Chapter 1

December 5, 1941 9:40 PM

Heavy breathing
Two small feet hitting the cold ground

She ran through the familiar roads taking a turn at the old butchers’ street and into a hole at the grocery store that was shut down two years ago. The child’s heart pounded against her rib as she frantically looked around

“Ayden, Ayden where are you?”

Sounds of shuffling came from a corner of a dark room. Out from one of the cardboard boxes a boy with the same eyes as her climbed out.

“Ami why’d you take so long?”

From her pocket of her torn pants she took out a piece of rotten bread.

“Look I found food!”

The little boy limped towards her and stared at the unfamiliar item in front of him. The girl took off a piece of bread and stuck it into his mouth. He slowly chewed and the girl could see his spirit brightened just the tiniest.

“It’s very good. What is it?”

The girl laughed at her little brother who was barely seven. With the same blonde hair as her and shining blue eyes some people thought of them as twins until they found out the nine-year difference.

“It’s something to eat. Now hurry we have to leave”

Despite his older sisters command he chewed the bread slowly, savoring the taste for later. A soon as he finished he climbed on his sisters back and out into the open. In the year of 1940 the Nazi soldiers had come into their home and had taken their father away to be used as a German soldier while their mother was sent to a camp because of being Jewish. Amelia barely able to escape with, in that time, her six year old brother while she, newly turned fifteen, went out and hid in an abandon house just outside of their neighborhood. After three days they came out and found their whole neighborhood deserted.

All that remained was the tire tracks of the trucks that had taken their parents along with everyone that she had known.


December 5, 1941 11:01 PM

The soldiers marched down the street, combat boots hitting the stone pavement while some stood at the corners looking like stone statues not moving an inch. Amelia hid in the ally waiting for them to pass. The smell of urine and feces hit the two siblings strongly but after living in the streets for over a year their noses had become adapted. As soon as the marching soldiers passed and were out of sight she hoisted her brother into a more comfortable position for the both of them and made a mad dash towards the small hide away they knew well. But already on the other side of the street and heading towards the secret door she screeched to a halt when she found what was waiting there.

Her breathing stopped when she saw two light brown eyes staring down at her with dirty blonde hair just reaching just above his eyebrows. He wore the black uniform with the Nazi sign on his left shoulder which meant he was a soldier of high power. On the opposite shoulder he held a Karabiner 98k. His eyes pierced hers and then down at the Jewish star that was cut in half on her right sleeve. He couldn’t be any older then she was and if he was not much more than a few years!

Without one word he had turned around and walked out of the ally. Letting go the breath she was holding she looked at her little brother who was staring at the German soldier who had just walked away.

“Are they the people who took Mutter and Vatter?”

She couldn’t lie to him eventually he would find out the truth of what happened to this country and his loved ones.

“Yes”

Helping him get through the hole on the wall she got a good view of his bad leg which had become infected with bacteria and was close to not being able to be of use.

“Ami why are you crying?”

He passed his hand on her cheek and she saw his index finger wet. Forcing on a smile she pulled him down the hole and on to the box that was waiting for them.

“I’m happy to have you here with me”

Chapter 2

December 7, 1941 2:20 PM

“NO!”

On December 7 was probably going to be the worst day in Amelia’s life. First the Nazi soldiers had taken her mother and father away but now they were trying to take her little brother away. Holding his hand as tight as she could she pulled pulling him as far away from the German soldier.

“Du Balg! Let go!”

She didn’t. Instead she pulled harder digging her bare feet into the damp soil. The other guard got his large rifle and with the rear of the metal object he hit her not once but three times on her head. Amelia cried out at the throbbing pain in her head but all it did was made her hold on Ayden’s wrist even harder.

“Just shoot her!”

“She’s German! Kommandeur specifically told us not to shoot without his permission!”

He stared at her with his cold blue eyes and made a sound in between his lips.

“One less child won’t stop the world”

The other soldier looked at the scene before him. One of his fellow soldiers carrying a crying child while the other pulled to get her blood and flesh back to her. He raised his rifle hesitantly looking towards the two human beings in front of him and -

A shot was fired.

Both men turned to see their Kommandeur standing behind them with a smaller gun raised towards the sky.

“What are you doing?”

His voice had a hard edge to it that it even made a shiver run down Amelia’s spine. She couldn’t see him because the officer stood in front of her with Ayden trying to reach down to her. Deciding this was her only moment she kicked him on the shin with enough force to get him to go tumbling to the ground.

“Hey!”

The second soldier aimed his rifle at her again and doing the only thing she could think at that moment was to cover her brothers’ body using hers as a shield. Holding him close to her she awaited for the sound of the shot and the pain of it going through her but it never came all that she heard was the sound of skin hitting flesh and angry yelling in German. Daring to sneak a peak she turned her head and saw the soldier she had come face to face a few days ago. He wore an angry feature as he looked at the cowering officer who looked as if he was staring at death in the face. Those brown eyes, which held no expression a few days ago, now held many emotions at once.

“I want her taken to Plaszow. Get her and the child into the first train”

“Ja, Kommandeur!”

The soldier stood stiff and held out his arm. With one last look the boy, who literally was maybe a few inches smaller than the one he was commanding, turned on his heel and walked back towards the officers who were loading people on the trucks. The man beside Amelia and Ayden let out a loud sigh and mumbled under his breath,

“Stupid little kid, Can’t believe they actually made him a commander”

Roughly picking up Amelia by her elbow she stood and tried to carry her little brother who’s crying had died down. Almost dragging her he pulled her down the street where all the trucks were and people loading in it. She stared at all the men and woman, girls and boys, mothers and fathers all filled with confusion, anger, hope. He spoke with another officer who looked at Amelia with the same cold glare the first soldier had given her. Opening a door to one of the trucks, kids looked out at her as the soldiers threw her in and closed the small door, the only light that came in was from the sides that were filled with cracks.

Trying to fix her position to make sure that she and Ayden weren’t separated through the mass of bodies in the truck she could hear the rumble of the engine letting everyone know that the movement had started. Amelia looked over at the same pair of blue eyes and gave her brother a reassuring glance.

December 9, 1940 1:04 AM

Arriving at Plaszow the heads of the Jewish prisoners turned to see the trucks coming in. Some shook their head knowing very well what they were going to be put through while others prayed the newcomers wouldn’t suffer what they had been through. Just as soon as the trucks had stopped the doors opened and they began pulling the children out some yelling out because they were being separated from a sibling others because the men treated them too harsh. Once the soldier had caught Amelia’s arm another reached out and took Ayden. Standing quickly she stood up and tried to reach out but the soldier was quicker to react than she thought.

He backhanded her and threw her on the ground making mud cling to her face and clothes. She looked at the man who had taken her brother and had put him to the side where the kids around him were either looking deathly pale or where in a coughing fit. After all the children were out and placed on the soggy soil they were herded to different sections to this unknown place. When Amelia got enough mud off her face she saw the camp they had been taken to and quick enough her nose detected the smell of death. As her small group walked behind the tall soldier she stared at all the working woman out on the fields.

Many were malnourished and through the cheap fabric they wore you could easily detect how skinny each one was. There was one woman who had caught her eye. Black hair that was cropped shortly but her face showed determination, had some type of look that none around her had. The woman turned around and stared at Amelia dead in the eye following her every movement as if waiting for her to do something extraordinary. But a bile rose in her throat blocking out the scream she was going to let out when she saw the soldier stand behind the woman and shot her right on the head. From there everything seemed to go in slow motion.

The body hit the ground on its knees then tumbled to the ground. The large number of woman screamed, many panicked and ran around somewhat looking at lot like hens. Amelia turned her head and shut her eyes because she couldn’t take anymore as the sounds of shots that ran through the air. A hand touched her shoulder making her flinch at the new contact. She turned to see a girl around her age maybe even younger then her shaking her head.

“It’s best to not let them see you cry. It shows weakness for them”

Who was this girl? The thought ran through her head and with the back of her wrist she wiped the tears trying her hardest not to let the images replay in her mind. The girl offered her a smile and continued to walk next to her. They were led, Amelia plus six more other girls including herself, towards a tall building that was separated from the camp. Once the large door was open the talking inside seized and all eyes turned to them.

Many who were inside were young men all around their early twenty’s looking fresh out of high school. I knew something was wrong when I saw one of the men smirk and as if reading each others mind one by one they all did, something in their expression said that Amelia and her group were in trouble.

Chapter 3

December 13, 1940 11:45 PM

Amelia’s body lay on the carpeted floor with the roaring fire next to her. She was assigned to someone called Amon Goeth, the commander of Plaszow. All the things that man had done to her she knew that he was going to hell for it. From what she’s heard from many of the maids and even some of the soldiers Amon only used woman as a tool using them until they became unusable and then moved on to the next one. The door creaked open and with barely enough strength she turned her head towards it.

“Ah! Thomas! Come in, Come in”

She had found out his name a few days ago when she first entered this death hole. Thomas Trümper. The boy she had met that day in the ally and who saved her from the two soldiers. Apparently Thomas was Amon’s nephew since she had once heard him call him Uncle. The boy walked towards the balcony where Amon sat in his usual wooden chair with his rifle resting on his lap. He greeted his nephew with a hand shake and a wave indicating for him to sit down.

He would usually come around the same time everyday either to report something or speak about the politics and what was Hitler’s next plan. But today all Amelia was thinking about was her little brother. It had been four days since she had last seen him and all her hopes of him being alive were slowly diminishing. Even though she knew his mind was strong; his body was not and here once they see the slightest weakness from you they wouldn’t think twice about killing you.

A shot came out of the rifle but she didn’t even flinch from it. Her ears had become accustomed to the horrible sound knowing that once he was finished with her he stood in the balcony and shot at the poor inmates. Several more shots went and she heard him laugh.

“Hey Rommie! Pick that one up for me!”

They both entered the small office room, a look of satisfaction on the commander’s face.

“You see that? That’s what your missing boy”

He pointed his thumb towards Amelia who tried to move towards the end of that room. The corner made her feel safe as if no one could hurt her there.

“No thank you”

He respond quietly and even with all these things going through her mind she managed to blush finally realizing that he might have been looking at her even though she had nothing to cover her bare body. Amon patted his back and gave him a small push towards her.

“Go on I wont mind sharing her”

Thomas looked at his uncle and then at Amelia. Light brown eyes stared at dull blue ones. She wondered what he saw her as. A worthless human being? Or was he those very few who actually had a heart and felt bad for her?

“No thank you”

He said once again but this time he pressed ‘thank’ a little more. Loud footsteps came closer to Amelia and she suddenly felt the pain on her scalp. Amon grabbed a fistful of hair and pulled her up. She let out a cry but he immediately responded with slap to her face. Her right cheek was throbbing in pain as he shook her and screamed,

“Do it! Do it!”

With another powerful shake he let go and she plummeted towards the ground, salty tears ran down her cheek and hit the carpeted floor.

“Uncle I don’t see the reason why I would have to do thi-”

While he was to busy looking at Thomas, Amelia moved towards her corner and tried to hide into it as much as she could. She just wished that the wall would take her and gulp her down into a dark abyss where Nazis weren’t real; she and her family would be back together again and that everything was back to normal.

“Thomas if you don’t do as I say I will kill her right in front of you”

Amelia didn’t know what made her shiver. Was it the cold air coming through the open window or the gun that he was suddenly pointing at her? Amon met the young mans eyes making sure he got the message. Thomas looked at her and only her and for a second a small connection was made. Something went through those few seconds that they both understood as if they spoke it to one another.

The commander looked between the two and this time grabbed Amelia’s ankles and dragged her towards the open door that led to the balcony. Goosebumps raised on her skin as a cold draft entered the room. He then held her firmly by the shoulders making it impossible for her to get up no matter how much she squirmed under his force.

“Come on Thomas lets not waste her. She needs to be broken; needs to be tamed”

He talked about her as if she was a wild horse they had just captured and as much as she didn’t want to believe it he slowly, almost as if it hurt just to walk, bent towards her until his body was pressed on hers. Her mind didn’t want to register it. He was her only hope, her only savior of getting out of here. As soon as his hands grasped under her arms Amon let her go that idiotic smirk returned. He was trying to say something but with the blood rushing to her ears it made it impossible for her to hear anything.

The pain that she had endured the last few days quickly subsided and the grip on her shoulder tightened. She took a peek at his lips to try to comprehend what he was trying to say and when she opened her other eye she finally got it.

‘I’m sorry’

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 27.08.2010

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