In a Heartbeat
Echoes Of Yesterday
Disclaimer- Can you believe it? I still don't own IAHB….Oh well
* * *
Tyler- Part III~Poland,1942
They were forced to walk down the slippery gravel with the soldiers calling ," Down there, hurry, hurry up."
"Men to the left, women to the right!" all of the soldiers were yelling now. Mrs. Johansen cried hysterically as they pried her away from her husband. "No, No Jakob I won't leave you!" she yelled.
"Hush, hush." Dr. Johansen said stroking Rivka's hair. "Everything will be-" his words cut short as she was ripped from his arms and shoved towards the women's group. Dr. Johansen lay in the gravel staring after her, in complete disbelieve at what was going around him.
"Dr. Johansen, how can I help?" Tyler asked.
"There's no way any of us can help."
"Move!" a blond haired solider called pushing them towards the men.
* * *
"All of you are zugangi, newcomers." replied a brown-haired man in blue striped pajama type clothes. "I am a Jew like you." he replied holding his sleeve up to reveal a blue numbered tattoo.
Tyler started blankly at it. He had no idea what they were suppose to read off it.
"Alex! Alex Freeman." Dr, Johansen yelled to the man with a little hope back in his eyes.
"Quiet. I do not know you." the man said nervously looking towards the soldiers. "One of the first things you well learn here is not to call attention to yourself. Also schnell. Whenever the Germans say it , it is to be obeyed. Now you all must go in there." Alex pointed down a long hall.
They moved quickly down the hall silently following the man. "All of you must take a shower. Undress here. Help the children. It must be done quickly."
Slowly the men began to sit on the benches and take off their shoes.
"There will be no showers. They are lying. They're gas ovens…. I heard…." Yitzchak yelled.
"Let us keep our hope." William said angrily. "It's all we have left."
Tyler walked stiffly towards the line. Their hair had been shaved and clothes had been chosen. He looked down at what he wore. Ragged, worn, and strange smelling. He wondered if the clothes he now wore had once belonged to someone who was now dead, killed in those gas chambers Yitzchak talked about. He shock he head slightly. Thinking would get him killed. It was best just to do. Move quietly and silently. He had learned that much in the few hours he had been trust into this madness.
"Next!" a shaven-head prisoner called as he stepped towards the table. The man held a odd-looking instrument that wrote on each man's arm.
"You are now J276935. " the man's unsmiling face said as the tattooing pen burned his flesh leaving the numbers on his arm. "Remember it."
* * *
Tyler woke in his barrack always with the same feeling. He'd open his eyes thinking he was home again with his mother and Val. It was the same feeling he had every morning for the past three years.
The days had quickly became routine: roll call, breakfast, work, lunch, supper, work. The meals were watery potato soup and occasional bread, and then the precious hour before they were locked in their barracks for the night.
He often worked with William, Dr. Johansen, Yitchak, or Alex. Though mostly Dr. Johansen and Alex. Alex had in fact remembered Dr. Johansen and the two had once worked at a hospital together. They would cut and haul wood for the stoves, building more barracks, more privies.
Or at least they had.
Dr. Johansen, had hanged himself the night he found out his wife had gone up to the stacks and Alex had been Chosen. Yis-ga-dal-v' yis-ka-dash sh'may ra-bo….. the prayer for the dead.
As one day eroded into the next. His memories became camp memories only. In a way Tyler liked it. The consistency left him less time to think. To wonder whether this day was his last, or William's, or Yitchak's. That one day one of them would be picked; Chosen. Chosen by the commander who spread fear each time he drove up in his black car , stepping out to pick some to go the smoke stacks , where they would never return.
If you didn't stand close to the Greeks, or work too slowly, or say the wrong word, or speak too loudly to annoy the guard or stumble or fall ill you wouldn't be Chosen. In this world of Hell these rules kept Tyler sane. Each day keeping him alive to live the next.
"It's poison these bastards feed us." Yitchak grumbled about the food.
"Doesn't bother me, taste like my wife's cooking." William joked.
"That's why Hannah always cooks." Tyler smiled letting himself remember the maid, and their house, his mother.
"Just joke about it."
"And why not? Do you see anything else to do? Anywhere to go? " William pointed out.
"You're too serious Yitchak. Besides the war will be over soon-"
" The allies don't give damn about us. All they care about is bringing their men home, not Jews."
"Okay, Yitchak. Think what you want." He shook his head and gave him a playful shove. He would always be pessimistic.
"Commandant!" someone yelled. Their smiles faded and for awhile it had seemed like they were home again ,but reality had forced its way back in to their world.
Tyler moved quickly, making a clucking noise to warn the children. There weren't supposed to be children in camp and all of them had to run and hide in the garbage. From everywhere they came diving into the pile.
"You, you are sick." the guard said forcing them to look up.
"No, he is fine. Strong, hard worker." William said pleading for Tyler's life.
Truthfully he had been sick for months, desperately trying to stay away from being sent to the hospital which meant certain death.
The guard dismissed his pleas with a wave of his hand. "I will send you to make up the load."
Tyler gave him a quick hug , "Tell Val I loved her." He wished he could see her and his mother again.
"No, Please." William pleaded again, but Jews made no decisions in Auschwitz and Tyler walked towards the smoke stacks and became one of the two and half million Jews to die at Auschwitz and one of the six million Jews to die throughout the Holocaust.
* * *
Note: Yes, I know I killed Tyler again, don't hold it against me. Next part: The Second Echoes : Hank 1965 Please let me know what you think.
Echoes Of Yesterday
Disclaimer- Can you believe it? I still don't own IAHB….Oh well
* * *
Tyler- Part III~Poland,1942
They were forced to walk down the slippery gravel with the soldiers calling ," Down there, hurry, hurry up."
"Men to the left, women to the right!" all of the soldiers were yelling now. Mrs. Johansen cried hysterically as they pried her away from her husband. "No, No Jakob I won't leave you!" she yelled.
"Hush, hush." Dr. Johansen said stroking Rivka's hair. "Everything will be-" his words cut short as she was ripped from his arms and shoved towards the women's group. Dr. Johansen lay in the gravel staring after her, in complete disbelieve at what was going around him.
"Dr. Johansen, how can I help?" Tyler asked.
"There's no way any of us can help."
"Move!" a blond haired solider called pushing them towards the men.
* * *
"All of you are zugangi, newcomers." replied a brown-haired man in blue striped pajama type clothes. "I am a Jew like you." he replied holding his sleeve up to reveal a blue numbered tattoo.
Tyler started blankly at it. He had no idea what they were suppose to read off it.
"Alex! Alex Freeman." Dr, Johansen yelled to the man with a little hope back in his eyes.
"Quiet. I do not know you." the man said nervously looking towards the soldiers. "One of the first things you well learn here is not to call attention to yourself. Also schnell. Whenever the Germans say it , it is to be obeyed. Now you all must go in there." Alex pointed down a long hall.
They moved quickly down the hall silently following the man. "All of you must take a shower. Undress here. Help the children. It must be done quickly."
Slowly the men began to sit on the benches and take off their shoes.
"There will be no showers. They are lying. They're gas ovens…. I heard…." Yitzchak yelled.
"Let us keep our hope." William said angrily. "It's all we have left."
Tyler walked stiffly towards the line. Their hair had been shaved and clothes had been chosen. He looked down at what he wore. Ragged, worn, and strange smelling. He wondered if the clothes he now wore had once belonged to someone who was now dead, killed in those gas chambers Yitzchak talked about. He shock he head slightly. Thinking would get him killed. It was best just to do. Move quietly and silently. He had learned that much in the few hours he had been trust into this madness.
"Next!" a shaven-head prisoner called as he stepped towards the table. The man held a odd-looking instrument that wrote on each man's arm.
"You are now J276935. " the man's unsmiling face said as the tattooing pen burned his flesh leaving the numbers on his arm. "Remember it."
* * *
Tyler woke in his barrack always with the same feeling. He'd open his eyes thinking he was home again with his mother and Val. It was the same feeling he had every morning for the past three years.
The days had quickly became routine: roll call, breakfast, work, lunch, supper, work. The meals were watery potato soup and occasional bread, and then the precious hour before they were locked in their barracks for the night.
He often worked with William, Dr. Johansen, Yitchak, or Alex. Though mostly Dr. Johansen and Alex. Alex had in fact remembered Dr. Johansen and the two had once worked at a hospital together. They would cut and haul wood for the stoves, building more barracks, more privies.
Or at least they had.
Dr. Johansen, had hanged himself the night he found out his wife had gone up to the stacks and Alex had been Chosen. Yis-ga-dal-v' yis-ka-dash sh'may ra-bo….. the prayer for the dead.
As one day eroded into the next. His memories became camp memories only. In a way Tyler liked it. The consistency left him less time to think. To wonder whether this day was his last, or William's, or Yitchak's. That one day one of them would be picked; Chosen. Chosen by the commander who spread fear each time he drove up in his black car , stepping out to pick some to go the smoke stacks , where they would never return.
If you didn't stand close to the Greeks, or work too slowly, or say the wrong word, or speak too loudly to annoy the guard or stumble or fall ill you wouldn't be Chosen. In this world of Hell these rules kept Tyler sane. Each day keeping him alive to live the next.
"It's poison these bastards feed us." Yitchak grumbled about the food.
"Doesn't bother me, taste like my wife's cooking." William joked.
"That's why Hannah always cooks." Tyler smiled letting himself remember the maid, and their house, his mother.
"Just joke about it."
"And why not? Do you see anything else to do? Anywhere to go? " William pointed out.
"You're too serious Yitchak. Besides the war will be over soon-"
" The allies don't give damn about us. All they care about is bringing their men home, not Jews."
"Okay, Yitchak. Think what you want." He shook his head and gave him a playful shove. He would always be pessimistic.
"Commandant!" someone yelled. Their smiles faded and for awhile it had seemed like they were home again ,but reality had forced its way back in to their world.
Tyler moved quickly, making a clucking noise to warn the children. There weren't supposed to be children in camp and all of them had to run and hide in the garbage. From everywhere they came diving into the pile.
"You, you are sick." the guard said forcing them to look up.
"No, he is fine. Strong, hard worker." William said pleading for Tyler's life.
Truthfully he had been sick for months, desperately trying to stay away from being sent to the hospital which meant certain death.
The guard dismissed his pleas with a wave of his hand. "I will send you to make up the load."
Tyler gave him a quick hug , "Tell Val I loved her." He wished he could see her and his mother again.
"No, Please." William pleaded again, but Jews made no decisions in Auschwitz and Tyler walked towards the smoke stacks and became one of the two and half million Jews to die at Auschwitz and one of the six million Jews to die throughout the Holocaust.
* * *
Note: Yes, I know I killed Tyler again, don't hold it against me. Next part: The Second Echoes : Hank 1965 Please let me know what you think.
