A girl called A-18352: The Story of a Child of Auschwitz

October 11 1939

      For the last month, everything has been tense. Mamusiu and Tate speak and hushed whispers, when Haya and I are nearby. At night, Haya sometimes slips off of the house, I've caught her going through a window more than once.
       I can't go outside or look out a window. Mamusiu always keeps the curtains drawn and anything valuable hidden. She said it was so it couldn't get stolen. She said everything was alright, but, I'm not sure if I actually believe her.
     She has sewn money in between the seams of every coat in the house, "just in case". Haya was sitting in a chair with bandages on her hands. When she came back in through the window this morning they were raw and bleeding. She sprayed Mamusiu's perfume all over herself to cover up the smell of lighter fluid in her hair. I was scared for her.
     I was playing with Fayge's little building blocks, as I had been for the last hour, when someone started banging on the front door. I got up and went with Mamusiu to answer it. As soon as it was open, four German soldiers burst into the house. I just clung to Mamusiu's skirt as she watched the storm through the house. One yanked Haya out her chair by her braids and dragged her to the front door.
     Before I could figure out what was going on, in the chaos, I felt the butt of a rifle slam into the side of my head. I fell, releasing my grip on Mamusiu, before blacking out before I even hit the floor. The last thing I heard before I fell unconscious was Mamusiu and Haya screaming.
     I woke up on our couch, my head pounding and my vision blurry. I placed my hand up to my head and felt the dried blood in my hair. I looked to the side and saw Haya back in her chair. Her eyes were red from crying and she had dried blood covering part of her dress. Mamusiu came into the living room from the kitchen. She walked over to the couch I was laying on, placed a bowel of Kapusniak in my lap, and used a wet rag to clean the side of my head. Her hands had bandages on them too now. I looked her in the eyes but received nothing but a blank stare. Something happened, but I don't think I want to know what.