Chapter 3

Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter! I apologize for the delay as I've been working on my other story and am also in the process of trying to find a job as well as struggling with a lack of motivation. Yet rest assured I am continuing this story. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story so far, you guys are so sweet. :) Please REVIEW and let me know what you think of this chapter and let me know whether or not I should continue. God Bless.

-Vegter999

Lilla's POV:

I lay in my bed looking up at the bottom of the bunk above me, which was situated like mine against the wall at the far back of the barrack. We had been allowed to retire to our beds and at 9 pm the prisoners were ordered to sleep. I however silently lay awake, the soft sound of the breathing of my fellow prisoners wafting to my ears and the pain in my back from the lashes stinging me like a thousand tiny needles.

I shivered from the cool air of the night, given the barrack had no insulation against it.

My thoughts were currently racing with worry. What had happened to Papa, Mama, and Veronika? Were they alright? Why had Mama and Veronika been put into a different line?
Tears silently spilled from my eyes as a wave of loneliness and fear crashed over me. How I missed all of them. We had been a close family and had never been ripped apart from each other like this before.

I closed my eyes, placing my palms together and whispered a prayer to the God my family and I had chosen to follow six years ago when I was thirteen years old, Jesus.*

"Jesus, I am so terrified. I have lost everything and I don't know what to do. I am alone my King of Kings. I have no other help but you. Please keep my family safe. I do not understand why this is happening Lord, but I know all I can do is trust you. My heart is all I have left to give you and it is yours. Amen."

I crossed myself and sighed as the tears continued to pour from my eyes. I turned over on my side, closing my eyes and soon enough sleep claimed me.

###

A heavy object struck me across the shoulders and I looked around, startled. Standing over me was the female SS officer from yesterday. She glared at me and hit me again with a large wooden stick.

"Get up!" she spat.

I scrambled out of bed and watched as she proceeded to do the same to several other prisoners who were too slow to remove themselves from their bunks.

I glanced around and noticed the other prisoners had begun making their way out of the barrack and I hurried to follow them.

The sun hadn't even risen in the sky yet so I judged it to still be quite early in the morning.

I trailed several of the prisoners to the barrack yard where we had been forced to stand for roll call the day before. Many of them had already lined up in front of a table administered by several members of the camp staff.

There was complete and utter silence as they handed each prisoner a cup of what looked to be herbal tea. When it was my turn I quietly padded up to the table and accepted the drink and quickly moved out of the way so the next person could approach.

My stomach rumbled and hunger pangs were beginning to ravage me. When was the last time I even had a decent meal?

I was just about to gulp down the liquid when I remembered what Mama and Pappa always taught Veronika and I as children.

Remember to always thank God before you eat girls for he is the giver of all good things and your sustainer.

I crossed myself and whispered in Hungarian "Bless us O Lord and these thy gifts which we receive from thy bounty through Christ our Lord. Amen."

"What are you doing?!" a voice snapped and I jumped and glanced over to the left, dread filling me as the female SS officer stalked toward me, stopping meer inches from me.

I clasped my teacup tightly with both hands, in an effort to stop them from shaking.

"Praying" I said meekly.

"Praying?" she scoffed. "Remember this Jew. There is no one here who will save you and there is no God."

I looked at her defiantly, anger boiling inside me as I was quickly becoming sick of her cruelty.

"You're wrong" I whispered.

She quickly knocked the tea out of my hands and I watched in shock and sadness as the liquid slowly seeped into the ground.

"Oh look there goes your breakfast. How sad" she taunted, giving me a wolfish grin.

I felt tears well up in my eyes but I refused to let her see them and she strolled away with her hands behind her back, whistling jovially to herself.

There was hardly time to dwell over the loss of my meager meal however as pretty soon the prisoners were being escorted away to their work duties. I was led with several other women to a quarry where we were instructed to pull large carts full of giant slabs of stone. The female prisoners formed two separate lines and each line grabbed a hold of one of the two ropes attached to the cart.

"Start moving you filthy Jews!" one of the female guards bellowed at us and we began to haul the cart up the small metal track the cart was set upon. When we had reached the other side of the quarry, the slab was unloaded and we quickly pushed the cart back upon along the track to be reloaded all while the guards spat out insults and handed out beatings at every possible opportunity.

My arms began to ache from the exertion and sweat began to pour down my forehead as the hot May sun beat down upon us.
How had life come to this? A few months ago I had been safe in my home in Budapest, in the presence of my family who never once forgot any of my birthdays or ceased to encourage me when I had given up. My parents had been kind and patient with Veronika and I as we were growing up, never once handing out so much as a spanking as they didn't believe in such things.

I recalled happily skipping off to school, where I could indulge in learning about my favorite subject, which was history, or sitting out on the porch of our home and recording my latest story, all the while dreaming about how I would be a world famous writer someday.

I was brought back to reality as I received a blow on my back, which caused the pain from my lashes to flare up.

"Move faster Jew!" one of the female guards practically yelled in my ear.

I once again concentrated upon my work, my hands were beginning to feel sore from pulling upon the rough fabric of the rope. I tried my best to ignore it however and kept on going.

At around noon, the guards called a halt and lunch was brought to us. However, it consisted of only about a liter of soup that smelled as if it had been left out for a few days. The first time it entered my mouth I had to resist the urge to spit it out. I shivered as I swallowed the bitter liquid and then quite literally gagged afterwards.

It was then that I felt someone's eyes on me and I looked up to see the prisoner whom I'd taken the punishment for yesterday, gazing at me with an unreadable expression. I offered her a small smile but, she quickly looked away and continued gulping down her soup.

I didn't have much time to ponder her strange behavior as the guards soon ordered us back to work.

###

After hours of grueling labor and when I was absolutely sure that I was about to drop dead from exhaustion, the guards called a halt and we were escorted back to the barrack yard. There we were handed our supper which consisted of only about a tablespoon of cheese, a small slice of black bread, and a tiny piece of sausage.

I eagerly gobbled the small portions up though they did little to fill me in the end.

After supper, we were forced to endure another roll call and I took my place in the same line that I had the day before.

As the SS officer who had deprived me of my breakfast was about to subject us to counting a loud voice rang across the yard.

"**Oberaufseherin Volkenrath!" a male SS officer called, striding over to her. He looked to be about 25 years old and was tall and muscular though not overly so. His platinum blond hair was neatly combed back and I had to admit from what I could see of him, considering I was at one of the lines at the back, that he was strikingly handsome. I quickly shook that thought off.

Oberaufseherin Volkenrath saluted him and they became engaged in a conversation that I wasn't able to entirely hear due to my distance from them. However, it was her body language and the way she grinned at him and placed her hand on his shoulder as they spoke that indicated there might be more to their relationship than just strictly being fellow officers. His posture however remained stiff and uninviting to her attentions, but perhaps that was simply due to his wanting to maintain an air of formality while in public.

They're conversation soon ended and she saluted him again and he departed. Volkenrath then proceeded to count us and thankfully it was only a short time before we were dismissed to our barracks for our "free time" before we were supposed to go to sleep. As I trudged to the barrack, I could barely keep my eyes open as the combination of lack of food, beatings, and hard labor with no rest except for the lunch break left me feeling utterly exhausted. My arms were sore, my back was sore, my feet were sore, goodness I don't think there was a part of me that wasn't sore.

I entered the barrack and made my way to the back where my incredibly inadequate mattress on my bunk lay and I collapsed onto it.

Just as I was about to drift off to sleep, I felt a light tap on my shoulder.

My eyes shot open and scrambled to sit up, thinking it was probably Volkenrath come to torment me again.

Relief and a bit of apprehension rushed through me however when I observed it was only the woman who I had taken the punishment for the other day.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to frighten you" she said softly, in somewhat broken German.

"Oh uh...no..no that's alright. I just thought you were...someone else."

Understanding and a small tinge of sympathy crossed her eyes.

"May...May I sit? My legs are sore."

I wordlessly scooted over on the mattress, and she sat down. We sat there silently for a few moments, neither of us really knowing what to say to the other. What did one say in such dire circumstances as we were in?

Finally, she spoke up.

"Why did you help me yesterday?"

"I suppose I just reacted on instinct."

"You...you were very brave."

"That's very kind of you to say."

We lapsed back into silence for a few more moments.

"Thank you for what you did" she finally said quietly and then got up to leave.

"Oh wait before you go can I ask your name?" I inquired.

She hesitated a moment but finally said softly "Edith."

"I'm Lilla."

She gave a small nod in acknowledgement and then made her way back in the direction of her bunk.

For the first time that day a small ray of warmth filled me at the possibility that maybe, just maybe there was some goodness left in this world that had so very quickly turned into a hellish nightmare.

"Thank you Jesus for this small glimmer of light in this dark place" I whispered.

I then lay back down on my mattress and closed my eyes and soon I was sound asleep.

*Not only were those who were Jewish by religion shipped off to the concentration camps during World War II but also people who were Jewish simply by ethnicity as well.

**This was a German word meaning Senior Overseer and was used as a title for a higher ranking SS female guard, and Volkenrath is the last name of the female guard in this story

Wow this chapter was really hard to write but, by the grace of God I did it. I know its still pretty sad but it is necessary for the context of the story so I hope you guys will stick with me. I will see you all for the next chapter when the two main characters finally meet. Hope that doesn't give too much away but if you've already read the parable of the Good Samaritan you pretty much know how it goes anyway. PLEASE REVIEW and let me know if I should continue. God Bless.