Chapter Five

Warsaw, April 19, 1943

There was no more food and little ammunition. The barricaded house was the only fort that shielded the brave Jews who stayed behind. They were the only Jews left in the Ghetto.

Sesshomaru was in charge of one of the SS teams who had the house surrounded. A few men had already been killed and wounded. He ordered flame-throwers to be thrown in. The first attack had little effect. Then the Jews fired back.

Inside it was Passover and a few Jews took turns firing at the Nazis while the others tried to relax and meditate.

Five Days Later

The order was given out: Comb out the ghetto with the greatest severity and relentless tenacity. The SS troops began to back out and set fire to every corner of the abandoned ghetto. Sesshomaru gave the order to throw a grenade near the barricaded house hoping the rapid spread of fire would drive the Jews out and have them surrender.

Inside the barricaded house Sango and her brother were firing rifles from an upper-floor bedroom. "Do we have anymore bullets?" asked Kohaku. Sango went downstairs were all the weapons were stored to check. She spent about ten minutes looking in cracks on the floor, anywhere for something they could fire at a Nazi. Suddenly Sango felt her father's hand on her shoulder. He said in a soft and sorrowful voice "We have no more ammunition. It's over."

"Father," said Sango. "…they're going to kill us." Sango began to shake in panic. "Listen to me," her father demanded. "Take your brother and flee through the sewers."

"But what about you?"

"The rest of us are going to fight to the end but I want you and your brother to stop now. I must give you this chance to live." Sango tried to hold back the tears as she went upstairs and grabbed her brother. "Hey, what the?" Kohaku said. Sango took him to the basement and opened the secret passage in the wall that revealed an endless sewer line. "What's going on?" Kohaku demanded. "Why are we leaving?"

"We lost, Kohaku," Sango said. "Father and the others will have to surrender soon."

"What?! No! It's not over yet! Sango we have to stay and fight!" Kohaku struggled to be free of his sister's grip. Sango tried to show no emotion for her brother's persistence. She wished she could stay and fight too. "Let me go! We have to help father!" Finally Kohaku broke free and ran out of the basement. "Kohaku!" Sango was too weak to go upstairs and stop her brother. She just sat there in the dark basement with one arm over the swinging secret passage door.

Suddenly a loud boom was heard and Sango could hear the screams of fire. Another explosion rocked the house. Sango could see the ceiling light up. Through the cracks she could see the main floor of the house erupted in flames. The ceiling itself began to fall upon her slowly carrying. Debris dropped to the basement floor in flames. Smoke rapidly crept into the basement. Sango carefully stepped into the secret passage and closed the door behind her. No one was escaping with her. They were gonna stay and fight to the end.

She walked through the filthy sewers until she reached a silent dead end. She took a peek at the streets from a sewage drain and only found smoke coming from the ghetto she had just abandoned. She coughed from all of the smoke and then gasped. Someone must've heard that, but she saw no movement. Sango squirmed out of the drain and quietly hid behind some trash cans. The flames from the barricaded house were now reaching the sky and she could hear bullets ringing.

Rin didn't realize that she had been roaming the streets of Warsaw for months and avoided capture. Some days, she sought shelter in alleyways or buildings already damaged from the war. She looked like a Jew but she was too young to be given a Star of David or an ID card. This would work in her favor. A few villagers were kind enough to give Rin some free food, but they were never seen again. Most of Rin's food came from garbage sorting. On cold days when there were too many people outside, Rin would stay in the sewers. Lately she had not feeling well. Living off of garbage and living in the sewers was not healthy living. She came out of the sewers to get some fresh air. Instead she ended up throwing up on the street. Rin went into an alley to find food again.

"Jew!" A Nazi guard called out. Rin looked up to see if they were referring to her. She was too young to realize she would've been in trouble. No. They were chasing an older woman.

Sango kept running. She heard a bang and then felt a slight numbness in one arm. She had been shot but she kept running. Most of the guards were still busy with the ghetto resistance that Sango had a chance to lose these guards that were chasing her.

Down the street she saw a church and hoped to claim sanctuary if she could make it there in time. The guards were still coming from behind. She turned a corner and was yanked into a building. She couldn't scream. Someone held her mouth shut in the darkness. Unable to resist or let go she decided to relax and surrender, but instead of leaving the building her captor held her in there for a whole ten minutes. What was going on?

Sango was let go and she turned to see who it was. "Who the hell are you?" she demanded of the stranger she couldn't see. "That's not very proper Jewish talk," he said.

"What do you know?"

"You're right. I am merely a monk and do not know anything about your people"

"Are you rounding us up?!" She asked him defensively.

"No, I had to get you before you got to the church. You don't want anyone to know where you're trying to claim sanctuary right? They would storm the church as soon as you got in! Now then, I can sneak you in with my associate's help."

While the Nazis roamed the streets searching for the missing Jew, two men came by carrying a wooden coffin. An officer stopped them while he examined the mens' papers. The men were left to their business and they carried that coffin into the nearby church. All the way to the basement they traveled. The coffin was opened and Sango came out. "It worked." Sango saw the smiles on the mens' faces. "Thank you, Hatchi. Find some clothes for her if you can," said the monk. While Hatchi left, the monk went to treating Sango's injured arm. Then he led her into some hidden basements halls.

"We were going to make more hiding places for Jews in need but we stopped. It was risking too much. I hope you don't mind spending your life in a cubicle."

"It's fine," said Sango depressingly. "Whom should I thank?"

"Miroku. And whom should I welcome?"

"Sango."

Miroku left the secret basement hall. Then he went to go pray for Sango. Just by looking at her eyes he could tell that Sango was faced with tragedy just before seeing him.

In the next chap…

…looking at how Inuyasha and Kagome are surviving in the concentration camps

…Sesshomaru has an unexpected run-in and may have to struggle with a moral dilemma

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi. Most of the events in this story are based on the real events of the Holocaust and are being told in chronological order. Information used to tell this story may not have been 100% accurate and might be coincidental. In other words, it's just a story. Don't sue and review!