635798

635798 refused to answer any of my questions for a week. We still met during that time of course. I had to bring her food. Letting her starve would’ve broken the promise I made to myself. She never looked at me as she ate. She just listened to me rant about almost everything. At the end of the night my right hand was squeeze and 635798 took her leftovers back in her barrack. The eye contact was still missing.

Fortunately, that was all last week. This week, 635798 was back to normal once again (as long as I didn’t mention the gas chambers of course). She realized that if I didn’t cause her any harm by now, I wouldn’t cause it in the future. We made eye contact more than ever, and every once in a while, 635798 would smile, brightening her mud-stained face. A few times, she even laughed.

I told her about life back home. She seemed surprised when I told her I wasn’t courting anybody. I told her about Abbey and Aalyshah and our home back in Berlin. Her eyes lit up when I mentioned my hometown. I told her about all the orchestra concerts I’ve been to, all the soccer games I played as a child, and even some of my dreams. She listened intently while I told her about how I never wanted to be here. She seemed rather flabbergasted. Then when I mentioned America, her eyes widened. I asked her if she had ever been there and I got a head shake of the head.

Raspberries were imported to us here at Auschwitz. I put some in a basket for 635798 and me to share. Then, so people couldn’t tell what I was taking, I put a piece of cloth over them. When I made sure no one was looking at me, I grabbed a map and ran out of my barrack and into the pitch-black night.

635798 was already by her brick-post. She looked at me anxiously once she spotted me walking over. I broke out into a jog, and then I sat down cross-legged once I reached my normal spot.

“Look what I have,” I said quietly. I removed the map and piece of cloth rom the basket. “Raspberries!”

635798 gasped and suddenly, a hand was outstretched to my side of the fence. I chuckled and gave her the biggest raspberry I found.

“Favorite?” I asked.

She nodded quickly.

I moved the basket over so she could grab as many raspberries as she wanted by herself.

As I plopped one in my mouth, I unfolded my map of Europe. 635798 watched me intently, juice dripping down her chin as she ate.

“I need to get to know you more,” I said. I placed the map so it faced her correctly. “Where did you live before you came here?”

635798 wiped the juice off her face with the back of her palm. Then she pointed to Austria-Hungary.

“Is that where you were born?” I asked.

She shook her head and pointed to Germany.

My eyes widened. “Where in Germany?”

635798 moved her finger so it was on top of the capital star.

I sat up straighter and smirked. “So we’re both from Berlin.”

635798 grinned.

I sighed. “You know, this isn’t the first war mein Vater served. He served in the Great War. Meine Mutter was a nurse and that’s how they met. Unfortunately, Mutter grew some hatred for Vater throughout the years. It’s because of this war. She doesn’t like his thinking. She hates how he sucked me into this.”

A sigh came out of 635798’s mouth. Her eyes sunk to a depressing level and she began to eat the raspberries slower.

“Do you miss your parents?” I asked.

635798 nodded slowly.

“What happened to dein Vater?”

A shrug was my answer.

“Was he weak?”

A nod.

“Maybe he’s dead-”

635798 covered her ears with her hands, dropping some raspberries. Her eyes glistened, and I knew not to carry on.

“Sorry,” I muttered.

635798 grabbed a stick and starting writing something in the dirt. It faintly said Der große Krieg.

“The Great War? Dein Vater was in it?” I asked. “Is that why he was weak?”

635798 nodded.

“What was his name?”

635798 smoothed out the dirt. With the same stick, she wrote out a new answer. Levi Cohen.

“Levi Cohen,” I whispered, trying to save it into my memory. I felt as if it was already there, buried somewhere, but I couldn’t remember when and where I first heard the name. “Levi Cohen. So your last name is Cohen.”

I received a nod.

“Six-three-five-seven-nine-eight Cohen,” I said. “When do I get to know your first name?”

635798 smiled and shook her head.

I laughed. “Want to know what’s strange? I just remembered Vater had some Jewish friends back when he served the war. He even found their lifestyle interesting. I wonder why Hitler was able to change his mind.”

635798 was in mid-gesture when something stopped her.
Suddenly, a whistle blew, warning the female prisoners there would be a roll call. 635798 gasped and looked back at the barracks in horror. There would’ve been no way for her to get there in time. I jumped up. Considering my only option was to climb over the brick post, I did just that. 635798’s eyes widened when she heard me jump to her side. I picked her up in my arms. I felt her hand grab the collar of my shirt tightly as I ran through the dead grass.

Sleepy women were still filing out when I reached 635798’s barrack. After making sure no one was looking at us, I snuck over to the side of the barrack. There was no light, so it was easy for us to blend in with the night. I stood 635798 up. She squeezed my right hand but slipped hers away before I could squeeze it back. I watched her slip into the crowd of women and before I knew it, she was standing in her usual spot next to the little girl.

Vater walked around the women with Jonji. Once at 635798, he stopped. He glared at her for a few seconds. Then he moved on.

As he was finishing up, I snuck over to the other Nazis. All five of them eyed me suspiciously. Vater stopped in his tracks at the sight of me.

“Wolfgang? What are you doing here? You’re not on duty,” Vater said.

“Couldn’t miss a roll call.”

Vater shrugged and walked over to face the women. “The reason we had this roll call,” he said, “was because we thought we were missing a prisoner.” At this, his eyes burned into 635798. He pointed at her. “You. Where were you?"

All the women and Nazis turned to look at 635798. She opened her mouth to say something but I interrupted.

“She was in the barrack all night, Vater,” I said. “She must’ve been. I saw her come out of the barrack with the other women.”

“Actually, I think I did too,” another Nazi said.

Vater’s glare deepened. He pointed at the frightened 635798 again. “Alright. But you. I'm keeping my eye on you."

I saw 635798 gulp.

“Back inside!” Vater yelled. “Schnell!

Jonji began to bark and the order was complete within a minute. A Nazi locked the door.

“Let’s get to bed, everyone,” Vater said, his voice softer now.

Everyone followed him to their special barrack but I lingered behind. I sat next to the barrack for an hour, making sure everyone was asleep. Then, getting out my set of keys from my pocket, I walked up to the door. It creaked as I unlocked and opened it, but not a soul awoke. I scanned the barrack for 635798’s bunk. It took a few minutes to spot her and the little girl fast asleep in the bottom one that was in the middle of a row.

I crept over to them. 635798 had the little girl wrapped tightly in her arms. I put my hand on her face and rubbed her cheek.

I sighed. Today, we were almost caught. I had to protect her more. If her father really was dead, she couldn’t meet him again just yet.

She still had a life of her own to live.