Chapter Eight

They had managed to survive if you could call it that for six months, which was longer than most did. One day a Kapo came into the barracks and ordered that twenty five men were to be taken to Birkenhau, a sort of annex to Auschwitz.
Ardeth didn't know why but it meant a while longer before they were killed. He was still trying to keep Alex as close to him as he could, there had only been a couple of occasions where he had not been able to do that.
He was very proud of Alex, he had stood up to the ordeal surprisingly well, which was more than he was, although he kept how he really felt from Alex quite well. Karl had managed to stay with them as well, they had become very good friends and looked out for each other, which you had to do in that place.

"I wonder why they want us to come here?" asked Alex as they were taken on a truck.

"I have no idea" replied Karl "But you can guarantee that it won't be any better than this place"

He was right, this place was filthy, ten times worse than the main camp. Corpses were piled up and barracks, built for horses housed about 800 people in three tier bunks. Each slept about six people and sometimes eight. The only warmth was the bodies of the other people. Here there wasn't even any straw or rags for blankets.
Many of the prisoners had diarrhea and lice and there was no water or lighting. Because of the fear of typhoid the guards made sure the places were deloused every so often, but it didn't cure the problem.
All three friends were ill, mostly from lack of food and hard work, none of them were used to the sort of hard work that Auschwitz demanded. They were dirty and very thin, you wouldn't even have recognized them if it hadn't been for Ardeths tattoos.
The daily routine started before daybreak after only about an hours sleep. None of them could sleep properly, crying or groaning kept them awake from those that were near to dying. They had to run with the others into the cold and line up. Any bodies were thrown into a pile.
Those that did could work, did and those that were too ill stayed in the barracks. Sometimes they were made to stand for hours in the cold when the count was wrong.

"I can't put up with this much longer" said Ardeth one morning "If they don't let us go back inside I am going to pass out"

"Karl, put your arm round his waist. Ardeth you can't pass out, none of us can and believe me I have been fighting that for an hour. If we do, we are dead you know that. Come on fight it for a little longer please"

It was about half hour later that they were allowed back in and coffee was served, at least that is what they called it. They put Ardeth on the bunk and hoped that no-one would come and want them for a while. They had found out that there was a quarry and a marsh about four miles from the camp and they were going to go and work there.

"I don't think he is going to survive much more of this" said Alex "If it hadn't been for him getting tortured all those months ago, he might have been stronger to handle this. Even you seem to being coping"

"I have spent my life surviving in the country, I come…came from a very poor family and we had to work sixteen hours a day, in all weathers with hardly any clothes. This is no different in many ways except for the deaths. All we can do is watch him and try and fool the goons that he is working as hard as the rest"

The next day they were lined up and marched to the marshland and forced to stand in freezing mud, digging out stones and sand. They were forced to get up at 3am, given some dirty tea and marched to the marsh at 5am. There they were forced to work until 7pm in the evening where they were given hot water with bits of beetroot and nettles in it and a bit of bread.

"I can't feel my feet or hands" said Alex "I am so cold"

His lips were a bluish colour and they were afraid he was freezing to death. Karl asked to have a coat for him at one point and the guard just laughed.

"Klaus, come here. This man wishes a coat for his friend. What would you say to him"

The man came over and walked round Karl and laughed out loud. Then he took out his pistol and held it at Karls head.

"I say if you don't get back to work, you are dead"

Then he pushed him so that he fell into the water and had to endure the rest of the day, soaken wet from head to foot. By the time he got back to the barracks he was a shivering block of ice and several of the prisoners there were convinced that he would die in the night. He didn't but came down with a cold and was getting more ill with each day that passed.
One day, when they were working down at the marsh, a man near to them was only picking up smaller stones until the SS noticed and made him pick up the larger ones.

"I can't" he said "I have a hernia"

"What did he say?" said the other officer.

The man told him and the officer told him to come over to him. As the prisoner did, he swung his boot back and kicked the man hard. The noise brought every head turning in the area. Alex wanted to kill him, but Ardeth held him back.

"No you will die too, ignore it as best you can, for all our sakes"

The mans body was moved and they had to resume their hard work, which got harder as it had started to snow again. They had been lucky in the fact that it had been clear for over a week but now it was back with vengeance.

Father Shandor and Samuel were being cared for by a local farmer about three miles from the camp. They had to stay in the barn just in case anyone came to the house. But they were warm and fed while two of the resistance tried to find out what they could about Ardeth and Alex, if anything.

"Do you think they are alive after all this time?" asked the farmer one night.

"I hope so but to be honest, I have my doubts" replied Samuel "The closer we get to this place the more horrific the stories and…it has been seven months now. But we have to be sure"

"The soldiers were around last night, you will have to move into the hay loft" he said "they could be back, I will bring you more food in the morning"

"Thank you for all your help and we will be gone in the next couple of days I assure you"

The next day, the two men who had gone to find out information were back with good news. They had found Ardeth.

"Oh thank God, thank God" said Father Shandor "Where, where is he, is he okay?"

"He is at Birkenhau, so is Alex. We had to pay the guard a good deal of money for this information. But they are not okay"

He told them what had happened to them and where they were now.

"Can we get them out of there?" asked Father Shandor.

"Well, we have a better chance where they are now than when they were in the main camp at Auschwitz. But it is still going to be dangerous."

He took out a map and showed them where they were in relationship to where they were at the moment.

"There are about thirty prisoners and he says, eight guards"

"So why haven't they overpowered them and escaped?" asked the father.

"Because my friend they are too ill and weak to do that. Most of them, if not all of them have lost the will to live, they wouldn't care if they died where they were. Apparently they work till seven in the evening. I suggest we go there about 6.30pm and try and rescue them as they are being loaded onto the truck to go back to the camp"

"Try and rescue them, what do you mean?"

The man walked to the door of the barn and looked out at the snow what was falling hard, luckily covering any footprints. He turned to the men behind him.

"It is going to be dangerous. The snow is not only our friend but also our enemy. It can hide footprints but we will stick out like sore thumbs against the white. We have to go there while it is getting dark. There is only four of us and that means we have to overpower eight guards without using rifles. The noise would echo round the area. The camp would have reinforcements out here within minutes of the first shots being fired"

Five of you, I will help" said a voice behind them.

It was the farmer but Samuel shook his head.

"No this is not your fight, you have helped us enough"

"This is my fight Samuel, I have watched for a long time, the wagons going into the camp, knowing what was going on and wishing there was something I could do. Now I have that chance. If I can help save one life, it will be worth the risk"

"If you are sure Moses, then I am pleased to have you with us. We leave tomorrow afternoon"

Their plan was as such. They would wait till the men were being put on the truck, kill the guards and then drive the truck across the border into Czechoslovakia which is only about fifty miles. With luck on their side, they could do it in a couple of hours.

"Do we take all the prisoners?" asked the Father.

"We have to, we can't leave any of them behind, that wouldn't be fair. Once we are over the border, some of our people will take them to a church there, and they will be taken care of. That leaves us to get Ardeth and Alex to Romaina and the safety of Father Shandors Monastery"

"It all sounds so simple. But then it did before but look what happened, all those children. They would have died as soon as they got there"

He was so upset and guilty over what had happened to the children, there was no way they had survived the camp. All he could do was safe these men, in particular Ardeth and Alex. He prayed to God that there was something worth saving. Many didn't survive even if they did get away and Ardeth had been through similar only a year or so ago.
What Father Shandor didn't know what just what the two friends had been through and that it would take a miracle if they survived much longer.
The next day they made their way to the quarry, or at least about half a mile from there. Making themselves almost invisible against the trees that circled the place, they watched and waited.

"Do you see Ardeth and Alex?" asked Samuel.

"No but dressed as they are it is difficult to see. Anyway he has long hair" replied Father Shandor.

"He won't have had long hair since he was brought here, it is shaved off as soon as they arrive and kept shaved as long as they live" said the farmer.

Father Shandor looked shocked at this and turned back into the trees, he hadn't known that and he was upset. Samuel went over to him.

"There are a lot of things about these people and the horrific things they do that is hard to understand. But one day they will get their comeuppance, they will be answerable to everything they have done"

"But that won't help the ones who have died" replied Father Shandor "Nor will it help my two friends down there, who wouldn't be there if it wasn't for me. If I had done the job myself and left them in Egypt, they would be safe and would never have had to go through this…this horror. I am as guilty as the Germans"

"You can't say that. Okay maybe you shouldn't have asked Ardeth back here, especially after what happened last time, but after tonight, he will be safe too. Don't forget all the other people that would be dead now if it wasn't for you, your monks and the resistance."

Father Shandor nodded and walked back to where they were getting ready to ambush the guards. He knew what Samuel said was true but that didn't help how he felt and he knew that this was the last time he was getting anyone else involved. If it couldn't be done by him, then it wouldn't get done. He was finished with all of it now.
They watched the guards get the men and line them up at the back of the truck and make them get on board. Two were in the cab, two would be on the truck with the men and the other four would walk beside the truck on either side, all the way back to the camp.
It didn't take long for the friends to kill the four that were to walk by the truck, that left the two in the back and the two in the cab. Father Shandor and the farmer, dealt with the two in the cab while the other two were killed by Samuel. Not a sound was heard except a gasp as the men were taken. No shots were fired and no-one knew what was happening until it was too late.
The prisoners stayed in the truck and looked terrified when the guards were killed but Samuel and Father Shandor jumped up and told them not to worry.

"You are safe now, you are leaving this place. Where is Ardeth and Alex?" he asked.

No-one had the strength to answer or didn't know the names. He looked at all the men in a faint torchlight and right at the back he found them. But if he had been shocked before then he was even more shocked now when he saw them.

"Ardeth…Alex…is that you?" he asked.

"Father" said Alex "Oh my God, it really is you, Ardeth, it's Father Shandor"

"Shandor…you found us" replied Ardeth in a whisper.

"Samuel, they are here" he called out "I have found them"

Samuel climbed onto the truck and saw the two friends. But even he wasn't prepared for the state of them and he wondered if they would even survive the journey across the border, let alone Romania. All the men were the same. In fact one was already dead, must have died as soon as he got onto the truck from lack of food and exhaustion. This was not over yet, not by a long way, this was only the beginning.