Set It All Free: Part One

The Nazis led us outside and pushed us into the back of a truck. The wind was cold and bitter as we drove, whipping us in the face and stinging our eyes. I blinked the tears from my eyes and looked over at Adam. His cheeks were pink from the cold and his eyes were dull and frightened and did not hold his usual sparkle. He looked over at me and gave me a weak smile. I returned the same smile.1

Two hours later, we arrived at a train track. The cars were smelly and looked as though there were used to transport cattle. Many other Jews were already inside, and they all looked scared. Some were old and wrinkled; others were as young as two years old, crying in their mother's arms. I looked at Papa with questioning eyes. He just shook his head in sadness. I think he knew what was coming, but everyone was to scared to admit it.2

The Nazi soldiers pulled us out of the back of the truck and set us on the ground, pushing us toward the train.3

"Kommen Sie voran!(Get on!)" one shouted.4

We climbed aboard a car and sat next to a girl who looked to be about my age. She had blue eyes and dark brown hair in loose curls. She was very pretty.5

"Hello," she said in an unusually cheerful voice.6

"Hello," I replied shyly.7

"Do you think they will send us to the camps?" she asked.8

"I don't know," I said quietly.9

"They probably will," she said.10

I stared at the girl. She was unusually cheerful about going to one of the camps. I wondered if maybe she was one of those people who were mentally disturbed. 11

"I'm Abigail," she said.12

"I'm Adalia," I replied.13

She nodded and gazed over at Adam, eyeing him carefully.14

"Who's he?" she asked.15

"My brother Adam," I replied.16

"How old is he?"17

"Eighteen."18

She nodded and walked over to Adam, sitting down next to him.19

"I'm Abigail," she said in the same voice she had said to me.20

"Adam," he said quietly.21

"That's a nice name," she replied.22

"Thank you," he said.23

Abigail nodded and started glancing around the rest of the car. 24

I looked outside and saw more trucks arriving and more Jews getting out. Some of them came into our car, and others were taken to other cars. I head someone screaming and a man shouting. A Jewish man ran to our car and tried to jump in.25

"Help me!" he cried. His face was stained with tears and dirt.26

"Bekommen Sie ihn!! Schießen Sie ihn! (Get him! Shoot him!)" one of the Nazis yelled.27

Gunshots went off and there was a dull thud as a man hit the wet ground. Silence fell upon the train as the feeling of death settled over the area. Even the babies stopped crying. The Nazis walked over to the man and picked him up. They carried him over to a ditch and tossed him in, not bothering to see if he was still alive. 28

We all knew there was much worse to come. Women started crying and the babies screamed. All the men looked grim and scared. Abigail had tears streaking down her face.29

"Papa," her lips formed the words but no sound escaped. I stared at her, my chest hurting.30

"Papa!" she screamed in the most heart wrenching way. I started crying, just from hearing her wails.31

"Papa! Papa!" she screamed over and over.32

"Verschlossen!(Shut up!)" one of the Nazis yelled at her.33

She looked at the soldier for a moment then dashed out of the car. She jumped to the ground and punched a soldier in the stomach, grabbing his gun. She raised it to her temple.34

"Ich würde dieser Weg dann an den Händen von Ihnen Schweine eher sterben.(I would rather die this way than at the hands of you pigs.)" she said in German, her voice laced with malice and pain.35

Another gunshot went off and Abigail sank to the ground as blood spattered on the Nazis and some of the people in the car. I gasped and screamed as I realized blood had spattered on me. Adam quieted me and held me close. I cried and cried, even after the Nazis had closed the doors and sent the train off.36

Who knows where we will go or what will happen. Will there be more deaths like we witnessed today? Will Mother and Papa and Adam be killed? Will I die? How can death come so swiftly?37