19. Liberation

Chapter nineteen

Liberation

Four months later, on April 24, 1945, two weeks before Nazi Germany surrendered. South Germany, Kaufering Concentration Camp.

"They ran away. They abandoned the camp," the prisoner standing at the barracks says. I barely raise my head and look at her. I don't know her. We arrived at this camp two weeks ago. We were the few women who survived the long march. We have been here ever since, waiting. No one knows what we're waiting for.

"No more SS guards?" I ask her quietly, but I don't think she heard my whisper. My head falls on the hard wooden bunk that has been padded with some straw. I no longer have the strength to get up from the bunk I've been lying on for two days. I'll rest here for a while, then I'll try to get up. I promised Charlotte and Rebecca that I'd survive. I can't think clearly anymore. I'm so tired.

I manage to turn on my side. Two female prisoners who had walked with me all the way from the East, hobble to the door and disappear into the daylight outside. I close my eyes. Is that how you feel at the end? Infinitely calm?

Yesterday I thought I heard thundering cannons, but perhaps I imagined it; I don't know anymore. We haven't eaten in three days.

I struggle to rise from the bunk and support my thin body, then make my way down to the wooden floor of the barracks. Finally, I managed to reach the door and go through it. The spring morning sun blinds me. I blink and try to adjust to the light. Everything is quiet.

Several prisoners walk toward the gate, but I can no longer stand or walk, so I sit at the shack door, leaning against the wooden frame. The camp gate is wide open. The SS soldiers who were standing at the entrance have disappeared. The watchtower is also abandoned.

Two prisoners walk through the open gate and start walking on the road outside the camp. But a few steps later, they turn around and come back inside.

Everything is quiet, there are no sounds of gunfire or roars of battle. I can't even hear the birds chirping; maybe I imagined it all. I close my eyes, exhausted, and open them after some time. Then I notice three soldiers.

They're standing by the breached gate. They have helmets on their heads and weapons in their hands. Did they come to kill us? It doesn't matter anymore. I lean back and watch them indifferently. I can no longer walk or even go back into the hut and try to hide.

They remain standing by the gate, looking in without entering. More soldiers join them. I hear a noise and a military jeep drives in. But it's khaki, not blue green like the Germans' vehicles. Their uniforms are also khaki.

They start walking slowly into the camp, their weapons drawn, and they look around. But they don't shoot. Several prisoners advance toward them, and one of them starts talking to one of the soldiers. Who are these soldiers? One of the prisoners hugs the soldier standing in front of him.

More and more soldiers arrive and enter the camp, and a large military truck full of soldiers pulls over in front of the gate. They jump off the jeep and enter the camp. Some have white ribbons with a red cross on their arm. They examine us but don't shoot.

One of the soldiers walks toward me and stares. He holds his weapon but doesn't point it at me. I slowly look up at him. He's leaning over me.

"Are you alive?" I think he asks me in English. I'm not sure anymore. I can't respond. I'm exhausted.

He bends down, takes a metallic water bottle from his army belt, takes the cap off, and puts it in my mouth. I sip the water slowly and choke. I didn't drink in two days.

More soldiers enter the camp. Another soldier approaches me and leans against the wall next to me. There's something sewn to his shoulder.

"Are you hungry?" He asks me in broken German and takes out a packet of food from his pocket. "Take it, eat, but a little, you shouldn't eat a lot, a few bites and that's it," he breaks off a piece and brings it to my mouth. I close my eyes and savor the sweetness of the chocolate. Is he German? How does he speak German?

"My daughter," I whisper to him in German and open my eyes. I look into his brown eyes. Slowly, I raise my hand and touch the Star-Spangled Flag embroidered to his uniform. There are so many white stars on the flag's blue background sewn to his shoulder.

"What's your name? Where's your daughter?" He looks around. "Can we save your daughter?"

"I lost her," is all I manage to say to him before I close my eyes again.

"Medic, I need a Medic here. She's still alive," I think one of the soldiers is shouting in English.