635798

Vater bent down so he was closer to the female. “Shouldn’t you be working?” he asked suspiciously.

The woman didn’t respond.

“What were you doing?” Vater asked, his voice slowly rising.

“N-N-Noth-” The woman was too nervous to continue.

Vater stood up. “Stand up.”

The prisoner did what she was told.

“Were you trying to escape?” Vater asked her.

The woman shook her head violently, her hair not moving because it contained so much oil.

Vater wasn’t buying it. “Are you sure?”

I looked at Vater. He felt my glance and looked at me, too. A stone-hard glare was carved on his face. I realized I should’ve been looking like that as well. I sucked in a breath, stood up straighter, and puffed out my chest. Maybe now I looked like a Nazi.

Vater looked back at the woman. He put his hand through the fence and grabbed her wrist. She gasped as he pulled her towards him. She was close now but still far enough so the fence wouldn’t electrify her. Vater pushed the sleeve of her left arm up. He studied her serial number.

“Six-three-five-seven-nine-eight,” Vater murmured. He looked at the frightened woman. “I’ll remember that.”

I could feel my face contort with confusion. Vater had explained to me the life expectancy wasn’t very long here. The woman in front of us was proving that wrong. She didn’t have an A or B in front of her serial number so her tattoo was part of the regular series. That was dropped back in May and replaced by the A and B series for the sake of better organization.

Vater let go of her wrist but before the woman could pull it back, Jonji bit it. I gasped and the prisoner screamed. Blood gushed out of her hand and onto the ground. Some even went into Jonji’s mouth. The poor woman tried pulling her hand away but Jonji held on. He growled loudly, scaring her even more. Tears rolled down the woman’s face at a rapid pace. After a few seconds, she gave up trying to save her hand and collapsed onto her knees in defeat.

Something pierced my chest while watching the woman wither in pain. Without thinking, I grabbed Jonji’s mouth and pulled it open. The woman quickly pulled her bleeding right hand away and held it in her left. Jonji barked at her but I pushed him back.

Vater glared at me. Then, he stuck his hand through the barbed-wire fence again, grabbed the woman by her hair, and pulled her towards him. She winced as she threw her hands out to keep herself from falling. When the dirt made contact with her wound, she nearly screamed.

“I hope you learned your lesson, six-three-five-seven-nine-eight,” Vater sneered. He pushed her back and she collapsed in the mud. Vater turned to me. “Are you coming?”

I nodded while looking at the prisoner.

Vater looked at her too. “This piece of shit will be fine.” He shook his head disapprovingly, spat on the woman, and pulled on Jonji’s leash. The two of them walked away.

I bent down to the ground. The woman was still lying in the mud, probably too frightened to move.

“Mahlzeit,” I said quietly.

The woman jumped into a sitting position. The side she fell on – her left side – was covered in mud.

“Come here. I’m not going to hurt you,” I whispered, trying to sound soothing.

The woman shook her head.

“I’ll check your hand,” I said.

The woman whimpered and crawled back a little.

I sighed. “Please?”

A cry escaped the woman’s lips.

“I promise not to hurt you,” I said, holding my hands up in surrender.

The woman didn’t believe me. As she stood up on her shaky legs, a few sounds escaped her mouth. It sounded like she was trying to whimper out a no.

“I’m not like mein Vater. I’m not like the other Nazis. I hate this place just as much as you do. Trust me.”

Her head shook frantically. She quickly turned on her heels and ran off towards the direction of Buna. Blood dripped down her fingers, creating a trail on the ground. I sighed and stood up. Slowly, I began to follow the footprints Vater and Jonji left in the dead grass.

I wanted to come back later tonight. The way the woman searched for whatever it was she was looking for… It was almost like she was familiar to that area. Maybe she visited that area often? Possibly. Maybe she found comfort there? Also possible. I would come back later. Note to self: Bring food and water. I’ve never seen someone look so hollow.



It was dark outside and I was walking towards the spot Vater and I found the woman. In my hand was a potato sack full of sandwiches, a canteen of water, and bandages. I knew it would take a lot of convincing, but hopefully the woman would warm up to me so I could give her these items. My Nazi uniform was still on. It wasn’t the scare her – no, no. I’ve done enough of that. I wore it just in case I was seen. This way, I could just say I was on guard duty.

From where I was on the path of dead grass, I saw the woman leaning against a brick pole that held the barbed-wires in place. She looked exhausted. Beyond exhausted. The closer I was, the more pained she looked. Her hand was no longer bleeding but it was covered in dried blood and deep gashes. It was limp as she used her other hand to hug her legs. Her eyes were closed and her face was covered in dried mud. The only “clean” spots were where her tears had left their mark.

I stopped walking once I reached the woman. I bent down on my knees. “Hello,” I said quietly so I wouldn’t startle her.

She was startled anyway. Her eyes shot open and she gasped loudly. She tried to scramble to her feet but her legs failed. Her cries carried out through the camp.

“Shh, shh,” I said. I looked around. No sign of anyone. Yet. “Don’t be so loud. I don’t want you getting caught. You should be in bed, you know.”

The woman froze.

“I’m guessing they leave the barrack unlocked?”

As the woman nodded, she quieted her cries. She continued to try to get as far away from me as possible.

“Let me see your hand,” I murmured.

I reached through the barbed-wire to grab it but the woman quickly took it away. She was here long enough to know not to trust the “nice” gestures of Nazis but I was wishing she would give in just this once.

“I won’t hurt you,” I said.

I reached in farther to grab her hand. But, as if on instinct, the woman slapped my hand away. She realized what she’d done within seconds and immediately begun cowering. Her soft whimper was the only sound in the night. Part of her face wasn’t hidden in her arms so I put my hand there. The woman’s body tensed up at first but slowly she calmed down. All whimpering stopped. She rested her body and leaned her face against my hand.

“There,” I whispered, rubbing my thumb against her cheek. “Hungry?”

The woman nodded slowly.

I took a small cheese sandwich out of the potato sack with my free hand. I tried giving it to the woman but she made no move to grab it. Sighing, I tore off a small piece from the sandwich. Then I put it near her mouth. The woman stared at the food with her eyes half-mast. Hesitantly, she slowly opened her mouth and I slipped the piece of sandwich inside. It only took her seconds to chew and swallow it. I put another piece near her mouth. She opened it without hesitating. As she chewed, she reached a shaky hand out for the rest of it. I gave it to her. As she ate, I leaned her against the brick pole and took her right hand.

“I’ll fix this up for you,” I said.

I took out the canteen and bandages from the potato sack. I twisted off the cap of the canteen with my teeth. Ever so slowly, I poured water onto the gashes in the woman’s hand. The woman winced and stopped eating. Her eyes were closed tightly.

I examined her hand. “At least it doesn’t need stitches,” I said. “Jonji didn’t get his teeth in that deep.”

When the woman showed signs that her pain subsided, I went back to work. I began to wrap white bandages around her wound.

“So,” I began, “were you really trying to escape earlier?”

The woman slowly shook her head.

“Were you… looking for something?” I asked.

She nodded.

“What were you looking for?”

Her left hand shook the sandwich that was almost gone.

“Food?” I tried.

She nodded.

“But what would you find around here?” I asked.

The woman shrugged, looking defeated.

“Alright. All done.” I made sure the bandages were nice and snug before I let the woman pull it back to her lap. By now she was already done with her sandwich.

“Would you like another one?” I asked.

The woman nodded.

I pulled another cheese sandwich from the potato sack and gave it to her. She took it but made no move to eat it. I was confused at this, but I brushed it aside.

“I should introduce myself,” I said. “I’m Wolfgang Heilbronner.”

The woman rolled up her left sleeve. She looked at what was tattooed there, probably debating whether or not to show me what her serial number was. In the end she did. 635798.

“What’s you real name?” I asked.

635798 tapped her tattoo with her right hand.

“Do you… not remember your real name?”

Again, 635798 just tapped.

“Can you talk?”

635798 nodded.

“Will you talk?”

She shook her head.

“Why?”

She shrugged.

I sighed. What was a woman like her doing in this dump? Was she Jewish? A Gypsy? Mmmm. No. Wasn’t tan enough. Mental? Lesbian?

“Why are you here?” I asked.

635798 grabbed a nearby stick and drew a Star of David in the dirt. She was part of the majority of them.

Suddenly, she wrote something else in the dirt. “Aber”. But. She pointed to herself and then to her head. She made a spinning motion with her finger. Then 635798 pointed at a Nazi barrack nearby. When she looked back at me, she shook her head and her arms a bit.

“So… You’re here because you’re Jewish,” I said. “But you are also… mental? You’re going to have to elaborate on the rest.” I didn’t understand her last gesture at all.

635798 grabbed her stick again and wrote, “Nazis weiß nicht.” Nazis don’t know.

My stomach churned. How was she able to get passed the gates?

I decided not to ask that question. “Is that why you don’t talk?” I asked.

She shook her head.

“Well… how bad is the mental disease?”

635798 thought about it for a while. Then she made a so-so gesture with her hand, shaking it side to side.

“Wolfgang!” a voiced yelled. “Where are you?”

“Shit,” I muttered. I looked at 635798. “I should be going.” I noticed she still held the uneaten sandwich. “Are you going to eat that?”

635798 nodded. Then, with her right hand, she reached through the barbed-wire fence and grabbed mine. She squeezed.

I raised an eyebrow.

635798 wrote in the mud, “Danke.”

“You’re welcome,” I said.

I grinned and reached through the fence to pat her shoulder. Then I stood up, wiping away loose dirt from my uniform. I looked down where 635798 was still sitting.

“Remember, you can trust me. I won’t hurt you,” I said.

635798 sucked in a breath. She held it in, letting me know that was her way of telling me she was not so sure yet.

Putting a smile on my face so she knew what I was about to say was a joke, I said, “Fine then. If you’re sick tomorrow, then that means I put poison in your food and you can’t trust me. If you’re fine, then I didn’t put anything in your food and you can trust me.”

635798 let out a breath and smiled. Despite her yellowing teeth, she had a nice one. It was big and made her eyes close a little, radiating a little dose of hope.

“Tomorrow then?” I asked.

635798 nodded.

I took off my cap and bowed. Then, realizing I left them on the ground, I snatched the canteen and potato sack. 635798 stood up, waved, and turned around. She walked away with the sandwich still in her hand. After making sure she snuck back in her barrack safely, I walked in the direction I came from. Vater and Jonji were waiting for me at the end of the path.

“Hello Wolfgang,” he said. “Who were you talking to?”

“No one,” I answered, not looking at him.

Vater gave me a strange look. “Are you sure? I could’ve sworn I heard your voice.”

“I was talking to… uh… myself,” I lied.

Vater’s strange look didn’t go away but he didn’t ponder me with any more questions. With his head, he motioned for me to follow him. As he and Jonji turned away, I looked back at the barrack 635798 entered. No guards or Kapos stood near the doors. No wonder she snuck out so easily. I turned around to follow Vater and Jonji.

I made a promise to myself as I walked. I told 635798 that I would never hurt her. Now my job was to keep that true. I may not have been able to protect her from other Nazis but at least with this promise, I was one less to worry about.