‘Capture’



The remaining families hide in silence; waiting for the demons to take what is left of them away. They have already taken Mr. Abramov, and most of the senior citizens, including kind Mr. and Mrs. Czarnecki. Rumors circle around the ghetto like vultures. Some say the Nazis are taking people away to a decrepit Hell, drowning in the stench of burnt corpses, rotting sewage and fecal matter. Some say the soldiers release their hounds on the captives, forcing them to run in what seems a sick circus act. Some others whisper that the air is thick with odorless, tasteless, invisible poison that can kill hundreds at a time. The rumors are true. They speak of a place, a horrid place that is lying to their faces with three simple words. ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ ‘Work Makes You Free.’ The faint rumble of an engine is heard. A truck rolls up to the apartment, adorned with a swastika. The families scatter, lights go out. Silence for a few seconds. Suddenly, a baby cries out, screaming for food. The truck door slams and footsteps are heard, the clink of boots slamming into the wooden floors as the soldiers climb up each staircase, checking every single floor for signs of life. The rat-a-tat of machine guns is heard occasionally, but no life is found. Until they reach the seventh floor.

“RAUS! RAUS! SCHNELLER!--EVERYONE OUT NOW!”

“B-but, we--!”

A struggle is heard as the demons grab the family, whilst stealing their most prized possessions. Everyone is taken outside, and the workforce is selected. Grandfather is the only one…not acceptable. He raises his frail, spindly hands above his head as a bullet cuts through his skull like butter.

BANG.

Down he falls, dead.

Another family is removed, taken out to the trucks, all sent to the hell known as Auschwitz-Birkenau. From above, they all seem like ants herded into the truck, alongside many other people coming to the truck from other apartments. Many are young. Many are weary from the stress of hiding from the evil that lies ahead. As the other families are loaded, screaming, more footsteps are heard.

“Kommandant! There is one room left unchecked!” a soldier shouts.

“Well, go! Check that room! Jetzt! Now!”

The soldiers then burst into the room, repeating what they have done to hundreds of other families in the ghettoes all over Europe.

“HAUSMANN FAMILY. You are being deported to your new living quarters. Raus, RAUS. SCHNELLER.” the Kommandant barks.

The soldiers grab the family, as they did with the others, and take them to their untimely demise, rumbling away in the transport trucks. The tires kick up dust as they make their way to the train station; the train that will take them straight to a living Hell on Earth.