The Prisoner's Wife by Maggie Brookes

Author:Maggie Brookes [Maggie Brookes]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Berkley
Published: 2020-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

• • •

The Labor Exchange is a hut set aside to match prisoners with suitable Arbeitskommando work camps, and now I see for myself how the Third Reich exists on the slave labor of its captured enemies.

The hut is staffed by two “trusted men,” one British and one Australian. There are lists on the walls of the hundreds of factories, mines and quarries looking for workers.

“Ready to make yourselves useful to the Reich?” asks the Aussie.

Bill says, “We hear Czechoslovakia is very nice at this time of year.”

The Aussie pulls a card index toward him.

“Not mines,” says Ralph. “I’m claustrophobic. I’d scream the roof down.”

“Experience?” asks the Aussie.

“I’ve worked in a sawmill before,” says Bill, “and done sledge building and farmwork.” He indicates me. “He’s a dab hand with ’orses.”

“Not much agricultural work at this time of year,” says the Aussie. “What about you two? What can you do?”

“Bookkeeping, and I can speak German,” Ralph says.

The Aussie writes something down as Max says, “I can organize a trade union.”

The Aussie’s eyebrows rise “Hmm, better not advertise that.”

Scotty says, “I’ve worked in a quarry, a shipyard, a milliner’s and a biscuit factory. We’d prefer a biscuit factory if yous got one.”

Everyone laughs, but I look at him with new interest.

The Aussie pulls a card from his index. “Here’s something. Not a biscuit factory. Saubsdorf quarry. E166. Jeseník district, Olomouc region. Wants five new men.”

He pronounces “Jeseník” with a j for “jam,” not a y for “yes,” so it takes me a moment to recognize where he means. Then my heart leaps. I’ll be back in my own country! It will be so beautiful in the mountains. Surely that’s where the resistance is hiding.

The Aussie scrutinizes us carefully, and I see us with fresh eyes: Bill, thin but wiry; me, small for a man and skinny now after a month without my mother’s cooking and only half our parcel ration; Max, like a skeleton, full of nervous energy; Ralph, bespectacled and somehow feminine; Scotty, square and tough.

“It’s hard graft. Are you sure you’re up to it?”

“We’ll just have a powwow,” says Ralph, and we withdraw to a corner of the hut for a whispered conversation.

Scotty says, “Heavy work in a quarry.”

Ralph indicates me, asking Bill, “Can he manage it?”

Bill searches my eyes anxiously, reading my eagerness, before he says, “Anywhere’s better than here, and he’s stronger than you’d think. We can cover for him maybe or get him work in the office once we’re there.”

And so it’s agreed. We’ll go to Saubsdorf quarry. I’ll be home in Czechoslovakia again and might even be able to send a message to my mother.

The Aussie completes the paperwork and hands us each a chit.

“You need to pack up your gear and transfer to the Arbeits compound till we can get you transport. Shouldn’t be more than a day or two.”

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