635798

Vater was a brute, a brute that needed a talking to. He seemed in charge of almost everything here. Gassings. Selections. Shooting patterns. And now he was apparently in charge of tortures given to individual prisoners. 635798 was right. What did she do? She kept her distance. She followed the rules. She never tried to escape. Why was Vater torturing her to the point where being dead was better? Vater must’ve been holding some sort of grudge. Something had to have happen before the day we first met. He wouldn’t have remembered her so well if something didn’t.

I ran towards the dining quarters. Vater was usually the only on in there at this time of night. No doubt we were going to explode into an argument then. It was Vater’s favorite thing to do when opinions differed.

I violently pushed open the doors of the dining quarters. To my surprise, Vater was inside with another person who was fortunately Jürgen. The two of them looked at me as I stormed over. Jürgen’s eyes widened and he twitched. Vater kept his patient stance.

“Are you alright, Wolfgang?” Jürgen asked. “Why are you so angry?”

I looked at Vater straight in the eyes. “We need to talk.”

Vater sat back and crossed his arms, waiting for me to begin.

“Maybe you should leave, Jürgen,” I said.

He was about to stand up but Vater put up a hand, stopping him. “Whatever you need to tell me can be said in front of him. I have no problem sharing secrets.”

My fists clenched but I didn’t argue against what he said. I went back to my original intention. “What is wrong with you? You’re okay with gassing poor, innocent people. You carelessly shoot your rifle. You bark orders at prisoners you know they can’t follow. And now this!” I threw my hands up in exasperation.

“What ‘this’ are you speaking of?” Vater asked. His volume was like a mouse compared to mine.

I slammed my hands on the table and leaned towards him. “The women you sent to Arzt Mengele.”

“What about her?”

“What about her? What about her? What do you mean, ‘what about her’? She’s dying in there. You’re purposely killing her. No food? No clothes? Letting Mengele perform experiments on her? I saw what that man could do. It isn’t pretty. Why would you let him do that? Why? What did she do to you?”

“Who are you talking about?” Jürgen asked, alert.

“She broke the rules, Wolfgang,” Vater said sternly.

“Who?” Jürgen was literally at the edge of his seat.

“She broke the rules because I told her to!” My eyes widened once I realized what I did.

Vater’s face finally changed. His eyebrows furrowed and he leaned over the table. “What do you mean you told her to?”

I sucked in a breath and held it.

“Can somebody please tell me who in God’s name you’re talking about?” Jürgen exclaimed.

“Wolfgang, are you having some sort of relationship with this girl?” Vater asked quietly. His tone was still menacing.

Jürgen’s eyes widened again, his mouth falling agape. The realization hit him, and he sunk into his chair. He covered his face with his hands, and I thought I saw him tremble.

“No,” I lied. I stared at Vater’s eyes, burning into them. “But I know the difference between right and wrong.”

“Apparently not. It was wrong for her to break the rules and right for me to punish her!” Vater exclaimed, making Jürgen jump.

“Technically,” I began, “she was just following my orders. Therefore she was in the right.”

“Don’t get smart with me.”

“You’re wrong. Wrong for doing this to her. Now she can’t escape Mengele. He’s too obsessed with her. She has to go through all this violent bullshit because of you. Don’t you know what Mengele does?”

“No. And I don’t care,” Vater said.

“See. This is what’s wrong with you. You’re heartless. That’s why you’re able to throw children into the crematoriums without any guilt. You’re able to laugh whenever a prisoner is tortured. You think killing innocent people is fun. You’re amused when people have their things taken away from them. Coats, houses, hair, name, dignity, anything. Anything is amusing to you. The fact that you think all these victims deserve it just because of their religion is what makes you the heartless of all. Bruno Heilbronner, you might as well be Adolf Hitler.”

Vater opened his mouth to say something, a smile forming on his face.

“And don’t think that’s a compliment,” I added.
Vater sat back against his chair. Jürgen’s eyes switched back and forth from him to me. I stood my ground.

“Wolfgang, is this your way of telling me you’re against the Nazi Party?” Vater asked quietly.

I nodded slowly.

“Then why’d you join?”

“You forced me,” I said through clenched teeth.

Vater looked back at his food that had remained untouched since I arrived. As he began to eat it, he said, “Alright. That’s all I needed to know. You can leave now.”

I let out the breath I forgot I was holding. I felt my stomach drop. Vater knew. He now knew I hated it here. He was going to rat me out. I would be done for, and 635798 wouldn’t be able to get my help. She would suffer alone and most likely die. I have failed her.

“She’s terrified of you by the way,” I said, not knowing why.

“Good. She should be,” Vater said.

“She knows you’re after her. Why? Why specifically her?”

Vater’s hand turned white as it clasped the fork tightly. With his teeth clenched, he said, “Resembles someone.”

I nodded slowly. “Bastard.”

Vater’s fork slammed onto his plate as he continued to eat. His eyes narrowed and his body shook. Jürgen raised an eyebrow at me. I smirked and turned away. I got to Vater’s breaking point and that was all I cared about. The only question was: Who was this someone? Surely it had to be a relative of 635798 –

Wait.

I stopped in my tracks and kept my back to Vater. “In the Great War, wasn’t there a Jewish man fighting along with the Germans? Cohen was his last name. Cohen… Cohen… Hmm. What was his first name? It started with an L…”

“Levi?” Jürgen exclaimed.

I turned around rapidly, snapping my fingers. “There you go!”

“Ah, Levi! Remember Levi, Bruno? Wasn’t he in our platoon?” Jürgen’s face was lighting up. “Man, how time flies. I haven’t seen him since the war ended.”

Vater was frozen. His fork was a little above the plate and his mouth was open. His brown eyes were blank as they stared at the wall ahead. Vater’s thoughts were somewhere else.

“You alright, Bruno?” Jürgen asked, shaking Vater.

Vater jumped, dropping his fork. He scanned me and then Jürgen in a matter of seconds. The two of us received a nod.

“Were you close to this Levi Cohen?” I asked.

“Not really me. But dein Vater was.”

“Best friends,” Vater nearly whispered.

“What happened to him?” I asked.

“Got married to another Jew. Had a daughter. They were probably killed by now,” Vater said. He mixed the food on his plate but he didn’t eat it.

“Why do you say that?”

“They were Jews, Wolfgang,” Vater said, voice cracking.

“Didn’t you help them at all? Levi was your best friend.”

Vater shook his head slowly.

Jürgen gasped. “What do you mean you didn’t help them? Levi is the reason you’re alive today! He saved you from that bomb! A life for a life, Bruno. Haven’t you ever heard of that?”

“I couldn’t help them,” Vater squeaked. “Once Levi’s daughter was born, we lost all contact. His family moved to a different part of Berlin. I couldn’t write to him. He didn’t give me the new address. Dear Lord, that prisoner looks like him. But his daughter is dead. That I know.”

“Why are you so sure about that?” Jürgen asked.

“Levi told me this before they moved: Not only was she Jewish, but she had a mental disorder. The Führer wouldn’t like that.” Vater sniffled. He looked away from me but I knew he was crying thanks to the quiver of his voice. “But if Levi needed any help, I would’ve given it to him. If I could save his family, I would.”

I shook my head. “No you wouldn’t.”

Vater looked at me, eyes wide with surprise.

“Prisoners are all the same to you. Haven’t you bothered looking for his family?” I asked, voice echoing throughout the dining quarters.

Vater looked away again. He shook his head.

“Exactly. If you did, you would know that his daughter is alive,” I said.

Both Jürgen and Vater jumped into an erect sitting position.

“Where is she?” Vater asked. “Maybe it’s not too late to help her.”

“It is. She’s here.”

“Then it can’t be that late. Maybe I can try to sneak her out. I have to do something for Levi. A life for a life.” Vater was frantic.

“No, Vater,” I said. “It is too late. She’s with Mengele.”

Vater froze. He made eye contact with Jürgen for a few seconds. His gaze turned to me. “No. You’re lying.”

“The patient you sent to Mengele for punishment? The one who can’t eat or wear clothes? That’s Levi Cohen’s daughter. Great job, Vater. I can tell you and Cohen are best friends for sure now.”

Vater stared at me in a shocked stupor, dropping his fork to the floor.