Childrens House of Belsen, The by Verolme Hetty

Author:Verolme, Hetty
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography/General
ISBN: 17793
Publisher: SPUNC - Fremantle Press
Published: 2009-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 8

On 4 January 1945, early in the morning, all hell broke lose in our section of the camp. We could hear screaming and running feet. Our door was forcibly opened and a female SS guard screamed, ‘Everyone out and bring your luggage.’ Bram and Eva lost no time in going outside with their suitcase, leaving me alone in the room. There was no way that I could carry all the suitcases assembled on my bed. I was desperate and contemplating what I should do, when a female guard walked in to inspect the room. I sat on my bed, unable to move. Her eyes met mine and I was sure that next, her whip would land on me but, for some reason, she made out that she had not seen me. As she turned towards the door to leave, another guard entered and started to talk very animatedly about an experience they both had apparently had the night before. As if it were a dream, I could see the first guard was manoeuvring her position so that the second one had her back to me. Slowly I slithered under my blanket, trying to make myself invisible, when one of the children, Maxy K., walked in, calling out my name on top of his voice. He walked straight past the two guards towards my bed, all the time calling out my name. There was no way out. I had to sit up. With one eye on the two guards I asked Maxy what he wanted.

‘You have to come straightaway to Sister Luba,’ he said.

‘Why? Are you sure it is me?’

I still did not trust Sister Luba.

‘Yes,’ Maxy said. She told me to get the girl with the red headscarf. You must come now!’

With a bouncing heart I slid down from the bed. Maxy was pulling on the sleeve of my coat and for a moment I hesitated to walk past the two guards. I mustered all my courage and swiftly walked past them while they were still in deep conversation. I sighed with relief when Maxy and I reached the outside, and we ran all the way towards the children’s barracks. When we ran past the hospital, we could see the sick people being herded outside, accompanied by lots of yelling and the use of the whips. I recognised a woman who was the wife of a business associate of my father. She was expecting a baby and looked very tired. They were being lined up by the kapos.

When Maxy and I arrived, short of breath at the children’s barracks, Sister Luba and the doctor were standing at the door. Sister Luba told me that our camp was being evacuated, but the children were allowed to stay. The doctor wanted to ask Commandant Kramer if I could live with the children. She took my hand and we walked back to the area where the sick people were being lined up. As we came closer, I could see a tall man dressed in a black uniform standing alone.

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