The Same Sky
Chapter 1: Train
"Stay close,Josef" the girl whispered to her little brother as the train gradually packed full with other travellers. The small boy clung onto her itchy grey dress in one hand, and in the other, his beloved tattered companion-which was now more of a dirty rag than the plush furry teddy bear that Aunt Hilga gave to him five Christmases ago.
"Where are we going, Ana?" he said, frowning as the creaky metal train jolted to a start.
"Somewhere warm." She soothed, smoothing down his soft hair. The girl looked past the miserable, worn out faces within the crowded carriage and gazed instead outside the window, at breathtakingly vast fields, the green of grass only just visible under the settling snow.
Despite the cold winds howling and beating against the train, Ana's hands were increasingly sweaty and she hastily dabbed them against her creased dress, before returning them to comfort her brother.
It seemed like hours passed before the train finally halted to a stop. A wave of panic spread among the passengers at the news that they arrived at the Place. Half the people were holding each other, praying reverently yet others, she noticed, were eerily quiet, as if they had accepted the inevitable future that faced them all, and were at peace with it.
The girl hoisted her brother up against her hip in one arm and gripped the leather suitcase with her free hand. As the weary people began to file out of the train, she got her first real look:
The sign caught her eye immediately-presented in solid steel, the lettering huge and bold: Camp Breitenau.
The whole structure was encased in barbed wire and reinforced with high, unclimbable, inescapable walls. They trudged through the soft snow, through the rusty gates and into a wide, square opening situated in the centre.
Chapter Two: Glances
Lieutenant Frederik Liefer looked into his pocket mirror-watch, carefully combing back his thick blond hair in a respectable side parting. He adjusted his shiny new badge above his heart, before limping out the door into the gloriously chilly day.
"Guten Morgen Frederik! I hope your battle wound is healing up nicely!" waved a supervisor from across the courtyard.
"Yes thank you." Frederik saluted back hurriedly- he didn't want to be late for his first day at guard duty. There were already several Jewish people bundled up in the middle of the yard. Strangely, his attention was drawn to a girl in the crowd, with beautiful curls of thick hair escaping from her scarved head. She looked eighteen, just two years his younger-and clinging to her dress was a scared, skinny boy. Frederik was alarmed to find his officer, a stern balding man, scolding the pretty Jewish girl and pointing at the trembling boy. This can't be good, he thought.
"You dare question my authority? Hand the scamp over right now you stupid girl! He is too weak to keep up with our workloads. Just look at those miserable sticks for arms" spat the officer, raising his hand threateningly.
"He is just a boy! Let him be, he will work hard, I promise. I will double my efforts to make up for it!" pleaded Ana, even though she knew it was no use. Frederik loved the way her eyes flashed with passion and admired her bravery. He knew he had to help her.
Ana was so frightened by the grizzly bald man looming before her that she hardly noticed him approach. Without a word, the man picked up Josef's small cold hands, and inspected them, tracing along his slender fingers.
"You play the piano?" he said in a slight German accent that Ana found to be quite attractive. The boy looked confused and was about to say no, but a warning flash from Frederik's blue eyes signaled him to nod vigorously.
Frederik addressed his officer "I can recognize a good pianist's hands anywhere. We need a player at the bar after old Streizer quit. How about it?"
The grumpy man looked unconvinced, but agreed to the man before him-it would be disrespectful to contradict someone worthy of winning a badge of honor. Someone who saved the lived of over twenty soldiers, while in battle.
Chapter 3 Conversations.
Ana
Wor sets you free Arbeit Macht Frei