Auschwitz

Chapter 4 work

She was still so tired, and weak, so many people were. I was strong, but handling my weight and Elizabeth's. This is hard.I sighed with relief when we got to the hospital block, but I'm so scared that they'll take her to the surgeon.

"Maria I will not make it."

"Hush now. You will make it Elizabeth. Don't give up just yet."

Her eyes closed so slowly, it seemed like minutes that she was closing her eyes before we walked into the hospital block.The woman in the hospital block told me to put her on a bunk, a bunk by herself. At least she'd get rest and food here.In this hospital block, there was typhus that was my main concern of it. What if Elizabeth got worse, what if my cut got more infected.

My cut, I forgot about it. I walk to the side of the block, and slowly unwrap my hand. its scabbed but its still green. The block was big, it looked like a small house in Poland. It belonged to a friend of mine. Helen Wolowitz, she was a fun girl. She used to play with me when I was little. We used to play tag, it was a fun game until the Germans came here.

Helen and I were walking one day. I got off the sidewalk when the soldiers walked by. Helen didn't, she was so helpless, and she didn't see them, before I could warn her. The head German pulled out his pistol. The pistol seemed to fire in slow motion, the bang made me jump, I couldn't say anything. Helen died that day. I've lost so many friends, so many, I don't want to lose another.

When I first met Elizabeth I wanted my family, but now all I wanted to do was survive. Not much people look at us with sympathy. They're mostly people who don't care if you live or die. I know we all feel the same.

People asking themselves. "Why, what have we done, what have I done." I think people are good at heart and the Nazis were just brainwashed into hating us. We were a peaceful person. My first day of work consists of checking on patients. There were 200 in here. The head nurse wants me to speak in German so I could understand the SS.

"How do you expect to get around here, they do not like to repeat themselves, this is your only way."

She was stern and a little sympathetic.

I'm only 15 years old, I have to learn how to check on people and how to make it.

"Greene! Over here!"

I had to listen I walked quickly walked over and saw a woman probably in her forties. she had brown hair, cut like mine, she had typhus and was strapped down to the bunk.

Typhus is a disease that makes you hallucinate. Honestly, you could die, not from the hallucinations but from the sickness. Its like a flu, a very bad flu. I really hoped that Elizabeth wouldn't get typhus, Nazis didn't care if you hallucinate they never care about Jews. Anyway, the woman had warts, one under her lips, the others scattered all over her face, her eyes were a honey brown. she was struggling to make it out of the restraints.

"Your job is to check that the restraints are secure, we wouldn't want them running out of the bunk and getting shot on sight." I nodded and crossed my arms, this would be easy I bet.

"No I need the water!" the woman screamed and lashed out like she wanted desperately to be let free. It hurt to see her and the other patients like this. Her name was Isa. I have at least checked at least 50 restraints before lunch. I had to strap Elizabeth down so she wouldn't be caught sleeping on the job, it was smart. Our lunch was soup, it was horrid soup, that tasted like the inside of a trash bag but we needed it to survive.

I ate half and left half for Elizabeth even though the patients get soup too she needed more to be fully restored. "Roll-call!"

I wasn't expecting this. I needed to get Elizabeth her soup. I was pushed out but the guard with his hand wrapped around my arm, he squeezed so hard I might have bruises.

"140603!!" A female guard called with her hand over her mouth.

We waited for the next two hours, it was long, it seemed like the guards would take a minute between numbers. Sometimes it seemed like four minutes. Elizabeth needs that soup, pronto.

"That concludes roll-call." the speaker sounds throughout the camp. Finally.

When we get back I grab the bowl and hand it to Elizabeth so she could eat more; then I started checking more restraints. All I had to check, was the metal clamp, the leather to see if it was strong enough to withstand the thrashing. When I was done checking the hundredth restraint I returned to the front to see Elizabeth finishing the soup.

"Your welcome." I said and sat on the side of the bunk.

"Thank you, you saved me now two times, I only wish I could do the same for you."

I held up my hand telling her to stop talking. 

"I was just helping you because you were the only person who was nice to me when we got into the train. I know you barely made it, I wanted you to survive, even if I didn't."

Her tone softened and nodded. "Thank you, for helping me here, and letting me sleep."

I nodded once more before going to check on the other restraints. two woman died when I went to check the others, the typhus had claimed them. It was sad, no burial, no nothing just being carried outside to be loaded. Every hour mostly one person would die of typhus. It was hard to check the restraints while they were screaming for food, or water or berries.

"Its five! works over!" I had to go back to Mexico and Elizabeth was staying here to sleep. When I walked out of the hospital I saw that the sky contained a certain dust. It was almost like ash, and I realized, they are burning the bodies... after they gas them.