Life Is Beautiful
001 .
The sun was setting sooner than Rebecca expected it too. She picked up her pace and looked behind her several times expecting a soldier to appear and scream at her to hurry and get home before curfew was up.
She had only a few minutes left to get home, and she was so close.
A shout interrupted her from almost running home, "You there!"
Rebecca closed her eyes and swallowed turning around to face a Nazi soldier.
"Ahh, a Jew. Better hurry up, curfew will be up in just a few minutes." He smiled a vicious cruel smile at her and she inwardly flinched.
"Middle of the street! Don't pretend you don't know the rules!" He shouted, causing her to flinch and turn toward the street.
She had forgotten that she couldn't walk on the sidewalk, a privilege she had lost just last year.
Her pace now picked up faster than she had planned and soon she was standing in her doorway, slipping off her coat and hanging it on the coat rack.
She had expected to see her mother cooking dinner in the kitchen, waiting for Rebecca to serve the table, and her father reading the daily paper on the couch.
But that wasn't the case.
Her father was pacing around the room holding a paper in his hands and her mother was sitting on the couch rocking back and forth.
The tension in the room frightened her and she uneasily spoke, "Father? Mother? What's going on?"
She was now completely in the sitting room standing in the middle watching the stress unravel on her parents face.
Her mother looked up and let out a cry, Rebecca's heart stopped.
She ran over to her mother and wrapped her arms around her, "Mother what is wrong?! Are you alright?!"
Her mother shook her head and placed her face in her hands.
"Father, whats wrong with mother?" Rebecca looked up and spoke to her father who had stopped pacing.
He handed her the sheet of paper in her hands and Rebecca felt like a bullet had hit her straight in the chest.
"This can't be." She whispered and looked up at her father.
He closed his eyes and nodded.
"They cannot make us do this! I will not!" She crushed the letter into a ball and threw it across the room.
The letter was from an SS officer, stating that they would evacuate the Straughten family from their home tomorrow morning and send them to Auschwitz . Being half Jewish because of her mothers religion, they had a small privilege at the concentration camp.
They would not be working with the rest of the people there, the people there would be working for them.
Her father being a catholic, but open to the Jewish religion and culture was being punished for marrying a Jew.
Rebecca's father sighed, "Rebecca, darling. Go get one of your suitcases and put as much clothes, shoes, socks, necessities as you can fit." He grabbed her shoulders and lifted her from the couch.
"Father, I don't understand." His words weren't making sense, was he actually going to comply to this?
"Rebecca, we are going into hiding."
She had only a few minutes left to get home, and she was so close.
A shout interrupted her from almost running home, "You there!"
Rebecca closed her eyes and swallowed turning around to face a Nazi soldier.
"Ahh, a Jew. Better hurry up, curfew will be up in just a few minutes." He smiled a vicious cruel smile at her and she inwardly flinched.
"Middle of the street! Don't pretend you don't know the rules!" He shouted, causing her to flinch and turn toward the street.
She had forgotten that she couldn't walk on the sidewalk, a privilege she had lost just last year.
Her pace now picked up faster than she had planned and soon she was standing in her doorway, slipping off her coat and hanging it on the coat rack.
She had expected to see her mother cooking dinner in the kitchen, waiting for Rebecca to serve the table, and her father reading the daily paper on the couch.
But that wasn't the case.
Her father was pacing around the room holding a paper in his hands and her mother was sitting on the couch rocking back and forth.
The tension in the room frightened her and she uneasily spoke, "Father? Mother? What's going on?"
She was now completely in the sitting room standing in the middle watching the stress unravel on her parents face.
Her mother looked up and let out a cry, Rebecca's heart stopped.
She ran over to her mother and wrapped her arms around her, "Mother what is wrong?! Are you alright?!"
Her mother shook her head and placed her face in her hands.
"Father, whats wrong with mother?" Rebecca looked up and spoke to her father who had stopped pacing.
He handed her the sheet of paper in her hands and Rebecca felt like a bullet had hit her straight in the chest.
"This can't be." She whispered and looked up at her father.
He closed his eyes and nodded.
"They cannot make us do this! I will not!" She crushed the letter into a ball and threw it across the room.
The letter was from an SS officer, stating that they would evacuate the Straughten family from their home tomorrow morning and send them to Auschwitz . Being half Jewish because of her mothers religion, they had a small privilege at the concentration camp.
They would not be working with the rest of the people there, the people there would be working for them.
Her father being a catholic, but open to the Jewish religion and culture was being punished for marrying a Jew.
Rebecca's father sighed, "Rebecca, darling. Go get one of your suitcases and put as much clothes, shoes, socks, necessities as you can fit." He grabbed her shoulders and lifted her from the couch.
"Father, I don't understand." His words weren't making sense, was he actually going to comply to this?
"Rebecca, we are going into hiding."
♠ ♠ ♠
A new story, I got the idea while sitting in class. The Holocaust has always been an interesting subject but unfortunate as well. The updates for this story won't be as "regular" as my other stories, but I just wanted to post this, and the first chapter to see everyones thoughts. If you like it, please comment. It would help so much, and maybe even help the process of updating.Thanks for reading .