635798

Wolfgang!” Vater ran into the headquarters, beaming. A paper was in his hand. “Wolfgang! The family is coming!”

My coat dropped out of my hands. My family was coming to Auschwitz?

“Uh, Vater?” I asked sheepishly. “Shouldn’t we visit them? I don’t think Auschwitz is the kind of place to bring our family.”

“Nonsense!” Vater exclaimed. “This is a great place! They could see what we do for a living. They’ll get a taste of what Hitler wants.”

I sat myself on my bed. I was originally getting ready to see 635798. Plans were suddenly changing.

“Another thing,” Vater said. “I heard you killed a Kapos yesterday. Great job!” He patted my shoulder.

“Yeah…” I needed to change the subject. “Let’s get back to the family.”

“Ah, yes. My friend is picking them up at the train station in a week,” Vater said. “Get everything ready. Even the dogs. I’m sure Abbey would want to spend time with them.”

I smiled a little. Abbey always had a thing for animals. One thought bothered me greatly. How would Aalyshah react to a place like Auschwitz? She already knew what went on here. Would she try to prevent all the things Nazis did to prisoners? Or would she just walk away and pretend it wasn’t happening? Aalyshah was a mysterious girl when it came to her feelings. I wouldn’t be surprised if either one happened.

“Where are we going to meet them?” I asked.



I stood in a mansion I have never stood in before. This mansion was located about two miles away from the death camp. It belonged to the general who I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. Jürgen was surprisingly a nice fellow. He laughed a lot and I've never seen him frown yet. Of course, this mansion was away from the prisoners so I had no idea about his Nazi side. He was glad to let Mutter, Aalyshah, and Abbey stay with his family at his home instead of our headquarters.

635798 had been let out of the hospital by now. I’ve seen her limp her away to a new Kapos two days ago, her uniform still tattered. She didn’t notice me though. We haven’t talked since that day in the clinic. I was terrified of getting caught again. 635798 couldn’t die. She had to survive this dreadful war.

There was something that worried me, though. Even this Kapos has been taking her somewhere else to go in order to work instead of Buna. I couldn’t ask anyone where, or else suspicions would arise. I had to wait for the right time to sneak her away. Unfortunately the wait seemed to be taking too long.

I hoped 635798 saw Chaya. The poor girl couldn’t get out of the bed anymore. SS men just left her there instead of forcing her to work. Even they knew she was going soon.

A knock sounded at the door. I stiffened up with Jürgen’s family while Vater beamed. The ears of the German shepherds stood up. Everyone was looking at the door. Jürgen swiftly made his way over, despite his round-self. Before opening the door, he grinned what a teenage girl would probably think was orgasmic. The door opened with a loud crank and I heard his baritone greet the visitors. My breath hitched. Get ready.

“We’re here!” The tiny voice echoed through the nearly empty living room.

Three blond females walked in, each carrying a suitcase of their own. Abbey, my nine year old sister, was beaming and jumping with excitement. Her tight curls swayed along. Aalyshah, my sixteen year old sister, was much calmer. She stood still in her sapphire blue sundress, her feet crossing at the ankles. Her brown eyes were naturally wide and examining her new surroundings. Next to her stood meine Mutter. Never before have I seen her look so distraught. Her hair was pulled back in a bun so I was able to see her eyes. There seemed to be traces of tears. Their tracks were red against her sickly pale skin. Was she crying from fear of times here, or for what she felt seeing Vater and I now?

“Wolfgang!” Abbey sang. She dropped her suitcase and bolted towards me.

“Oomph!” Her hug pushed me back a few inches. “Great to see you too!”

Abbey moved on to Vater which was where Mutter already was. Aalyshah wrapped her arms around me. I embraced her in a tight hug. She rested her head against my chest and closed her eyes.

“How have you been?” I asked.

Aalyshah squeezed my uniform. “Scared for you.” She pulled back to where she was arm’s length. “Something’s been bothering me the whole time you were gone.”

“What?”

“Did you kill anyone? Please tell me you didn’t.”

My breath caught itself in my throat. Was I supposed to lie and let her live happily because of something that wasn’t true, or tell the truth and hurt her?

Aalyshah noticed my silence. “You did, didn’t you?”

“Aalyshah, it’s a little too early in your visit to be asking such questions.”

My sister opened her mouth to say something but was forced to silence by Abbey’s voice.

“Puppies!”

Abbey pushed passed Aalyshah and me to get to her destination. Tokyo and Rome hid behind their mother, Germany. Berlin happily ran up to what was going to be a new friend.

“Welcome to my home,” Jürgen said, walking up to Mutter. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Frau Heilbronner. I’ve heard so much about you.”

Mutter sent a joking glare at Father. She looked back at Jürgen. “Pleasure.”

Jürgen clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “Well then! How ‘bout a tour?”

I looked at Vater. He glanced at me for a second before looking back at Jürgen.

“A tour of what?” Aalyshah asked.

“Ausch-”

“No!” Aalyshah picked up her suitcase. “I’ll stay in my room.”

Jürgen almost looked taken aback. His mouth was agape and eyes widened.

“Room, please.”

“But you have to be in the tour,” Abbey said. A squirming Berlin was in her arms.

“No I don’t. And I won’t.” Aalyshah’s mouth was set.

Jürgen called one of the prisoners who were working for him. A crippled, aging man shimmied into the room. His gray and blue striped uniform was mangy and plastered with holes. Each hole seemed to contain a wound. He picked up Aalyshah’s suitcase and the two of them walked up the stairs.

“He needs new pajamas,” Abbey said.

As their footsteps faded, Mutter turned to her. “I’m afraid you can’t come, dear. You’re too young.”

“I’m nine. That’s not young,” Abbey complained.

Mutter suddenly had a hard glare, and Abbey said no more.

“I think Wolfgang should show Helga around. You and I have a lot of work to do, Jürgen,” Vater said.

I sighed and made my way towards the door. Mutter said her goodbyes to Abbey and the Nazis. Once we were together, we left the mansion.

The walk was the most silent ten minutes I had the whole time I was at Auschwitz. We trudged through a shaded, green forest. Mutter seemed shocked when we reached the barbed-wire fence. It was unbelievable how such beautiful greenery was around such a trashy hellhole. I brought Mutter to the entrance where the sun shone brightly on the ARBEIT MACHT FREI sign. We walked along the set of train tracks. I brought her to the women’s ward first. We entered a barrack.

“Belongings are collected here. As you can see some just came. It usually takes a few hours for inmates to clear everything out. Rings are there, glasses there, clothes there, and all the mini piles are everything else.” I pointed about the room.

Mutter walked over to the pile of suitcases. She sat before one that was isolated in a corner. The hinges creaked and the locks were broken. Mutter tried to close it but it wouldn’t align correctly anymore. It seemed it was ink-black at one time. Now, it was a faded gray. The writing that was on it was fading as well. It must’ve been in this room for months.

“What do these markings mean?” Mother asked.

“We noticed the Jews would put their names and year they were born on their suitcases,” I explained. “Sometimes even a Star of David. Can you read what’s on that one?”

“A Star of David. Whoever this person is was born in 1921. I can’t read the name,” Mother said.

I peeked over her shoulder. “Tzipora,” I read. The last name was illegible.

Mutter set the suitcase aside. “I wonder if she’s still alive.”

We left the barrack.

The tour went on. I brought her to the barber. She was shocked at the amount of hair that lied on the floor. I showed her the showers and disinfectant room. Then we walked to the barrack that held all the uniforms. Mutter had a hard time believing that the time prisoners spent before was spent naked. She wasn’t too fond of how poorly the uniforms looked, either. I brought her to where the tattoos were done. Mutter refused to look inside. New prisoners were inside, and we could hear all of them cry.

“What kinds of tools are used?” Mutter whispered.

I shrugged. “I don’t know how any of it’s done.”

On our way to Buna, we walked passed some of the barracks which the women slept in. I let Mutter peek inside 635798’s since everyone was away at work. As she walked around, I checked on Chaya. In her usual bunk, she was curled in a ball, sweating and breathing hard. She even had a thumb in her mouth, which was unusual for someone her age. I knelt down and felt her forehead. Her skin was scorching. She didn’t stir at my touch, telling me she was fast asleep.

“Wolfgang, don’t the prisoners get bedding?” Mutter asked from afar.

I stood up. “If you count floorboards as bedding, sure.”

“Each get their own bunk, correct?”

I sighed. Mutter had a lot to learn.

“Three to a bunk, Mutter.”

She was silent for a minute. “Each get their own blanket in the winter?”

“One per bunk.”

Mutter stated that she wanted to leave.

Five minutes later, we were in Buna. Mutter watched the women dig, lift, and other things that would have no importance later in the day. She jumped whenever someone dropped dead.

“Happens often,” I said.

Mutter’s eyes widened at me.

I caught sight of Lenz in the distance. I took in a deep breath and held it once he made eye contact with me. A grin swept across his face when he saw Mutter. He ran over.

“Frau Heilbronner! So nice to see you.” Lenz hugged Mutter. “How are you?”

“Fine, thank you. And you, Lenz?”

“Fine and dandy!”

“I heard you are with somebody?”

“Gretel is just swell!” Lenz exclaimed, smiling. “You’ll love her! She’s the one who got me over here. How about your children? Anybody courting?”

At this, Lenz eyed me suspiciously. We glared at each other.

Mutter was oblivious to the tension. “Not that I know of. Abbey is too young and Aalyshah has rather high standards. Wolfgang hasn’t been fond of anybody for a few years.”

“Oh, really? Are you sure about that?” Lenz’s eyes were still on me.

“Yes. Why?” Mutter’s eyebrows were knitted together. She was feeling the tension now. Her eyes scanned both Lenz and me, but stopped at the sight of the rifle on Lenz’s back. “Oh, dear! Lenz, what are you doing with that awful weapon?”

“Oh. This?” Lenz swung the rifle around. “It’s just for this.”

Lenz carelessly aimed the gun. Unfortunately, it hit a target. I watched blood spew out of the back of a woman’s head. She dropped to the ground as remnants of the blast faded. Terrified women looked over at us. Mutter’s eyes were wide.

“Lenz!” I exclaimed angrily.

“What?” he asked, aggravated.

“What’s wrong with you? Why would you show meine Mutter that?” I asked. My face was burning red with anger.

“If a person like you can get used to it, I’m sure deine Mutter can too. She’s going to have to if she’s staying here,” Lenz said.

Mutter whimpered.

“We’re leaving, Mutter,” I said.

We did so, leaving no goodbyes for Lenz.

Mutter didn’t seem to want to continue the tour, but I had to. Vater wanted to make sure she saw everything. We cut across Buna to the men’s ward. Mutter watched German shepherds attack adults, even children. I brought her around the barracks, and then showed her Block 10.

“This is where Arzt Mengele stays. He’s one of Vater’s friends. He has a strange fetish for twins and people with ‘extraordinary’ traits. Does a lot of experiments on them.”

“What kind of experiments?” Mutter asked.

“Not sure. I’ve only heard rumors so I don’t know what’s true. Apparently he tries to conjoin them. Others say he tries changing their eye color. Supposedly he even cuts them open to compare organs.”

“Vater is insane to be friends with him,” was all Mutter said.

We passed a wall during our tour.

“A shooting happened here. I’m not sure what exactly happened. No one wants to tell me. All I know is that men were brought over to this wall and killed by Nazis,” I explained.

I thought I saw tears well up in Mutter’s eyes.

Next I showed her the building where the standing rooms were. I told Mutter how prisoners were sent there to stand for hours to days at a time. They couldn’t sit down since the room was packed with so many people. It was a way of making them insane.

There was one more thing Vater wanted me to show Mutter. I was dreading this part of the tour. I stayed silent until Mutter spoke.

“Wolfgang, are you with someone? Lenz’s response made me a little suspicious.”

“Maybe. If you promise not to say anything.”

“I promise.”

I stayed silent. Mutter was bound to go running to Vater if I told her about 635798.

“Wolfgang?” she asked.

“There is a girl. Jewish. My age. Brown hair. Chocolate brown eyes. Doesn’t speak. Only known by her number,” I said quickly.

“What’s her number?”

I refused to tell it.

Mutter seemed to understand. “Do you love her?”

“I killed two Kapos in order to save her life.”

Mutter stopped in her tracks. “You, of all people, killed two people?”

“More.”

Mutter’s mouth dropped.

I sighed. “It’s my job sometimes. Come on. I’ll show you.”

I brought Mutter over to a secluded area. There was one building there, big enough to fit one hundred people. We stood in front of the door. It was locked, signaling a session was going on.

“Mutter, do you remember Aalyshah’s Jewish friend?” I asked.

“Shifre?”

I nodded.

“Yes. I remember her very well.”

“She died in one of these. I watched it happen.”

“What is this?” Mutter asked.

I clenched my teeth, debating whether or not to tell her. I ended up doing so. Vater was sure to ask questions later.

“This is a gas chamber. It fits more than one hundred people at a time. The prisoners strip naked because we force them to. We tell them it’s a shower. Instead of water, they get Zyklon-B, a fatal gas. It only takes fifteen minutes for everyone to die. Then they go in the ovens located in the crematorium. See that black smoke coming out of those chimneys over there? Smell that? They’re burning people now. Some people are gassed right as they get here. These are the people I deal with. They’re children, pregnant women, the weak, and the elderly. I have to do this at least five times a week.”

Mutter’s eyes were the widest I’ve ever seen them at the end of my explanation. Her mouth was agape.

“You’re lying,” she whispered.

Suddenly, screaming erupted from the gas chamber. Mutter jumped. I was used to it by now.

“There are windows if you want to check,” I said, pointing to one.

Mutter followed my direction and peeked inside. For the next fifteen minutes, I watched her stand there, paralyzed. She didn’t move. She didn’t speak. It was almost as if she became a statue. I listened to the screams. Children, elderly. I learned how to depict them over the past few weeks. This batch just came in with the other arrivals. Their souls would be gone soon.

As the last of the screaming faded away, Mutter began to tremble. She was still looking in the window when she asked, “Oh, Wolfgang. How do you bare in a place like this?”

I shrugged. “Used to it, I guess.”