The List by Stephen Robert Stein

Author:Stephen Robert Stein
Format: epub

Standing outside the open market in the town of Kampor, Sylvia tried to blend in with other women shopping. Without warning, two men approached, having previously scanned the area for Italian police.

“Hi, I am Zdenko, and this is Jozo. You must be Sylvia. We’ve heard about you…Quite a journey!” The men reached down to shake her hand.

Both were young, maybe eighteen, and looked fit, yet unshaven. The taller one had strong, powerful arms and a handsome face. The other, somewhat smaller, flashed a warm smile with his handshake as Sylvia spoke: “Yes, I asked Mirjana for help.”

“Let’s talk, but somewhere else. Please follow,” said the smiling Jozo. She was led to a small truck, and they rode along a dirt path into the woods.

As they passed several armed guards stationed along the rutted path, Sylvia could see the commitment in the eyes of the men. Entering the Resistance base, she saw several groups of men involved in various training activities while others sat in a group listening to instructors. Gunshots from a shooting range could be heard coming from along the shore. A few women were present, but the majority of people were men dressed in civilian clothes; there were no uniforms.

She was directed to a small building, once a home, now an infirmary. A thin, wiry woman, perhaps in her forties, greeted Sylvia and led her inside. “So, girl, you are here. And how can you help us, please tell? My name is Jovanka.” There were no pleasantries.

“I am Sylvia.” She looked around to see if anybody else could hear her. “I just left Stara Gradiška, I mean…escaped from that miserable camp where I functioned as a nurse.” She cleared her throat and continued. “I was there one year, and it was horrible. I did my best for the others, but we had few medicines and many died as a result of disease and starvation. But more perished, many children, from pure cruelty.”

Jovanka’s dark eyes bore directly into Sylvia. “I know, I have lost many in my family to those butchers. But that is then, and we are the Resistance; and soon our men will take on these Ustashe scum.”

Sylvia was taken to another area of the camp where she was given quarters with the other women. She soon learned that despite her work as a nurse, she would be required to become a fighter in the Resistance as well.

It had been a long time since she’d smiled.

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