirt road. Next, a man walked out onto a wooden platform infront of the rest of us. He was short and squat, with a silly mustache. He looked like and older and fatter version of Hitler, who I had seen several years ago in a parade that went through my town before the Jews were forced into the ghetto. The squat man told us his name was Wolfgang, and that we were now at a work camp, but not to worry because the work camp was far better than the ghettos. Then he said that all the children needed to go with some of the guards for showers and special care. The children left with the soldiers and then the rest of us shuffled into the camp, showered, and then they shaved our heads saying "No hair, No lice". Then they tattooed long numbers on our left arms. After that, we were assigned barracks. During this time i heard a few of the Germans talking about gas chambers, and thats when i realized we were never going to see those children again.

Whistles blowing, dogs barking, people yelling. We were used to waking up like this during the several weeks we have been at the camp. Hannah, my new best friend grabs my hand and pulls me down out of my bunk. Hannah has light brown hair and green eyes, and is alittle bit heavier than me. She is a Romanian Gypsy. Everyone in the barracks pulled into a line infront of the bunks. Hannah leans down and whispers in my ear. "Emily, Mrs. Schwartz isnt in line..." She struggles to say it because she has a stutter. We look down the line and see that the line is thicker infront of Mrs. Schwartz's bunk. The doors to our barracks open with a loud crash and Wolfgang walked in, followed by his SS pets. A man i have never seen before walked in behind them. I could tell right away that he was different. He didnt have that cold look in his eyes the way the rest of them did. His look was almost... Sympathetic. They inspected each of us and slowly reached Hannah. Hannah was already very scared of the Germans. Wolfgang looked at her and gave her a cold, heartless smile. He knew that she stuttered, so he told her to say a sentence for him. "Just a simple little sentence, so,ething that a five year old could say" he said. She looked at him with a confused look. "Nevermind my dear. Just say one word for me. Simply say.. 'schnell'". She opened her mouth and instantly began to stutter on the first syllable. Wolfgang slaped her so hard, she fell to the ground and began to cry. He stood over her, yelling curses and calling her a filthy Gypsy pig. The SS officers behind him were all laughing, but the new German man looked away with a painful look in his face, almost like he was the one recieving the abuse. I instantly knew he wasnt soulless like the rest of them. Wolfgang stopped yelling at Hannah and walked to the end of the line where Mrs. Schwartz was suppose to be. He shoved the other girls aside and gave out a low chuckle. He whistled and the SS pets went down to him. They came back carrying Mrs. Schwartz's limp bodie. As Wolfgang and his pets passed the new German, he bowed his head in respet for Mrs. Schwartz. This german was truly beautiful.