Amit & Adam

"I don’t want to go." I uttered speechlessly.

"Well we'll have to eventually!!" Father told me whilst packing his briefcase, “I’ve sold the shop to a very nice young business man. So we'll set up a nice little shop… Guess where? France! You've always said how you would like to travel the world and-"

"I have to stay!!" I sobbed, "We can’t abandon everyone! Karin's brother has been taken and she needs me!"

He asked confusedly, “Karin..?"

"She's… She's my friend." I sniffed.

Tomas groaned, "Come on, Amit!! We can’t stay and be pushed around by the Nazis!"

"Also we have to go before it gets dangerous, it could be any of us being taken next!" Father warned.

I lowered my head, "But I don’t know how to speak French."

"You'll soon pick it up! You know Bonjour… J'aime… Erm… Juifs?" He told me. 

Tomas and I couldnt help but laugh lightly.

I shook my head trying not to like the idea, "But what if no one likes us? And we make.. No friends?"

"Oh well, everyone likes you Amit. You'll be the popular girl in class!"

I smiled to myself, "Y...Yeah and I'll be able to ride on a bicycle to school again!    And go the cinema and.. Go swimming!"

He nodded happily, "That’s the spirit, and the French don’t have a problem with us Jews! Now go and pack we'll leave early tomorrow morning!"

I felt guilt inside my stomach churn, I didn’t want to leave my life in Germany behind, but I couldn’t stay,  I had to give it up for my own and my family's happiness.

"Open up!! Now!!" A stern voice boomed, “Or we'll smash the door open!"

The sound of women and children hysterically screaming from outside rang through my ears.

I rose up from the combing my hair staring at my reflection in the mirror, a rush of fear flooded through my body.

I gasped trembling with tears, “Please... God... Don’t let it be-"

A sudden bang slammed on the door, "Pack your things now, you have 5 minutes!!" 

We were so close; my bright light of hope was snatched away all in one moment. We were too late.

I thrown clothes and personal belonging into the suitcase, Tomas and I were beginning to panic.

"I don’t want to go!!" Tomas whispered to father.

He smiled sadly, "Come on, pack your stuff quickly, at least we have each other, hey?"

We got taken outside into one of the large dark vans, with many other Jews on the street, the same vans which took them away and never returned.

"Where are we going?" I asked father worriedly.

"I don’t know but we'll soon find out." He said as he held Tomas and my hand.

The unknown awaited us, I glimpsed back to the life that I was leaving behind, not knowing I was ever going to see again.

We arrived to a grim grey city district; there was no escape, barbed wire and tall brick walls that fenced us off from the rest of the world we once lived in. I didn’t know where we were, but Father said he overheard someone say we were in the capital of Poland, Warsaw.

I found myself being pushed out of the van along with the crowd of people behind me. We were all forced to line up and assigned one of the many ghettos. We weren’t the only ones there; there were hundreds of many other Jews the same as us.

"Gerb, Gudolf, Grünwald, Gossels, Guttman, Gypps-"

I gasped, father gently nudged me, "Come on, let’s go."

I looked across to the line of Nazi uniformed guards. Most of them looked so young. They carried guns and had a cold fire behind their eyes, yet there were some as young as eleven.

I passed the row; they all had the same plain expression on their faces. But I caught eyes with someone, there was one familiar face.

The name quietly escaped my lips, "Adam... Hans."

He kept a straight stern face, but his deep brown eyes told another story. Adam seemed surprised to see me.

Maybe because I was once the most popular girl in my year, I was everyone's friend. But I didn’t exactly brag about being a Jew too much either. So when they found out the truth, I felt as if they were disappointed in me. They didn’t want to believe that I wasn’t part of Hitler's ever so wonderful Aryan race.

I never knew Adam, but I knew who he was. Nearly every girl fancied him in the school, for his looks, his charm and his work in Hitler Youth. I didn’t fancy him myself, but I never expected him to ever lay eyes on me. Especially a Jewish girl like me.

How did he recognise me? How did he even know who I was? Or maybe my mind was playing tricks with me. I couldn’t understand why I was even pondering over these questions in the first place; I had other serious issues to deal with…