635798

635798’s gassing was scheduled for noon. Vater drove a borrowed truck towards Auschwitz I – Birkenau. Many Nazis called out his name, wondering what he was doing. He ignored them. When some asked why I wasn’t in uniform, I kept my silence.

By the time we arrived at the gas chambers, five trucks of prisoners were already there. Women and some children climbed out of them all. I craned my neck, looking for 635798. She wasn’t anywhere until Arzt Mengele showed up. Arzt Mengele carried her blanketed body to the doors. There, he set her down. I tapped Vater and pointed.

“Get ready. The uniforms are in the back,” Vater said. “Remember, Henryk will be waiting by the tracks. Don’t be alarmed when you see him. He was Six’s Kapos. And please pray Siostra Katarzyna received my letter. If she did, she’ll be at the train station. Just look for an elder woman. If not, here’s her address just in case.” He handed me a piece of paper. “Now go.”

I jumped out of the truck, grabbing the uniforms along the way. Vater left before I hid myself behind the wall. The pants went over my jeans and the shirt over my white t-shirt. Damn. You never realized how thin these were until wearing them. The sleeves itched as I wrapped a white band with a blue Star of David around my arm. I put a cap on to hide my hair and slapped some dirt on my face. After tucking the women’s uniform under my shirt, I stepped out from behind the wall.

The women were gone and Kapos – both men and women – were filing in. I ran up to them, successfully sneaking myself in their line. They began the shower façade as soon as they entered. I tried, but the look on each face shocked me. I haven’t ever seen so much fear in one room. It wasn’t hard to tell that each feared it was the end but prayed it wasn’t. All cried as they stripped. I scanned for 635798. She couldn’t be seen in the midst of the women. I helped children take off their uniforms as I walked up and down the changing room.

“It’s just a shower!”

“Don’t worry! After this you’ll be back in your barrack!”

"We’re going to die!”

“Lord, help us all!”

“Somebody pray with me.”

“Mama!”

I kept walking, collecting more uniforms along the way. Women were already making their way in the gas chamber. Hopefully Six didn’t walk in already. At this point she would’ve done it willingly.

When I turned down one of the last halls, my heart sank. The blanket 635798 came wrapped in sat on a bench but she didn’t. I scanned the room, twisting my body. No. She couldn’t have. I turned towards the gas chamber. I inched closer, squinting. Yes. She did. 635798 was already inside. She sat against the wall, hiding behind the standing women’s legs. I ran inside, dropping the uniforms.

Only one Kapos called after me.

The women screamed as I barreled towards them. I pushed them aside, trying to get to my destination. 635798 didn’t move when I called out her number. She stayed on the floor, hugging herself. She still had bandages wrapped around her broken wrist and ankle. I thought I saw a tear on her cheek.

“Six-three-five-seven-nine-eight! Listen to me! Look up!”

No response.

The gas chamber was filling fast and I had to work faster. I sat myself in front of 635798 the best I could. When I practically climbed over her, I put my lips on hers to stop her from screaming. She gasped instead. I pulled away quickly. There was no time to waste.

“I’m getting you out of here!” I yelled over the pandemonium.

635798’s eyes shook as tears welled up.

“You may think you’re done, but I know you’re not,” I said. The more women came, the more I was pushed onto 635798. Our chests were together and I was forced to rest my chin atop her head. “You’re surviving this war whether you like it or not.”

“You came,” 635798 whispered.

I wiped a tear away. “Of course I did. Now let’s go. They’ll begin any second.”

I gathered 635798 in my arms. I didn’t realize how many women they squished in here until I had to push through them. None of them moved out of the way for us. Some begged for me to save them too. Others begged to just take the children. I blocked them out. I would’ve tried, but not all of them could live with Siostra Katarzyna.

I wasn’t even four feet away from the doors when they suddenly closed. The click of the locked boomed and the lights went out simultaneously. The screams grew louder, popping my ears. 635798 hugged me with all the little strength she had left. As she cried in my ear, I made my way to the door and banged.

“HEY!” I screamed, voice cracking. “HEY! YOU LEFT ME IN HERE! GET ME OUT!” I hit the door harder.

“It’s too. Too late! We’re stuck!” 635798 exclaimed. I felt her tears on my neck.

“It can’t be. Someone saw me walk in here.” I threw my whole body against the door, scaring 635798. “OPEN UP! SCHNELL!”

A sliver of light came into the gas chamber. I hugged 635798 tightly. She was right. We were stuck. That light was from the Nazis opening up the opening on the ceiling. Any second now we were going to breathe in the Zyklon-B and fall dead. This was all for nothing. What was Vater going to do when he found the two of us dead?

I nearly yelled when someone grabbed my arm. I was pulled and then thrown to the floor with 635798 still in my arms. 635798 hid herself under me. The gassing had started. The screams got louder and I could hear bodies falling the ground. I put my lips to 635798’s forehead and stayed there. At least the end could be like this.

The screaming suddenly muffled. Strange. Did hearing go first when dying? I looked up. To my surprise, we weren’t in the gas chambers. The room was cleaner, brighter, and there were benches. Each bench had piles of uniforms on it. No. This definitely wasn’t the gas chambers. It was the changing rooms.

“Why would you walk in there in the first place?” a female voice asked.

I looked behind me. A female Kapos stood with her arms crossed next to a male one.

“You’re lucky we heard you,” the male said. “Now hurry up. They want these uniforms out of here before the gassing is complete.”

I waited until they were on the other side of the changing room before climbing off of 635798. I put a finger to my lips and received a nod. I got her uniform from underneath my shirt and helped her put it on. I picked her up, holding her close. She weighed no more than a small child. She even looked like one in my arms.

The pile of uniforms I dropped sat untouched on the floor. I knelt down and 635798 helped me surround herself with them. The pile was over my chin by the time she was hidden completely. The other Kapos didn’t notice me walk out with a prisoner.

The screaming didn’t stop.

Once outside, I walked with another Kapos to the barrack that kept the uniforms. Nazis weren’t there so I decided that that was my time to run. The Kapos turned back at the sound of my heels scraping against the ground. I was gone before he made a sound.

The distance between Auschwitz I – Birkenau and the tracks weren’t exactly close by foot. I ran, but I still feared of being caught. A running prisoner caused suspicion, let alone a running prisoner with uniforms in their hands. 635798 stayed silent in her hiding spot. Every so often she would move, readjusting herself underneath the uniforms. She had the one I was wearing clenched tightly in her fist, pulling every time I tripped over some invisible object.

Nazis were everywhere in this camp. This wasn’t a part of the camp I was familiar with so I improvised hiding spots along the way. 635798 and I hid behind boulders, wood, barracks, anything. I lost a part of a uniform once in a while. I purposely walked in zigzags so they wouldn’t leave an obvious trail.

In the midst of our journey, sirens blew throughout the camp. I froze. These weren’t just any random sirens. These sirens were to let the camp know that a prisoner was missing. It didn’t take long for Nazis to start screaming out 635798’s number. She pulled on my uniform, signaling that she could hear them. I looked around frantically, desperate to find anything to hide in. German Shepherds barked behind us.

“Shit,” I muttered.

To my right was some barbed-wire fence. Twenty feet before it sat a broken down barrack surrounded by unused wood. After a quick glance behind my shoulder, I bolted towards our new hiding spot. I set 635798 and the uniforms on the ground, patting 635798 so she knew I was still there. With the sirens still ringing in my ears, I set aside wood, making a deep hole in the middle of the pile. When I managed to get to the ground, I put 635798 and the uniforms inside, putting myself in right after. The barking of the German Shepherds got louder and I quickened my pace. I piled the wood on top of our hole, blocking all sources of light. There was so much that I only gave us enough room to lay down, curled in balls.

It wasn’t even a minute later when a German Shepherd threw itself against the pile of wood. I covered 635798’s mouth to stop her from screaming. She pushed herself against my chest, moving from underneath the uniforms. For about three minutes we listened to the Germen Shepherd sniff around and the Nazis bark orders at each other. When the German Shepherd gave up, the Nazis’ voices disappeared. The sirens kept wailing.

I sighed, leaning my head against some wood. Now that they knew 635798 was missing, we were going to have to hide here for three days. That was how long it took Nazis to give up searching. We were going to be here without any food or water. We couldn’t stand up, let alone sit up. There would have to be no speaking and hardly any moving. One could never know which movement was heard. The only thing we had was a pile of thin uniforms.

Not all went well.