Chapter 12

Strasshof Concentration Camp, Austria
July 1944

“Where are we now?” asked Kati.

“Somewhere in Austria.” Oscar pointed to a sign by the station house.

“Austria. Thank God.” Anyu sighed. “At least we’re not in Germany.”

“Or, God forbid, Poland,” Aunt Bella added. The women exchanged knowing looks.

“What’s wrong with Poland?” asked Kati.

Aunt Bella just shook her head.

Oscar thought of the conversation in the brickyard about the Polish concentration camp. At least we’re not there. He took a deep breath. Wherever they were going had to be better than Auschwitz.

“Go!” Aunt Bella nudged her daughter as the guards ordered them into a truck.

“They never tell us anything,” Kati whispered to Oscar. “We’re old enough to know what’s going on.”

“They don’t want to scare us,” Oscar replied.

“Don’t want to scare us? How much more scared could we be?” Kati pointed to Magdi, pale as snow. “She hasn’t said a word for hours.”

Ahead of them a small girl cried out and a soldier turned his gun on her. Her mother screamed and covered the child’s body with her own. For a moment the woman and the soldier stared at each other. Then he pushed them toward the truck.

Paul climbed into the truck. His legs were trembling. He looked at his mother whose eyes were black against her pale, pinched face. He reached up and touched her cheek. “I won’t get lost again, Anyu. I promise.”

“I won’t let you.” She kissed the top of his head. She pulled Oscar to her. “You will watch over your brother.”

“I will, Anyu.” Oscar puffed out his chest. “I’m the man in the family. Apu said so.”

“Yes.” Anyu sighed. Her eyes had a faraway look. She placed her hand under Oscar’s chin. “My strong young man.”

Paul cuddled close to his mother. He rubbed his face against her dress and wrapped his arms around her waist. For the rest of the ride he held on tight, as if afraid letting go would make her disappear.

After a short ride the truck stopped. Soldiers lowered the tailgate and ordered everyone out. They lined up in front of a table where a guard entered their names on a list. A row of guards with dogs stood behind them.

Paul shivered. The soldiers were frightening, but their dogs scared him the most. They were huge. And they had sharp teeth and angry eyes.

After the soldiers recorded their names, they were taken to an open area where soldiers were spraying people with giant hoses. The guards ordered them to take off their clothes.

“Not in front of our children!” Aunt Bella begged the soldier.

In answer, he rattled the chain of the German shepherd at his side. The dog growled and lunged forward. The guard pulled him back and then pointed toward the soldiers hosing down a group of nude women.

“You go there,” he said.

Aunt Bella sighed. “Lenke, Kati, Magdi, let’s go.” They walked over to the shower area and got in line.

Oscar covered his brother’s eyes as Anyu, Aunt Bella, and the girls were forced to strip. Paul peered over his brother’s hand, but Oscar turned him around. He didn’t want Paul to see their mother struggling to cover her body with her hands.

When it was their turn, the boys took off their clothes and waited in front of the soldiers holding the hose.

“Hold on to me,” Oscar said, as the water hit them.

Before Paul could grab Oscar’s hand, he was hit with a blast of frigid water. The harsh spray stung his face, especially his eyes, and icy needles rained down his body. He turned and the water struck his back, almost knocking him down.

“Get dressed,” the soldiers ordered when it was over. Oscar helped Paul into his shirt and shorts and then dressed himself. The clothes stuck to their wet skin.

“At least we’re clean,” Oscar quipped.

The soldiers lined them up and marched them into a long, low building, where they were assigned bunk beds, three people to each level. Exhausted, they lay down, Paul on the inside, Oscar in the middle, and Anyu on the outside. The bunk was narrow and hard. Bella and the girls took a bunk across the aisle.

Oscar turned onto his side, trying to get comfortable.

“Oscar, I’m scared.” Paul whimpered

“Don’t be frightened, Paul. Go to sleep. Everything will be better tomorrow.”

“Good night, Oscar. Good night, Anyu.” Paul was too exhausted to think. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to disappear into sleep.

The two families stayed in the Strasshof Concentration Camp for two weeks. During that time they lived in the barracks and were fed watery soup and stale bread once a day. They soon realized that this was a holding camp, where people were kept until going to their final destination. Every day, new people arrived in Strasshof and others were taken away.

Anyu and Aunt Bella worried constantly about where they would be sent. Then one day, two weeks after they’d arrived, the families were loaded onto trucks and driven away from the camp.