Chapter One: A New Beginning

The war between Hitler and the Jews was growing; we were not winning, the concentration camps alone had taken thousands of us, leaving little children and infants alone, and afraid. We were hidden in some small town in Bulgaria that had yet to be invaded by those insects, it was as far away as we could hope and pray. I was the eldest of five, Eighteen years old and had never seen anything terrifying in my whole life with the exception of being frowned upon as a Jew; my mother had always said that was enough to see. My brother Noah would come home each day with having won another fight with thirteen year old adolescence about his facial features. My mother would frown and simply say you cannot fight a battle by yourself, and she was right. I thought though at least he's trying.

I was unable to attend school, the principal and teacher had refused to educate me, so I got my knowledge from books that Rose, a kind old librarian would lend. She also secretly taught me arithmetic among other things, she always said I was her best student. I grew very fond of that lady; she was one of those people that changed your life and made you regret nothing and taught you to be thankful about what you have and what you are willing to work toward. She made me bright, and most importantly she made me strong.

Sadly, I was with her that day they swarmed in and took us. Bang! The door fell to the ground the dust fading up into the air.
"Get against the wall! NOW!" The soldier yelled,
"Please, don't hurt her",
"SHUT UP! Or I will kill her" He screamed at her,
"Don't", she whispered to the soldier,
"I won't, if you shut the hell up, walk into that closet there and close the door and don't come out until we are gone or else I will kill her do you hear me, I will put a bullet through her head, you don't want that on your conscience now do you?",
She slowly walked towards the closet and went into it with out protest and shut the door behind her, I saw her say "Sorry" with tears in her eyes, and I knew she was. I pressed my back up against the wall, with my hands on my head holding on for dear life, thinking I was going to die.
"Are there any more of you here?"
"No?" I said,
"You filthy liar" He whacked me in the head with the handle of his gun, I fell to the ground.

Technically, there was no one other than me and the librarian in the building at that time, there was only my family that was in danger of being captured, he knew I wouldn't have told him where my family was, didn't mean he had to be a jerk about it and hit me in the head. Ouch my head, I woke up with a huge lump, and a stinging cut, blood dripping down my face. Not only that I was scared and had no idea were I was, I only knew that where ever or what ever I was in seemed to be moving, then someone spoke,
"You know that their taking us to Dachau" in a shaky tone,
"Really, that's heard to be the worst, Rose is she alright? Did you see her?"
"Who? That elderly lady, Yer, the last thing I saw was her head been blown off, I'm sorry kid, you know the Nazis they will just kill for the sport of it, she was just there to kill"
"Then why didn't they kill me?" I asked. She paused before answering.
"Because it's not your turn to die yet" with those words I was silenced and turned to the wall and thought about all that she had done for me, and for my family.

I could not believe what I heard; I was devastated, more than that I was mad. I felt alone, worried I was also on my way to the scariest place in the world; I was on my way to Dachau. I started to think, what about if my family isn't there? Where they have been taken? Have they been taken? Were they found? Most importantly, are they alive? A million questions poured into my head and I didn't know the answers to them…

"We're going to be here a while kid, what's your name?"
"Abegayle"
"Abegayle, Just, Abegayle?"
"No, Abegayle Tomas, What's your name?"
"Garna Adams"
"How long have you been in here?"
"6 days, it's been better than a camp, let me tell you something, they don't try to trick you in here, here you're safer than you will ever be from now on"
"You've been at a camp? And what do you mean you're safer here?"
"Yer, I have seen terror that you have never imagined possible, I have seen things that would make even the fearless man of all want to turn around and escape and be anywhere but there, those magazines with those little head lines about it being a great place for discipline and a fun learning experience is a bunch of bull"
"I know that, someone told my sisters and me once as he was passing through, it was a soldier that was changing locations, like us now, he told us that it was a bunch of propaganda that Hitler commanded done and that it was way worse than a war, it was extermination"
"And how did you reply?"
"Well, My sister and I figured that he didn't like the Jewish very well for many reasons based on his appearance and just the way he spoke to us, So I looked him into the eye, and I said to him, you can't kill something that doesn't want to die, someone will stop this, they just gotta."
"Did he say anything back?"
"Yes, He only said, that they can try and he asked where are they then?" Then he continued on his way.

I laid back and turned onto my right side and curled up, resting my head on my am.
"I'm kind of tired; I am going to rest now, Good Night, Garna"
"Good Night, Abegayle, Sleep well tonight, for tomorrow we shall be in hell"
I opened my eyes and stared into nothing, I was just stunned by what she had said "hell" I stared in that same spot till I eventually drifted off into a sound sleep afraid by what tomorrow will bring.

"Wake up, you filthy Jews, and welcome to Dachau, ain't it grand to be in the bestest place in the whole wide world. Just think the sun is shinning, the grass is green ain't it better than having to sit in that wagon for another minute, and look an execution is going on at the moment, WOW! Jeepers you guys will get to watch that before you go and get signed in! Aren't you both just getting treated like queens here, usually there'd be a lot more bodies in that cart but you see you didn't tell me where they were"

I slowly opened my eyes and looked around; everything was bright, especially after being in a cart all for a very long time. The soldiers had three Jewish people lined up against the gate to the camp, they took their guns and marched forward three paces and stopped, then slowly turned and faced there unarmed opponent on the other side, the got their guns ready and then they aimed and they shot, Three dead bodies laid there on the ground and no one even bothered to pick them up and give them a proper burial, then I saw a young boy walk over, and stand in front of the bodies and recited the Kaddish, interrupted by a solider he scattered nervously away.

"Glorified and sanctified be God's great name throughout the world which He has created according to His will. May He establish His kingdom in your lifetime and during your days, and within the life of the entire House of Israel, speedily and soon; and say, Amen.
May His great name be blessed forever and to all eternity.
Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted, extolled and honored, adored and lauded be the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, beyond all the blessings and hymns, praises and consolations that are ever spoken in the world; and say, Amen.
May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life, for us
and for all Israel; and say, Amen.
He who creates peace in His celestial heights, may He create peace for us and for all Israel; and say, Amen."