Destiny (Germany, 1944)

Today

June 26th, 1944

Today, as I woke up in the morning, I looked up at my wall clock and realized I was late for work. I jumped out of my bed in one swift motion, grabbed my toothbrush and toothpaste along with my bathrobe and hurried off to the bathroom.

Ten minutes later, I finished combing my hair, and tied it into a single pony tail. I wasn't pretty, not the slightest bit, in my opinion. But I wondered what my mother would think of me when she saw me... If she ever saw me again. If she were alive somewhere, would she be thinking about me? Would she remember it was my birthday today? That I turned 20 today? Would she have forgotten about the way she used to get me ready to go to the Church with my sisters on my birthday?... I got carried away by my line of thought, although it was no use pondering over pointless thoughts.

I had two slices of bread in my kitchen, if it could be called a kitchen. The room itself was divided into a small cooking area in one corner, and a mattress by the side of a wall, acting as the sleeping area. There was a bathroom with a door whose hinges were rusted and creaky, but somehow, still attached to the doorframe.

Although the bread was almost stale, as I had brought the loaf three days ago (which reminded me that I had to buy a new one). I stuffed it in my mouth and chugged it down with some water. I put on my overcoat, (my only overcoat, gifted to me by my eldest sister) and got out of the door (which again, creaked like mating mice) and locked the door in place.

As I walked to my workplace, I kept wondering about the last time I saw my mother, Kathryn Maslow. I was fourteen at that time, we used to live in a village, almost 12 kilometers from Dortmund. My father wasn't even my mother's husband, he was married to another woman. My mother used to work at his house, as a housemaid, which she remained even after my birth. I used to live with my mother in one corner of the cowshed. My stepsisters had taught me how to read and write, and some basic mathematics, as I never went to school.

My father was a German merchant and my mother was a Jew. That day I was feeding the cows when I heard shouts from the front gate of the house.