Hidden Away by J.W. Kilhey

Author:J.W. Kilhey
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2013-01-04T14:27:35+00:00

Chapter 12

Mauthausen, Austria

1942

WE STOOD lined up against a wall inside a small square, and I shivered. Night was falling and the air was cold. No one spoke to us, and no one within our ranks muttered a single word. Although it seemed like we were alone, there was no mistaking the feeling of being watched.

We stood there for hours. The darkness enveloped us, and still we were left out in the elements. I didn’t dare look at anything other than the space before me. As my fear grew, it consumed me. My limbs shook as the muscles in my face trembled. Perhaps it was my fear that saved me from succumbing to the cold. It could’ve only been just above freezing. Men down the line, to either side of me, fell. Some to their knees, others flat-out on the ground. I could hear their shallow, raspy breaths. I saw them out of the corners of my eyes. Through my terror, I was relieved that none of those struggling to survive the night was my Peter.

Everything changed in seconds. Suddenly, men in striped uniforms surrounded us. I didn’t know where they came from, but it was obvious they were prisoners. They blew cigarette smoke in our faces as they asked what we had on us.

I heard them telling a new prisoner to my right how they could help him if only he’d trade his pocket watch right now. The way these men told it, the system was easy to understand. We give them valuables now; they give either protection or valuables later. Food. Cigarettes. Better clothing.

Peter and I had nothing to trade. The Gestapo had taken it all before we were shipped out. All I had was my soiled and bloodied clothing, which meant I was useless to these men who sought paper money and gold.

The feeling of worthlessness did not last long. The men in striped uniforms began looking at the line in a particular way after getting as much as they could from us new prisoners. My whole body was quaking still, but the shaking was not just a product of my body trying to survive anymore. Now, it was a result of my increased dread and panic.

The way these men were looking at us made me worry that I needed to fear them, perhaps more than the SS guards with their guns.

They circled me as they singled me out. Although I kept my eyes fixed on their shoes, I could hear them lick their lips. I could feel their breath on my neck, my ear, my cheek. I wanted Peter, but didn’t dare look at him.

“He’ll be nice,” I heard from someone behind me.

“He won’t survive the night. What a shame,” someone else said.

Right beside my left ear, a man said, “I should like to have him assigned to my work detail.”

“That’ll cost you.”

Risking a glance up, I saw one prisoner who wore a green triangle. He stood back from the others, but his cold blue eyes never left me.

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