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“Yes, tomorrow.”
They came across a field between two bombed-out buildings and Edek stopped them at the outskirts.On the other side of the field were two trucks and a black staff car.They were parked on the grass.
The sun had set behind them and black shadows hung over them and lengthened across the field, giving the entire scene a sinister look with the remnants of a building in sharp relief behind them.
Edek beckoned Jan and Walter deeper into the ruins of the first building and pushed a finger to his lips.
“Circle around the outside of the field and you can watch from the building yonder.Do you see it?”He pointed to the outline of the partially collapsed building behind the Gestapo soldiers, who milled about in the field smoking cigarettes that glowed red in the failing light.
Jan nodded.
Walter scratched his nose.“What are they doing?”
“You’ll see.”Edek’s eyes darkened.“When I’m finished, I’ll return and meet you here.Make sure no one sees you.”
Jan was beginning to think they shouldn’t have come.Why had Edek encouraged them if they weren’t supposed to be here?The last thing he wanted was another close encounter with members of the Gestapo.The memory of his visit to their headquarters still haunted his dreams at night, leaving him in a cold sweat with tears on his cheeks.
They watched as Edek lumbered across the field, shoulders rounded and hands hanging loosely by his sides.
“What do you think?”asked Walter.
Jan spat the grass stem from his mouth.“Let’s go.We can keep out of sight if we stay in the shadows of the trees and buildings.They’ve got their vehicle headlights illuminating the field, so they won’t be able to see anything beyond.If we’re quiet, they’ll never know we’re there.”
The two boys jogged through the bombed-out building, navigating around the crater at its centre and leaping over piles of bricks.They skirted around the field, making sure to stay in the shadows.
Walter tripped on a pile of bricks and almost sprawled into the dirt, but Jan caught him by the arm and steadied him.They waited in silence a few moments, breaths held in their lungs, to see if they’d been heard.But the Gestapo were talking and laughing loudly amongst themselves and didn’t seem to notice the clatter of bricks that skidded across the broken timber floor.
Jan and Walter exchanged a silent look, then continued on their way.They stopped close to the soldiers and crouched down behind a half-destroyed wall.The building they were in looked as though it’d been a store of some kind, but there was no roof, and everything had been looted from the shelves.The front entrance was nothing but a crater in the ground.
It was difficult for Jan to remember a time when his home hadn’t been under siege or occupation—it felt as though it’d always been that way.He didn’t give himself the luxury of sifting through memories or dreaming of the future.He inhabited each moment with the will only to live and to ensure his loved ones survived.Nothing else mattered.
When the ghetto was built, he’d been intrigued by the adventure of smuggling goods to his Jewish family.But ever since his arrest, he hadn’t been able to shake a growing sense of doom that hung over him daily and invaded his sleep.
“What are they doing?”asked Walter, shuffling forward on his haunches to get a better look.
Jan didn’t respond.He had a clear view of the field.The staff cars were parked so that the beams of light from their headlamps illuminated a patch of dirt in front of them.The Gestapo officers were gathered in a semi-circle around the lit-up space, puffs of smoke issuing from their mouths in bursts.
In the middle of the lighted ground was an enormous pit.Dirt was piled up around it, and on those piles of dirt knelt dozens of people.A group of emaciated men stood back from the rest.They were dressed in striped rags.Some of those kneeling sobbed, and others were silent.Several women held children close with desperate arms.
All waited while the men guarding them smoked cigarettes and made jokes behind them.Several of the men were speaking about a night out at awirtshaus,or tavern, on the outskirts of town.Jan had picked up enough vocabulary over the years to understand the gist of their conversation.They’d met some girls and were discussing which of the girls was the prettiest.One of the men thought it was the blonde girl, but the others chose the brunette.
Walter’s face fell as he took in the scene.
“We should go,” said Jan.A sense of foreboding pushed him to move, to go anywhere else other than there.Why had Edek brought them?What was his purpose?
“No,” Walter said.His voice was quiet but firm.
They saw Edek talking with one of the soldiers.He stood off to one side.Then the soldiers raised their machine guns and began to fire.Jan couldn’t watch.He bowed his head, squeezing his eyes shut tight as the row of men, women and children who knelt along the edge of the pit were shot in the back.
When the shooting stopped, he looked first at Walter.His friend hadn’t turned away.He surveyed the carnage before them, face pale and eyes devoid of emotion.
Jan’s heart thundered against his rib cage.He couldn’t bring himself to look up.To take in what he knew he’d see.Finally, he raised his eyes and looked.Several officers were walking down the line, turning their victims over so they lay face up.
Any who had fallen forward were rolled over by hand or a swift kick.The Gestapo continued their conversation about the previous evening, discussing whether or not they should return to the samewirtshausthat evening.
Bile rose up Jan’s throat.
Walter still hadn’t moved.
