The date is September 12th, 1941. We are moving into Krakow, Poland due to my father becoming a member of the SS and being stationed with his commander, low and behold his brother in law.
Now here I am in this metal container, crushed between my mother and father while it moves along the streets of Krakow, the buildings either side of the road seeming to enclose on me. Inside I was screaming to get out, to go back home, to where I knew I had a purpose. Here, I had nothing! No friends…Friends were everything to me, and I had to say goodbye to the ones in Warsaw, it wasn't safe in the capital anymore, so we go to the next best thing.
The car comes to a stop and the door is opened on my left side, my father steps out immediately, standing a tall six foot seven, his dark eyes scanning the area. He smiles wryly while looking up at the grand building in front of him waving his hand in an indication that I should come out of the car. I sigh and shuffle along the leather car seat, clambering out onto the pavement. He welcomes me with his arm, which is soon around my slender shoulders while he laughs to himself, shaking me as well as him. My mother comes behind me; I can sense her own smile crossing her lips although I cannot see it. I feel a sickness in my stomach as we are lead up the stone steps to the front door where a key goes into the dark lock and it swings open to reveal the darkness.
It is a decent size, the house, the living room is large, connected to the kitchen which is just as big, yet more homely, but this is not my home.
"Isn't it marvellous!" my mother cried out with joy, laughing and hugging my father who seemed to be sharing the same amount of pleasure?
I only nodded in reassurance that I agreed, although deep down, I hated this place, it would soon become a prison and it would surely kill me on the inside. The war was ruining everyone, and their lives, I was no different to the rest of them. I strongly disagreed with the Nazi way, but I was brought up in a family full of them.
"Just think, this house has gone to waste for so long," my mother continued to sing her praises, but they were wasted on me, I knew perfectly well that a Jew had lived here before, and had not wasted its luxuries, but made them plan out into life perfectly. My mother was naive, yet she seemed to have the idea that I was the same, easily moulded into a perfect lifestyle, she should know by now that I am more difficult to win over.
I walk over to my trunk that has been carried in, grabbing the handle and dragging it in the direction of the stairs. Upon reaching them, the young man that had helped before took control and carried it up for me. Even after my struggle to do this myself. He showed me to what would be my room, a single bed lay in front of the window, a wardrobe in the corner of the room open, creaking eerily. My eyes wondered across the mahogany desk beside it where I was sure to write many a letter to my friends.
The window is open, allowing the warm air to flow through; it is a beautiful day, even though it is in the wrong place to be beautiful. As soon as the boy leaves I am sprawled across the bed, my head buried into the feather pillow quietly sobbing, my tears burning my pale blue eyes, my life was sure to go downhill from here.
Lara Bartelski awoke from her dreamless sleep, the light just rising in her bedroom window. Her eyes scanned the room for any sign of movement before thinking why there would be. She stands up and walks to the wardrobe, still empty from the night before. She looks at her open trunk, clothing strewn everywhere. She opens the door slightly, seeing instantly another image, gasping at her own pallid reflection. Her blonde hair is delicately waving around her shoulders, her bright blue eyes staring back at her, empty. The door is soon slammed shut and she is exiting the room that she will learn to live in.
Elena and Dominik Bartelski are sitting at the dining table, eating a full breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausages and many other breakfast foods. Dominik is dressed in a uniform, most suitable for an officer in his position, the newspaper opened wide in front of him. Elena, splendidly dressed in a straight skirt and white blouse, is admiring her handsome husband, her features almost opposite to his own softer ones.
Lara takes footsteps towards the door, she is already fully dressed from the night before, she never changed, falling asleep instantly, she grabs her coat and begins to put it on, fastening the buttons quickly and quietly, much to the disapproval of her mother.
"And where do you think you are going at such a time?" the stern and cold voice almost echoes around the room.
Lara looks up innocently, still fastening her coat, "To see the town,"
Dominik seems to awaken from his trance to the words, looking back at his daughter by the door, "This town is not one to explore Lara,"
Lara ignores him, turning to the door, her father knows that she cannot be contained, and he is faltering. "I won't be long," she mutters before opening the door and wondering out into the windy morning. She looks up and down the street and remembers back to when she was in the car, driving through the town. She takes a right on the pavement and follows the road around a bend, seeing many people walking past just as she is. She smiles politely to most, as not all would look at her in the same way. The sun was low in the sky; it must have been around eight thirty, no more than that at least. She smiled to herself before going round a sharp corner into the main street, colliding with another person.
"Oh im sorry!" she calls, her eyes not focusing on the person she had bumped into, she had clearly sent many objects he was carrying everywhere and she immediately bent down to help pick them up.
"No, my fault, my fault, its fine!" a panicked male voice comes to Lara's ears as she is flushed with embarrassment of causing such a scene, even though no one is around to see it.
Her slim fingers rest on many sheets of paper that she gathers up before standing in front of the stranger, he was a lot taller than her, she strained her neck slightly to look at him, smiling at his appearance, he had a friendly face, young, no more than twenty, but troubled eyes, dark eyes, his hair was darker still, though short.
"I apologise for my clumsiness," she insists to tell him, not understanding his panicked face, she smiles reassuringly.
He clears his throat while looking around nervously and then back to her, their eyes concentrating on each other before hers lowered to his right arm.
"Oh…" the word escaped her mouth before she could take it back, she was sure that she could hear a sigh escape from his own. "I'm…I..." she stuttered slightly thinking about her situation carefully. No one was around; no one had seen her talking to the Jew, still talking to the Jew.
"I'm Lara," she announced randomly, plucking the statement from thin air, the young man only raised his eyebrows in confusion, he was clearly searching for some sort of star on her, which he did not find, he was not supposed to be talking to her, that was a fact she had figured out herself.
He seemed to be plucking up courage, gladly accepting the pieces of paper she held in her hands, and putting them all together in a neat collection once more. He considered her for a moment before replying, "Nicholas." He said short and quick, not wanting to continue the conversation further.
Lara nodded, her eyes dropping for a moment before he began to slowly edge his way around her. "Well erm…Goodbye Nicholas." She didn't need to say it twice, he was off at a fast pace down the road, he did look back for a moment, to see if she was watching him, for whether he would get into trouble for what had just happened. He never would.
Lara stood there, watching him walk away from her, she sighed before turning her head back onto the long road, the winding road through many shops and buildings. Her eyes scanning the place for something simple, but it could be obscure in her opinion, right at that moment, she didn't care.