When You Could Only See Red

The Transport Camp

"I heard something from Sal the other day," She started, pulling away as she began to play with the lint on his sweater. "The Nazi's are building camps everywhere. They're going to send all of us to those places, aren't they?" Felix felt his own eyes welling up. "All of us..." Margeit was not a Jew. She was a Christian, being thrown around as if she was the problem. The Nazis were the problem, not the Jews. 

There was nothing Felix could say- she wasn't wrong. The Nazis were planning on moving thousands of Jews and prisoners in and out of Westerbrok. Felix saw the plans when he was in Germany. Westerbrok was going to be what is called a transport camp; which meant that whoever was sent there was going to send to other camps around Europe. There were thousands being built all over the place, and there was nothing Felix could do to stop it. The Fischers were going to be sent there- he knew it. He tried to get more answers about how the Nazis were planning on extracting the Jews out of the cities. They were going to be tell the people they were being sent to a "work camp" then have them do hard labor at the camps, being malnourished, with horrid living conditions, so that they could slowly move remove the Jews from the population. 

Margeit pulled away from Felix, clearing reading his expression, and sat back down on the mattress. Felix sighed, shoving the letter back into his pants pocket and sat next to Margeit, putting an arm around her. "We'll figure it out, I promise." She nodded, leaning on his shoulder and closing her eyes. Moments like these were the kind that Felix wanted to stay in forever. He did not want to leave her and the Fischers, not knowing what would happen while he was away. But fortunately, this time, they could send letters to one another, as long as Margeit used a pseudonym. She planned to change her last name to Gunter- so that whoever was organizing the letters would hopefully assume she was just family. 

"I know." She muttered softly. "When do you leave?" 

"Two days." 

"Then let's forget about it. Enjoy the time we have now." Margeit said looking up at him. "I love you," Felix smiled and kissed her forehead lightly. 

"I love you too." 

---

The day before Felix was going to depart, he decided it was best to meet with his father, Victor. He was hoping that his father could provide some sort of protection for the Fischers, and for their colleagues while Felix was away. Victor knew that Felix had a girlfriend, but he never told him much about Margeit. He did not want his father learning about her Jewish heritage, just in case Victor slipped up with one of his so called "friends" and said anything about her. All Victor knew was that Margeit was a Christian from Amsterdam, whose father was a wealthy business owner. She grew up with a fine education and loved to read and write and perform. He showed his father a couple of pictures he had of her and left it as that. 

Now, he was going to talk to him about trying to save her life. 

Felix walked up the stone pathway, glancing around at the high, tar-colored railings that went all around the estate, and disappeared from sight. The house was a beautiful Victorian mansion, built in the seventeen centuries, which bay windows and large sculpted bushes, vines cascading down the white painted walls of the house. There was a small pond nearby, where Felix and his brothers used to play and fish out the coy that swam inside its waters. Even though this was Felix's childhood home, he wanted almost nothing to do with it. His mother always said that money can never buy you happiness, but rather can destroy it. And ever since she died, his father's happiness was being destroyed each and every day because of his own devices. 

As he got closer to the front porch, he noticed one of his father's servants cleaning the Mercedes sitting in the driveway. His father loved material things in order to showcase his wealth. The porch, which was covered in rose bushes, was being swept by another servant, Betsy, that Felix knew growing up. Betsy looked up at him, and gave him a kind smile and wave, "Felix Gunter. Where have you been? I haven't seen you in ages." She said, placing the broom against the wall and giving Felix a small hug. Betsy was likely in her late twenties, being a servant to his mother before she had died, she raised Felix and his brothers after her untimely death. He returned the hug, grateful that she did not scold him for being away from home for so long.