Arbeit Macht Frei
“Work makes you free” 

The sound of gunshots filled the air, it was 11:53 PM on January 30th, 1933 the nazis and the polish were at war, german leader Adolf Hitler led the nazis to conquer Poland, at the end, Germany won with the help of the soviet union, that’s how my story begins.

As Nazi tyranny spread across Europe, the Germans and their collaborators persecuted and murdered millions of other people. Between two and three million Soviet prisoners of war were murdered or died of starvation, disease, neglect, or maltreatment.

The nazis enslaved the jews and put them in concentration camps. They managed to find my families hiding spot inside the house where we were hiding. They cuffed us and sent us on our way to the concentration camp, we were no longer free, we were the germans property.

The inside of the concentration camp was horrible, you could hear the crying from a mile away, sadness filled the air, it was a bad place to be.
Right from the start, I knew that I had to escape this place one way or another, I was not going to live here and live by the germans rules.

My family was traumatized by the things they saw in the camp and I knew that they would never forget about this event, not even I would.
The first thing we had to do was find a place where we could stay, we found a small shed that another family was occupying but we shared the space which was barely fit enough for the two families.

My family was also starved, the nights we spend in the hiding spot in our house was without food and water, so we had to find something to eat.
My family was composed of my dad Sergei , my mom, Tonya, my brothers Slade and Lögan, and I have a dog named Odie, we had to beg and give valuable things to the nazis so they could let us keep our dog.
my younger brother is Lögan, he is 5 years old, very young to be living this horrible experience, My older brother is Slade, he is 19 years old, Odie is barely a year old and we have been training him to do simple commands like sit, follow, roll over, and of course attack.

The nazis treated us like if we were wild animals, once a week an armored truck with food rations would come to the city, they blocked off and made into the concentration camp we are in.
The food would be barely enough for around 120 families, which is very little considering there were around 400 families in total, so in order to get ration cards, you either have to be on the nazi soldiers good side or you had to work very hard.

The first week was rough, the family that was living in the shed with us was taken away because they were “disturbing the peace” even though they never left the shed, the only one that did was a young boy around 14 years old, but he only went to work to support his family.
I knew better than to be on the soldier's bad side, so for the past few weeks I would do chores for them, so they wouldn’t see me as a threat.
By the month I had many more privileges than most people, and I got paid better than others, which means I had a lot of ration cards so I could feed everyone in my family.

One night I got home, well if you call living in a shed home, then yeah, home, and came home to my mom cooking soup I asked her “where did you get the food from mum?” she told me “ the nice family from across the street gave us a ration card, so I decided to get some food”.
I could see the dirt on her clothes, I went over to her and took her hand and looked at it, her hands were covered with mud and had cuts all over.
I asked her angrily “how did you get those cuts mum?”
She started crying and finally she said “ I've been trying to make a tunnel, I'm so sorry I should have told you sooner”.
I couldn’t stay angry at my mother like that because she was trying to help, but I told her that I should be the only one working, I was supporting my family just fine.
The past few days we have been making plans on how we were going to escape, as I was on the privileged side of people I had a few more things, maps, water buckets, and toiletries.
With the maps, we designed routes of escape and places we could reunite if we got separated.
On the math to the north there was a small building off the side of a lake, practically camouflaged but we knew the place because it was my uncles.
I didn’t know if my uncle and his family were alive or not, I could only hope for the best.

One night I heard the sound of a gunshot, I came over to see what has happened, not that I was nosy but the soldiers commanded I went to inspect.
When I got there I saw a nazi soldier on the floor bleeding from a gunshot wound on his left side of his stomach, I checked if he still had a pulse but no luck, he was dead.
The person that killed him had a Luger P08, a pistol most nazis have on their side.
I checked the dead nazi’s sides and could see he was disarmed, so the weapon the person had was the nazi’s.
The person was later identified as yürgi, he fled when the armored truck came because the consequences of killing or even hurting a soldier is punishable depending on how badly you hurt said soldier.
To him, if he was caught he’ll be tortured for a while then killed, if he’s lucky.
As he fled he dropped the pistol he used to kill the soldier and ran for his life, it was the last time I saw him.
As for his family, I do not know what happened to them, I heard rumors that they were taken away for interrogation.

I picked up the pistol for my own safe keeping hoping that the soldiers that came didn’t check, I got away with the gun, I knew that one day I would need that gun for my safety.

The nazi’s like to humiliate people even if they are being treated nicely, the other day a soldier I was cleaning up after came up to me and threw his uneaten food on the floor and his beer, he said “you missed a spot there blödmann” and beat me with his stick, just an excuse to hurt me, but I couldn’t do anything because it gives him a reason to do worse.

I came home to find my parents and my brothers asleep, I didn’t want them to see my injuries so I crept to my bed in the side of the shed and the second I closed my eyes I passed out.

The next morning I found my parents putting points on the map that I have given them, they were talking strategy on the different routes the nazi’s never dared to go through.
When they saw me my mother cried out “Mein Kleiner Junge what happened to you?!
Was it those damn soldier’s, when they get a piece of me they will know what hell is!”
I told her “mum it’s fine, is but a flesh wound, this will heal what won’t heal is our soul if we fail, we have to be smart about what we are going to do and how we will escape, there is no room for error, you know the consequences, it’s better to die than to be captured. Father if we split up, take mum to the underground tunnel we built when your mom died, until it is safe to go out, preferably at night, I will take care of my brother’s. We will meet each other in the morning, that will be the plan, just give me a few more days to get ration cards for our escape, so we will have food.”
My father said it was a solid plan but my mother thought we had to give it more thought, she said “it is risky but it is better than not having a plan at all, I will ask around for medical supplies in case something happens, thank you for your hard work, this will pay off”
I went over to console my brother’s and tell them the plan and went over if we ever split off we should meet each other by the candy shop we always used to go to, it was well covered so the nazi soldiers that came to inspect the place wouldn’t find them.
They agreed to my plan, that was the second step to our break out, we needed a bit more time, maybe a few days tops, and the less time we are here the better.

The bad thing about concentration camps and there are a lot of bad things, is that if someone dies, the body gets burnt and the smell fills the air, making it bad to breath, they don’t even bother cleaning it up, it just stays there, making it easier to contract diseases, which made more people die.

The other day there was this family on the side of the road asking for food, they barely had any clothes and they were super skinny, you could see their bones, I didn’t have any food but I wanted to do something nice for them so I told them that they should work a bit, get ration cards, get food and I was going to let them come with us to escape, let them have a better life, a second chance.

The following days were the same, I would work till my body couldn’t move anymore, and get beat up but I held my ground because I knew it was the only way I can get extra ration cards.

A week later I was ready to go, I packed food and water, my parents packed clothes, and my brothers packed the first aid kits and ammo we had.
A few days ago I bought an army dog coat that had pockets, so the dog could carry things, we packed dog food on one side and knives in the other just in case.

Reznov the local that was helping us build an underground tunnel told us it was ready yesterday and they have recorded the soldier's route hours so we could be granted a safe passage.

We went on our way ducking through garbage cans and cars when we spotted soldiers, we went through a small forest that went on for about a mile.
We made a mistake of going into an abandoned warehouse to check for supplies and hide for a while when we encountered a soldier, I panicked and threw a knife at him, it was my first time killing someone but I did it because I didn’t want my family to get hurt.

It was safe to say that the soldier was no more, the knife impaled right in his stomach, he was wheezing from the pain, his expression was pain as he stared blankly into space, but he was still alive, I took the knife out of his stomach and cut his neck to finish him off, I said my prayers and told my family to follow me.

We went to a house that seemed to be abandoned but when we got there we closed the door, and when I went to the bathroom an old man with a knife grabbed me by the throat and started choking me, I tried to tell him we were friendly but I passed out before I got the chance.

I woke up with a wet towel on my neck that relieved my neck pain a little bit, but when I tried getting up, pain flared through the back of my neck and I yelled out.

My father came rushing to my side and asked me “are you alright son?” I said “yes father, my neck hurts a bit, what happened?”
He told me the following events that happened after I passed out.
He said that after I passed out, and after a minute of fighting, the people calmed down and welcomed them into their home, they were one of the few people still hiding from the nazis in the open, they ate a bit of food and talked about strategy.

I made a plan with the family I saw on the streets last week and they were supposed to meet up with us here, and they haven't gotten here yet, which made us worry a bit.

We stayed there for the night to rest. while everyone slept, I was staring at the ceiling. I couldn't sleep at all, I wasn't really tired after I was passed out for a couple hours.

I thought about the things that have happened in my life and how it will get better, I knew one day that the war would end but until then we had to lay low to avoid getting caught and executed.
I decided to try and sleep because tomorrow was going to be a rough journey.

The next morning my parents put on the table all our equipment while I fed the dog some meat.
I checked outside the window to see if there was a patrol, unfortunately, there was but thankfully it was just a couple ground troops, no armored convoy I thought this was going to be our lucky day.

My father asked the family if we could stay a little bit more and told them we were expecting a group of people to come.
They said we could stay a few hours more.
In the afternoon around 12:00 PM we had to leave.
We got our stuff ready and we were going to lose hope till we saw that the shrub outside was moving, I went to check it out and saw the family.

They explained why they were late and I said “it’s fine but we were about to leave, do you have all the supplies that I asked you for?”
“Everything you told me to bring is here”, the lady said while she showed me a duffel bag with supplies I asked for.

I told the lady “good, hopefully you got a good night's sleep, because we will travel a long way”.
The lady nodded, and we headed on our way. We tried to cross the street without alerting any soldier, but of course, a soldier saw the brush move right as we passed, he came towards us where we were hiding and peeked to see what made the brush move.

I picked up a rock and as he saw me I threw it at his head and he collapsed on the ground he was breathing unsteady.
He had blood trickling down his left eyebrow.
I quickly hid him behind a building and we went off on our way.
We passed by several roads that were deserted so there was no hurry but we had to be careful.

Hours passed like minutes, before we knew it we had run about 20 miles in half a day, we set up camp in a well-hid forest, we made little huts with fallen tree leaves, it took about an hour and night was setting in, but we finally went to sleep.

I dreamed that I was with my uncle and that his wife was on the floor lying down bleeding of a gunshot wound to the gut, my uncle was fighting off a soldier and my uncle got shot in the arm, he threw his knife to the soldier that shot him and killed him, then he finished off the other soldier by snapping his neck,
all while I applied pressure to my uncle's wife’s wound.

My uncle came up to us and hugged his wife and started crying out loud, in that moment I realized she passed away, my uncle started  yelling that it should have been him.

I woke up sweating and short of breath, I noticed the sun was up, I assumed it was around 7:30 in the morning.
I got up and collapsed my tent and put it up against a tree, hopefully, someone will reuse it.

My parents were barely waking up, and as they were, I was waking up my brothers and the family we brought along.

As we got ready I studied the map, if we made around 20 miles, then we still had around 10 miles to go, while everyone was eating I fed my dog, and I kissed him, and I went along to eat.

As we finished eating we packed everything and started going, we barely went a few miles before we saw an armored vehicle, we had to duck behind trash cans, but not even that was enough, as we sprinted to a corner of a bush, a kid from the lady fell and twisted his ankle, we heard shouting coming from a ground troop and they started shooting, my dad picked up the boy as I shot a few rounds, I nipped a soldier's ear, practically ripping it all off and killed another soldier by shooting him in his throat.

We probably ran for around 10 minutes before we took a rest.

When my mother sat down she screamed in pain, I went to her side and asked her “mum are you alright?!?!”.
Tears rolled down her cheek and I could see the pain in her eyes, I knew what was going to happen but I wouldn't allow it, I examined the bullet wound that she had on her right side, a soldier managed to shoot her.
Quickly without thinking I got the first aid kit, I got some vodka and gave it to my mom, I told her she would be alright, I got the alcohol and poured some on the wound,I had to disinfect the wound before I did anything else. She screamed in pain, I knew the pain would be unbearable but I told her that she was doing great.
I got the forceps and started pulling the bullet pieces out and I had to clean the wound several times because of the amount of blood.
After I made sure I got all the bullet pieces out I told my mother to take another drink of the vodka.
I was preparing the needle to stitch the wound closed.
When I finished, I asked her if she could walk, she nodded her head and started walking, I felt bad for my mother but we had to keep on going.

We took several stops because the wound would still bleed even though it was closed.

Finally, after the end of the day, we got to my uncle's house, I was happy we were finally there.
I checked to see if my mother was alright, but how she looked, it was clear that death was staring into her.
Her face was pale, she looked pained and weary and she was sweating like crazy, as if she ran a marathon, which she kind of did.

We knocked on the door and my uncle opened up, the sad look in his eyes told me everything, the dream I had did happen.

I hugged my uncle and told him about my dream, and then I told him I was sorry that it happened.
He didn't cry but he looked like he aged a decade by the sad face he had.

We came inside the house but it was too late, my mother collapsed on the floor and started breathing hard, she wasn't breathing properly.
She held up her hand and grabbed my head and pulled me close to her mouth, she whispered into my ear and said “ take care of your father, and your brothers. I love you all” as she handed me an envelope from her pocket.
Her last words were “I can finally rest at last” and closed her eyes.
Tears rolled down my cheeks as I put the envelope into my pocket.
I grabbed my mother and hugged her as I yelled “ don't leave me, mom!”, but it was no use, she was dead.

The next morning I started to dig a grave, I got up early in the morning and got to work.
When I finished I said my goodbyes and lowered her into a coffin we made and buried her.
I opened the envelope she gave me, inside was a note and a golden pendant, I opened the pendant and inside was  a photo of her.
The note was addressed to the whole family, it was a thank you letter to all the good times she’s had caring for this family.

The following days passed by in a blur, nothing much but hunting and hiding, It was alright.
My father sensed that something was wrong, and there was, it felt lonely and different without my mother.

The years past as the troops were showing less and less, they either died or left the army, so we were safe from getting killed, for the meantime.

One night I was picking up wood with my dog to make a fire and saw a soldier crossing I didn't have any weapons because they rarely cross so I didn’t think it was necessary to bring my gun.

He spotted me, he yelled and his partner came, I yelled attack to my dog and he ran towards them, he leaped onto one soldier and bit his neck instantly killing him, as for the second soldier, he recovered from the shock before I could catch up to him, and pulled out his pistol and shot the dog.
I yelled so hard the soldier got scared, I had mixed emotions, I was sad, angry and done, I couldn’t have someone killing something I loved.
My vision turned red as I ran up to the guy and hit him in the neck, making him choke, I grabbed the pistol out of his hand and shot his leg, making him yell out in pain.
Tears rolled down my eyes as I aimed the pistol at the soldier's head, without thinking I pulled the trigger and shot him in the head, blood splattered all over my face and clothes.

I went to check on my dog to see if he was okay, but I knew the shot couldn’t be treated, I held his head and hugged him, I said my goodbyes and told him that I will miss him but one day I was going to see him again, I shot my dog in the head to end his suffering.

Finally, more years past like it was days, before I knew it I didn't see any more soldiers.
A few days later my uncle came running where my family was and said that the german leader Adolf Hitler was found dead, he committed suicide, which meant no one had power over the army, so it dismantled quickly.

May 8th, 1945 was the day that the war ended, people called this war the Holocaust which was a good name for it given holocaust means destruction or slaughter on a mass scale, especially if it caused by either fire or a nuclear war.

The aftermath of the war was really bad, the jews feared to return to their homes even though they were safe, but that didn’t stop riots from happening.

some people still hated us jews and thought that we didn’t belong.
Many years passed until everything calmed down a little bit, but we knew we weren’t loved here.

In conclusion, enjoy what you have in your life and never give up on your hopes and dreams, no matter what obstacle gets in your way, you will have hard times ahead in your life but that shouldn’t stop you from trying your best. Always look on the bright side of things even if there is not any in any given situation you might have, and maybe your life will get easier.