Soul to the Rhine

Chapter 36 Letter
Rosia looked at the empty space in front of her, leaving only a tablecloth, while the guy next to her was eating the lamb chops she had cut with great gusto. Really, she didn't dare to be angry or speak out.

Aren't there any lamb chops out there?
Poor Peter had already been paralyzed with fear and could do nothing except mechanically filling his mouth with food.Rosia had no choice but to accept her fate and replaced it with baked mushrooms in cream. She lowered her head and ate silently, resisting the urge to run away through the door.

After a while, there was a faint sound of singing and dancing outside. Rosia silently focused her attention on her ears to reduce the pressure of an officer next to her.

After Rosia slowly ate her fill little by little, she realized that the food on the table was almost gone. She didn't eat much at all, and looking at Peter's pitiful appearance, she probably wouldn't be able to eat anymore. .Then the rest are eaten by these two Germans?
Rosia quietly looked at the major officer's belly. There was no bulge in the lean waist. She didn't know where all the food had gone.

After the major officer finished eating, he opened the red wine and drank it slowly, as if he didn't intend to go out at all.Rosia and Peter sat beside them with their hearts skipping a beat, but they didn't dare to open their mouths and chase people away.

I don’t know how long it took, but the door of the small room was knocked again. Rosia felt like tears filled her eyes instantly. No matter who it was, get these two Buddhas out quickly.

The major's adjutant was the closest to the door, so he stood up to open the door. A rough voice came from outside: "Heinrich, you are hiding and starting a small stove again. You have finished eating. General Blaskowitz is here." Come on, come out quickly."

The major officer, Heinrich, put down the wine glass in his hand, glanced at Rosia, nodded, picked up his hat and went out.However, his adjutant complimented him very coldly: "Thank you for the hospitality. The dinner was nice, ma'am."

After the two of them left, both Rosia and Peter breathed a sigh of relief. Then she quickly ran to the door and locked the door with a click.

Although it is useless, it can always make people feel better.

The whole night was not long. Perhaps the hotel manager was well prepared. Except for a Polish nobleman who had a bad stomach, nothing happened in the middle of the night.

In the morning, while the officers were still asleep, Rosia and Peter said goodbye and thanked the hotel manager and quietly returned to the hospital.

The weather has cleared up on the second day of Christmas, the sun is shining brightly, and the thick snow is beginning to melt.

In a small town south of Warsaw, Bello built a small cemetery for Henry.Even though Europeans do not have as strong a concept as the Chinese about falling leaves returning to their roots, after death, it is always best to return to their hometown.

There were few people in the hospital who had not received Henry's help. They were all standing in front of the tombstone at this moment, praying quietly, hoping that this kind Jew could enter a bright heaven.

Bello held a bouquet of fresh white lilies of the valley in his hand and stared at the tombstone for a long time before gently placing the flowers in his hand on it.

“Sia, if something happens to me, will you help me take care of Pino?”

Rosia stood half a step behind Bello. When she heard these words, she seemed to understand something and asked seriously: "What are you going to do?"

Bello forced a smile: "Don't be nervous, Xia, I only mean it on the surface. You know, we are usually busy. Sometimes, can you take care of Pino with me?"

Rosia looked at Bello's eyes suspiciously, and Bello stared back without blinking. After a long time, Rosia nodded.

"Thank you!"

Rosia was silent. She couldn't completely tell whether Bello's words were sincere, but she was willing to take them as true.Because as a mother, no matter what happens, she should continue to be strong for her children.

After Henry's funeral, Rosia took the time to inquire about the whereabouts of the bodies of Dill and others, but unfortunately she did not get any useful information.

As time entered 1940, the peaceful days passed quickly, and the weather in Warsaw began to gradually warm up. The scenes of spring spread little by little, making this dilapidated city beautiful.

Many people thought that the war was over and that when Warsaw was rebuilt, life would be the same as before.Even Rosia was almost confused by this temporary illusion. If she hadn't known the history, she would have felt that she would have been living in Warsaw forever.But just because of this knowledge, as time continues to pass, I feel anxious about this calm before the storm.

According to the pace of history, Hitler had occupied Warsaw for such a long time, and it was time to expand to other places and attack France.But now the German soldiers in Warsaw seemed to have nothing to do. Their only mission was to arrest Jews on a large scale. They issued various regulations every day, causing chaos throughout Warsaw.

This frustrating feeling of knowing what will happen in the future but not knowing when it will happen has returned. Just like the Polish Blitzkrieg before, waiting for a new war to start every day makes people feel uncomfortable for no reason.

Werner has not been heard from since saying goodbye before Christmas.Rosia has tried to send a letter to Aunt Mesa, but has not received a reply so far. She wonders if something happened.

Rosia stayed in the hospital all the time, going to and from get off work. Except that the time was longer, it was no different from modern life.Recalling the bloody storm in the first half of the year, she had an inexplicable sense that life was like a dream, and now she woke up from the dream, which was absurd.

Until the end of January, she went out to pick up the new supply of sulfonamide. On the way back, she met a Polish girl and inexplicably handed her a bare envelope with nothing written on the outside.

Rosia thought it was a reply from Aunt Mesa, so she hurried back to the hospital. After opening it, she discovered that it was not a reply from Berlin, but a letter asking for help from the Jewish ghetto in Lodz, southwest of Warsaw.

The letter was written by a man named Alva Pound. He was one of the five people who stayed with Lisa. He was a Jew who was searched and captured by Abraham's soldiers in the hospital.

Although it was written by Alva, it was all about Lisa. It was a ghostwritten letter.

After Lisa and the others were captured, they were not shot directly. Instead, after being moved around several times, they, like all Jews, were sent to the Lodz Jewish Ghetto in southwest Warsaw, where there are currently close to 20 Jews.

Every Jew has to work on his own in life. They eat a little rationed food every day. Except for children of a few years old, they cannot survive at all. If they want to get more food, they have to work hard. working.The Germans made new regulations that only Jews with special skills could be assigned jobs, and those without work permits would be sent to the Osinwitz concentration camp.

Although both were subject to Nazi control, there were still qualitative differences between quarantine zones and concentration camps.

"We were applying for jobs everywhere like crazy, but to no avail. We had to have a blue card signed and stamped by a German to prove we were useful people."

"Applying for a blue card requires proof of our previous employment. There is a gentleman next door who is a pianist. He was sent to a concentration camp without even a chance to apply."

"Before this, Lisa was just a girl who was still in school. She had no work experience and could not apply for a blue card. If she said that she was once a student, she would be taken away by the police immediately."

"Lisa was sick. We took turns taking care of her in the barracks. She was so hungry that she went crazy every day. New people kept moving in, and people kept being taken away. If you stopped, you would be shot. Walk faster. At one point he would be beaten by a group of Nazi soldiers."

"The days were like living in hell. There were demons outside. We wanted to commit suicide several times, but Lisa stopped us all. She said that a moment of life is also a life. We all understand this, but it is too painful."

"..."

Rosia watched it from beginning to end and finally truly understood the life of the Jews in the ghetto.Lisa is sick and can't survive without food or medicine.And she is still dragging down a laborer every day. If this continues, she will soon be caught in a concentration camp, or directly shot!

The request that Alva wrote was that she could help Lisa get a blue card and medicine.

(End of this chapter)