Chapter 12

There was no time to hide. The selection had already begun. Men, women, and the very few children left were being lined up for selection.

" I thought you said that the selection is going to be tomorrow! Nathan!" I couldn't believe this. I felt as if God would never give us a break. I felt that things were only and had only gone from bad to worse.

As the frantic search for Izak and Elena worsened, so did the crowd control. Everywhere, people were running, confused and scared. The Nazis around us were shouting orders and pointing their guns at us to make us confused even more.

"Mama, Papa! Where are you?" Nathan and I scanned the crowd for their faces. We could hear the cries for help from hundreds of people but could do nothing for them. Then, in the distance two voices shouted above all the rest.

"Nathan! Llana! We are over here!" Nathan grabbed my hand and pulled me towards where Izak and Elena were. When we finally found each other we had no time to say anything. Elena grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the women's line.

"Mama, wait!" Nathan took my hands in his and kissed me hard on the lips.

"In case I don't make it Llana, I need you to know that I love you."

"I love you to Nathan." And before either of us could say anymore, once again, we were separated into the crowd.

" Left, Right, Left, Left, Left!" Elena held on to my hand tightly. I was so worried. There was no pin I could stick into my finger to brighten up our cheeks and our time was drawing nearer towards the death doctor. And for some reason, the Nazis insisted on playing lively music during selection.

"Llana, where ever you go, I will not allow you to go by yourself. So get in line before me. If you do get selected to the left, I will go with you. I don't care what I have to do, we will stick together. You are like one of my own children. If I get selected to the left and you to the right, promise me that you will go on and stay with Nathan and Izak. I love you Llana."

"I promise Elena. And thank you. I love you too."

When my turn came to face the death doctor, I did something that I never did before. I looked into his eyes and tried to gain as much sympathy as I could. That's when he came close to my face with his.

" Are you frightened of me, young lady?" He had this evil smile across his face.

" Y-Yes Sir." I prayed that I had given him the right answer.

"Would you like to go to the left, or to the right. The choice is yours." I didn't know if he was joking with me or not.

"Right Sir, please." Please let him send me to the right.

" Fine then. Go!" I scurried out of his way and rounded the corner and watched from afar to see if he would pass Elena.

When I saw him point to the left, I couldn't help but run back over to him.

" Oh, please Sir, let her come with me!" I shouted to him.

" Now why should I do that for you and her!?" He was getting annoyed with me.

"Please" I whispered. He looked at me for a long time and then at Elena.

"Fine, go. But if you brake any laws, either one of you, you will be exterminated. Am I clear?!" I nodded.

" Get out of line you disgusting Jews!" I grabbed Elena's hand and pulled her out of line with me.

Once we were back at the apartment, Elena hugged me for what seemed like an eternity and kissed my forehead. No words were said. None needed to be. We waited in the kitchen praying and hoping that our men had passed the selection. 29 minutes went by until we heard footsteps come towards the door. It was Izak and Nathan. I ran into Nathan's arms and held him close. I never wanted to be separated from him ever again.

That night, I went for a walk and hour before curfew. I was turning a corner when someone from the shadows ran out, grabbed my entire body and dragged me into a dark alley. The person had one hand across my mouth and the other across my waist. He was so strong. I struggled to get away from him, but it was if you were glued to him. He was wearing a Nazis uniform.

" Shhh, I'm not going to hurt you. I want to help you. I saw what you did for your mother and I was amazed. I haven't seem such kindness in a long time." He removed his hand from my mouth.

"My name is Andreas, and yes I am a Nazis. But not for the same reasons as others are. I want to help Jews. Now, listen, the ghetto is going to be sent to concentration camps next week. Specifically to Auschwitz. You really don't want to go there. I have a secret passage that leads to the mountains where you and your family can escape to. I have already helped two other families escape already. Are you willing to trust me?" I shook my head no.

" I know that you don't want to trust a Nazis, but I am different. I used to be like all the others. But my only problem was, I couldn't harm anyone. It wasn't in my soul to do that. But my family is very good friends with Adolf Hitler… and that's how I was allowed to become one of Hitler's killing machines. I soon figured that I can take advantage of my situation. I started sneaking food and supplies to Jewish families and now I am helping to smuggle them out. Look, meet me here this time tomorrow and I will explain all this in much more detail. You just need to trust me on this." I hadn't had a time to say anything. I was too shocked.