Gone Means Never To Return Again
A 'Boy In The Stripped Pajamas' Fan Fiction
By: Dark-Angel6212
It was a regular afternoon like any other day at Out-With. Gretel was in her room, staring out her window at Lieutenant Kotler as he guarded the house. Mother was talking with the family maid to lessen the feeling of loneliness . Father was in a meeting with other soldiers and Bruno was in the living room with his nose inside a book. Everything was as it should be- or so they thought. If only they were to know that things were to take a turn for the worse and soon. Too soon for anyone to stop it for it had been planned since long ago.
"He's so handsome," Gretel thought as she admired how the young lieutenant took of his cap and ran a hand through his hair, a habit he was known to do when he was thinking intently about something."If only he would notice me."
As if programed, Kurt turned to the house and settled his gaze on Gretel's window, a strange twinkle in his eyes. Once he spotted Gretel looking out her window he smiled and waved. Gretel's cheeks turned a light rose and she hoped the shadow the sun cast would not allow Kotler to see her blush like a little schoolgirl. Kurt waved for her to come outside and Gretel nodded, her two braids bouncing slightly as she did so.
She ran down the stairs even though she was repeatedly told not to or she would fall. Gretel ran through the house and out the front door. Slowing her pace, she made her way towards the lieutenant with a small smile.
"Hello Gretel,"Kurt greeted. "How have you been today?"
"Very good although life seems to always take a routine. Something new would be nice," replied Gretel. "How about you?"
"Good. I must agree that life always seems to take a certain pattern that you are eager to break yet something always stops you. Gretel, would you like to break that pattern?" questioned Kotler as he looked into Gretel's light eyes. They seemed to sparkle with hope and excitement.
"Of course I would, ever since we moved to Out-With there is hardly any excitement," nodded Gretel.
"What did you call this place? Out-With?"
"Yes, is that not what it is called? I believe I heard my father mentioning the name and it sounded like Out-With."
Kurt chuckled at how that name fit what they did to the people beyond the barb-wire fence. Although his laughter came to a sudden halt as he remembered exactly what is was they did to those innocent people. A nervous cough itched his throat but he proceeded with his question.
"Would you like to go for a walk in the woods? I promise to protect you," Kurt told Gretel.
Her heart beat faster and faster as he finished the sentence and she whispered a "yes."
"Very well," smiled the lieutenant and he folded his arm from Gretel to slip hers through. Gretel did so and they started walking towards the woods. The young soldier and young girl were soon consumed in evergreen trees and the shadows their ominous shadows.
"Mm, I like the smell here. It reminds me of Christmas back in Berlin. There was always snow and Mother would always plan a party with lots of decorations and a lot of food that all the guest would take home when there were leftovers." Gretel smiled.
"I remember when my family celebrated Christmas. We would always dance and everyone got gifts. It was really fun, I wish I could go back to those celebrations sometimes," Kurt said. His features turned grim all of sudden as he continued his story."But then my mother became ill. She passed away a month after my twelfth birthday and my father seemed to give up on life. Soon after my mother's death my father drank all his sorrow away in with alcohol. He died a year later form kidney failure and lung cancer he got from smoking so much tobacco." By the time the lieutenant finished his unfortunate tale, his eyes were glazed over as if he was reliving the terrible memories and grieving everything all over again.
"I didn't mean for you to remember all those things Kurt. I'm sorry for ruining the good mood," Gretel said, all signs of happiness or excitement had disappeared.
"Its alright Gretel, no need to fret. But there is one more thing you need to know,"the young man stopped walking and turned to Gretel, there was urgency in his voice. "You must know what the soldiers truly are and what they do. I am aware that through Bruno's bedroom window you can see a barb-wire fence with huts and many people in stripped clothing. Do you know what that place is?"
"Yes, its a concentration camp with Jews."
"Yes, and do you know why they are there?"
"They are in concentration camps because Jews stand in the way of Germany's success."
Kurt shook his head. "That is what they want the people to believe. The truth is that the Jews did nothing wrong, they are innocent. The Fury has formed an idea in his mind that Jews are standing in the way but that is not true. Do you know what the soldiers do to those people?"
Gretel shook her head and Kotler continued to explain , "they are killed. Brutally, too. The soldiers make them work without food or any other nutrition. Most of them die from malnutrition and exhaustion but the others, they are burned or shot. Some of them are even beaten to death." He said the words that meant death or murder with such hatred but surprisingly the hatred was not directed to the Jews but to Hitler and the other soldiers.
"But you're different," whispered Gretel. She avoided the soldier's gaze which was boring into her head.
"Yes, but you are not fully convinced," stated lieutenant Kotler and he lifted Gretel's chin to his face to study her expression. "Listen to me Gretel, I am different. I do not kill these innocent people. If I could do something, I wouldn't even have this job."
"Why are you a soldier then?"
"When my father became an alcoholic he believed that Hitler was correct. Since then he made it his life's mission to make me a soldier. I wanted to become a doctor to save lives not end them but my father was against it and every time I went against his wishes or read something that did not have to do with history, he gave me a beating. He was never the same after my mother passed away," he muttered the last sentence.
"I believe you," Gretel finally responded as she gazed into his light blue eyes.
Hope shone in the young soldier's eyes and he grinned, radiating happiness. He pulled Gretel into a tight hug and she hugged him back. "Thank you Gretel," he exclaimed.
"One question though," Gretel said once they broke apart. "Why did you tell me?"
"Because I saw your interest in history increase and I noticed how you were starting to believe what the Fury said in the tapes. I didn't want you to go down my road and suffer the consequences in the future," answered Kurt.
Gretel smiled. "Thank you Kurt."
Without thinking about it, Kotler took Gretel's hand and told her, "I care about you Gretel."
Gretel's heart started racing again and she truly did wish that he couldn't feel it in his hand.
"I care about you too," Gretel's voice came out in a shy, soft whisper.
In an act of impulse that neither of them could control, they both leaned in and before any of them could do anything their lips met. An electric shock shot through the both of them and brought them closer together. Lieutenant Kotler had wrapped his arms around Gretel's waist as she wrapped her's around his neck. Neither of them thought that a walk in the woods would lead to this. Gretel always day dreamed about kissing Kotler inside the shed in the house while Kurt never thought he would fall for someone that was a bit older than half his age. An unlikely couple yet, it happened.
Bruno saw this from afar for he had escaped the house to see Shmuel by the fence. Although he thought the young man was too old for his sister, he was glad that Gretel had someone to talk to and be friends with. After admiring his sister's happiness he continued on his journey with a smile.
After their kiss, Gretel and Kurt laid down on the grass, Gretel laying on the man's chest as he hugged her close. Their silence was not uncomfortable but nice and calming until a question popped up in Gretel's mind.
"Why can't you leave your job?" she asked.
"Because I have seen too much. If I were to quit, I would get killed because the Fury does not want anyone outside of his soldiers and their families to know what happens inside the concentration camps. Before someone is assigned to be a soldier they are told that they cannot reveal much to their families. For example, you mother is aware that the Jews are cremated, that is one of the reasons that she is angered with your father now, and it was through pure accident of another soldier's mouth that she found out. The original plan was that she was to simply know what everyone else knew, that Jews were kept in the concentration camps because they were standing in the way of Germany's success. The only extra fact that she was to be told was that they worked very hard. That is as far as her knowledge was to go."
"Is my father a murderer?" whispered Gretel into the young man's uniform, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.
Kurt sighed but it only took a matter of seconds for him to answer the girl. "In a way yes but in another way it is not entirely his fault. It all depends in the way the facts are displayed to the soldiers. Most soldiers are blinded by the way the facts are presented, therefor convinced of Hitler's words. Unfortunately, your father is one of those unlucky soldiers."
"I'm glad your not."
"Me too. If it weren't for my mother telling me the truth behind Hitler's words, I too would be a blinded murderer."
"I hope that one day Father would see his mistakes. I would tell him myself but heaven knows what his reaction would be like."
"It would be best for him to realize on his own, trust me."
"Alright," Gretel responded and she took in deep breaths as she relaxed in the soldier's arms.
Back at the house it was very different from the scene in the forest with Kurt and Gretel. Everyone was frantic searching for Bruno in a chaotic mess. Mother had given him permission to play on his tire swing one last time but when she looked out the window, he was no where to be seen. The gate to the house was open and all too soon Mother knew Bruno had escaped. No one knew where he was or even imagined what was to happen to him- soon.
Gretel was too relaxed and full of glee to hear the silent whispers and rustles behind her, near the barb-wire fence that separated two people for ridiculous reasons. Although lieutenant Kotler had been trained to hear the sound of a pin being dropped onto a thick carpet, he did not hear the whispers or rustles either for he was lost in his thoughts and happiness.
And while all this was happening, a young boy was helping his friend with hopes of finding his father but the young boy was beginning to drown in his own fear. His mind screamed at him to go back and forget about all that ever happened, he never wore the stripped pajamas, never shaved his head, never moved from Berlin, never met the boy in the stripped pajamas that weren't really pajamas.
Peace and tranquility in one scene, chaos and panic in another scene and finally, hope and fear in another. Can you believe all these mix of emotions were cause by one man? A masked murderer that was blinded by wanted victory that he would never reach and was a puppet being controlled by the puppet master who was worse than a blinded killer. Their hearts beat at a normal rate while the other hearts pumped fast as the knowledge that a heart had stopped entered their minds.
A heart that would never grow again, a heart that would never love again, a heart that would never pump blood through a gleeful child's body who had a bright future ahead of him, all crushed by one man and one man only. The worst part? That man was his father.
In the end all who were concealed in the darkness, believing what was told to them about the camps and Hitler's words because it was their only light, finally stepped out of the dark to be exposed to the truth. At last they noticed that a father had killed his son because of greed and being power-hungry. Looking back to the memory, the soldier in charge wished he could go back in time and reschedule the cremation or cancel it completely. But people cannot go back in time as much as they want to. They just have to deal with the fact that gone means never to return again.