Erika- A War torn Love

Chapter 5

It was the first day of spring. The trees lining the street in front of our house were in blossom and the shoots of new forming leaves were visible. It was eerie to see something so beautiful in the midst of the most dreadful war that was unfolding around me. In the months since Gerda and the other Jewish children had been taken from our school and my close call with a landmine I had only once dared to try and go back to the camp. I only made it a few miles through the woods however when my nerves got the better of me and I headed home. It was right after I heard gunfire and screams, something which got more frequent the closer to the East German border I got. My nerves won that day and I decided I had gone far enough, there would be a better time, when the woods provided more cover to go back.

Today I walked towards the town, assessing the changing woods as spring crept in.  Our town too was now changing becoming more affected by the war as the months went past. Fritz had come and gone carrying out Hitlers orders. He never spoke much of where he had been or indeed what he had done, but I preyed he was not one of those dreadful soldiers I had seen on my visit to the camp. In my heart I was sure the handsome protective big brother I had looked to for guidance and protection throughout my childhood could not be cruel and would surely defy any such order which necessitated such actions. Well I hoped anyway, because if not I felt sure I could no longer look at him in the same way, let alone think of him as a brother. As much as I hoped he was different I dared not trust him. As such we became increasingly distant. Gone were our witty looks and mocking of our father, instead replaced by silence or avoidance. I was actually getting more comfortable with the times he was away than when he was home.

"Erika"

By now you would think I was used to my name being shouted from a far, however since the woods and then my trip to the camp, the shouting of my name immediately raised my suspicions. Of course I would turn and like today see a familiar unthreatening face and immediately feel ridiculous.

"Hi Leisel" I said as I let out my previously held breath.

Leisel remarked on how happy I sounded when I realised it was her that had called out my name. Happiness as seeing her was now a rare occurrence to Liesel and her family. Since the Jewish people had been marked and subsequently removed from our town the remaining German people had shunned Leisels family, because although part German, they were part Jewish. People were scared that if they associated with them they would be accused of hiding Jews. They didnt know whether the fact that Leisels father was German meant it was ok that her mother was a Jew or not. 

Although I doubted any other person in our town had witnessed the camps as I had, they suspected the worst, which lead to fear. My father a once stoic man, who listened to no one, and generally did as he wished, warned me away from my friend suggesting just the association with a part Jew may result in punishment. If he a man who only cared about what he wanted was thinking this god knows what others were thinking. Obviously I did not listen to my father as here I was happy to see my friend. Funnily, although I had seen far worse than the others in our town, I was not scared. I would not be dictated to be anyone. I had lived much of my oppressed, I was basically trained for this!

"They have begun burning" Leisel remarked.

As I looked around I could see soldiers with petrol cans.

About one month after my visit to the camp the stars I saw in the East German town appeared on the doors of the Jewish residents houses, even those that were empty because the people had already been taken away. It was quite funny really, because the first to be taken were those like Gerda and her family, who did not have much, and contributed only minimally to the running of the town. Those families which included Jewish people of more importance were removed next, with now only families such as Leisels who were part Jewish, or those who were Doctors remaining. The stars however were on every Jewish households door.