The Auschwitz Detective by Jonathan Dunsky

Author:Jonathan Dunsky
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Adam Lapid 06
Published: 2023-02-07T00:00:00+00:00

20

I let out a long exhalation. “That’s it. I’m a dead man."

"Don’t say that," Vilmos said forcefully. “It’s not true."

I didn’t answer. I was tired and filled with a sense of doom. I had talked to two men who had seen the dead boy shortly after he was killed, and neither of them could provide me with any useful information—not even the man who might have seen the murderer leave the scene of the crime.

Vilmos said, "You’ll find the solution, Adam."

I turned on him in anger, my frustration spilling over. "Really? What makes you so sure, huh? There’s no physical evidence, no police report, no clues, and the only witness is a blathering moron who can’t tell fiction from reality. It’s hopeless, don’t you see that?"

"There’s always hope, Adam."

"Oh, come on. Look around you, Vilmos. Do you see any hope around here?"

Vilmos did not shift his gaze. “I don’t need to look around to see it, Adam. I need only look at you."

"What are you—’’

"And you need only look at me to see it, too. What else do you think keeps us alive in this place? God knows it's not the food, or the conditions, or the generosity of the Germans. So why aren’t we dead? Why do we keep struggling? Why don’t we follow Gyuri’s example and jump at the fence?” He did not wait for me to reply, but pushed on. "It’s hope, Adam. Don’t you see that? We still hope, despite everything; hope that there’s a future outside these fences; hope that one day we’ll be out of here, that we’ll be free again and could live a life worth living."

He looked so earnest, so imploring. He so wanted me to believe in this fantasy. In this lie. He didn’t understand me at all.

I said, “Do you know why I want to survive this place, Vilmos? The real reason? It’s not to live a life worth living, as you put it. Because my life ended there.” I pointed at the smoke rising from the crematoriums. “It’s over and done with. It can’t be rebuilt. The reason I want to survive is not to live, but to kill. Kill as many of these Nazi bastards as I can. Not just the guards and the SS doctors, but everyone who had a hand in building this place, in sending our people here to be murdered. That's what I want. The only thing.”

"No, it’s not,” Vilmos said. “You told me so yourself.”

"What are you talking about?”

"You said that after you got out of here, you’d go to Tel Aviv, that you thought you’d like it there. Well, guess what, Adam? There are no Nazis in Tel Aviv. No one for you to take revenge on. So what are you going to do there if not live your life?”

I had no answer. But I also had no hope. It was just a dream, all of it. Exacting vengeance on those who killed my family, and later starting life afresh in Tel Aviv.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.