Death in the Baltic by Cathryn J Prince

Author:Cathryn J Prince [Prince, Cathryn J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780230341562
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2013-04-15T04:00:00+00:00

“They let the ramp down for us to go on board,” Helga Reuter said. “We got registered. The soldiers that ran the ship had to give us their life vests. Then we were told to go to the dining room—to get our ration of bread and find ourselves a place to rest.” Upon boarding the ship, the three young women felt secure.19

Helga and Inge Reuter and their aunt, Ruth Walloch, three months pregnant, found a place to camp. The stately dining room, now devoid of any furniture save for a grand piano, once had a lustrous parquet floor. The white columns, which once separated long tables and supported the paneled ceiling, stood like silent waiters. The last fine meal had been served long ago.

“There were no tables, no stools, and we were lying like sardines,” Helga said. “They gave us a half a loaf of bread. Finally we found a toilet so we could wash our faces and hands. So we were happy to get to lie on a clean floor. It was next to the staircase. We were in the middle of the top deck. One staircase up to the lifeboat.”

Sapped of strength, the three young women fashioned bed-rolls using their life vests as mattresses. The girls spread their fur coats atop the vests. Then the trio curled up, closed their eyes, and searched for sleep.

The Reuter sisters and their aunt had now been aboard the ship for two days.

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