Agent of Vengeance by Scott M. Neuman

Author:Scott M. Neuman [Neuman, Scott M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hirsch Street Press
Published: 2019-10-02T16:00:00+00:00

13

The New Berlin Zoo was a picturesque zoological park surrounded by a grove of trees meant to resemble a forest. Within it there were wide paths bordered by vendors selling drinks, candies, and even souvenirs. One could travel around the zoo using the miniature train or on a path designed for bicycles and roller skates. Since it bordered the river, there was a dock where one could rent paddleboats and canoes. Hitler had designed the zoo and its grounds personally, as part of his effort to integrate his most precious memories into the infrastructure of Project Valhalla.

There was one job at the New Berlin Zoo that the Jews of Holle prayed they would never be assigned. A single Jew was expected to clean the cages of over three hundred animals every day of the week except Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. The work hours began after the zoo closed at 6:00 p.m. and ended the following day at 8:00 a.m. It was known to the Jews that whoever was assigned this job would often never be heard from again. What they didn’t know was why. Having grown up without any familiarity of animals, Jews didn’t know to stay away from the zoo’s more aggressive species. Furthermore, the human instinct of fight or flight had been beaten out of the Jews by their Nazi tormentors. That meant that when an animal attacked, the Jewish worker would often choose to wait for the violence to end, which usually occurred only after the Jew was dead.

Still, there were fringe benefits to those workers who managed to survive their first few days. For instance, one could supplement their diet by stealing food from the animals. The Jews of Holle, being provided rations that comprised of less than 900 calories a day, were in a constant state of hunger. The animals in the zoo were given a far more substantial and nutritionally balanced diet. A Jewish worker who took food from the animals would therefore have adequate nutrition and sometimes even have enough left over to share with the other occupants in their barracks.

The other benefit was that since the job involved large amount of rancid animal feces, no Aryan guard was assigned to directly supervise the worker. Jews in Holle were under constant harassment by the guards. Even during the short time allocated to sleeping, guards would randomly overturn beds to create an atmosphere of terror. As long as there was an Aryan around, Jews were in constant fear that they were the next to be beaten or taken away, never to be seen again. The Jewish zoo worker, however, was on his own. As long as he showed up and did his job, nobody paid any notice to him.

When the loudspeaker ordered Joshua to report to the zoo, he chalked it up as fate and didn’t let the reaction of sympathy from his fellow Jews bother him at all. Joshua had an innate confidence that he could overcome any obstacle the Nazis would throw at him.

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