Soul to the Rhine

Chapter 61 Human Nature

The SS Skeleton Division began to appear in Paris. She had always known about the existence of this branch, but had never seen it before. It was only now that she saw it with her own eyes that she understood the difference between them and other branches.

The uniform of the Skeleton Division is similar to others. It can be said that the entire SS is the same. The difference is that their cap emblem is a skeleton. The main duty of the Skeleton Division is to guard the concentration camp. They all have a very heavy anti-Semitic complex. It is Hitler The zealots have blood of countless Jews on their hands. Compared with the Gestapo, their bloody smell is thicker, and their smiles are more sinister and cruel.

Time has entered October, Paris is in northern France, and the weather has turned cold. Werner has been transferred again. Although Heinrich is still in Paris, he has not seen him for a long time.

On this day, her arm finally fully recovered, and the bandages and splints were removed. Although there were a few scars, no one could see it now because she was wearing thick clothes.

Paris is very safe, there are few wounded soldiers from other places, and there are few critically ill patients, so Rosia has been very idle for the past few months. She once thought that this kind of life would last until the end of the year, but she did not expect that she would be taken away soon. Broken.

Not far from the doctor's office is the nurse's office, and next to it is the ward. Normally the entire floor is quiet, but now there was the sound of quarreling.

Rosia listened carefully and saw that they were two female voices, not those of the patients. One of them sounded like the head nurse Bella's.She walked quickly to the door, and there were two nurses arguing in the empty ward.

"I will never agree to take them in. Look at what will happen to Poland. How much trouble this will bring to the hospital!"

"Have you forgotten those regulations? The government promised to take in the Jews. We cannot drive them out. On the contrary, we should take care of them and protect them until they recover."

"The people the government promised to take in were French Jews, not refugees from Poland. We are already subjugated, so we don't have the energy to care about them. Can't you see the Germans outside? How many times have the hospitals been inspected! "

Bella's face turned red, but she still didn't give up: "Commit a promise, make a sacrifice, Vitti, we are not only the French, but also the Red Cross. We stand on another side and should rescue them unconditionally. If you keep insisting like this , then I can only be disappointed in you, you are such a timid and useless Frenchman."

These words were harsh, and Viti's face turned red with anger: "The hospital doesn't belong to you, and you have no right to make decisions. What's the point of arguing with me here? Anyway, I won't agree. Sooner or later, these Jews will be involved. I’m just a nurse in the hospital, not a Muslim who enjoys saving people.”

After saying that, she used the registration book in her hand, turned around angrily and came out. When she saw Rosia at the door, she paused, moved her lips, and shook her head and left.

Bella looked like she was victorious, but in fact she didn't feel much better. She looked bad and was tired.When she saw Rosia, she just forced a smile and leaned on the hospital bed.

Rosia walked over and got her a glass of water.Bella took two sips, waited for her breath to stabilize, then raised her head hesitantly: "Luo, you also think it's my fault?"

Rosia took the cup and put it on the table and asked, "What are you referring to, quarreling with Viti, or taking in the Jews?"

Bella was silent.

Rosia continued: "If it is the second one, you are both right and wrong. It is our duty to save people, but we must also take into account the safety of our compatriots. We have no right to ask others to do anything, and we cannot let each other think the same way."

A look of struggle appeared on Bella's face: "But..."

"If you ask me my opinion, I can only say that when I came to Europe in despair, a Jewish family took me in for nearly a year."

Bella raised her head again: "You, you agree..."

"Undertake promises and make sacrifices. If you want to save these Jews, you can't do it on the surface." Rosia patted her on the shoulder, stood up and left, leaving her alone to think.

In fact, from a selfish point of view, Rosia did not agree with taking in Jews. As Vitti said, they would bring disaster to the hospital.

But when all this has not yet begun, even if the result is doomed, as a hospital, it cannot stand idly by.This has nothing to do with nationality or position, it is just morality and the basic morality that people should have.

She had been in Europe for two and a half years, and for half of that time she had been taken care of by the Jews, Mrs. Cornman's family, Henry, Bello...And now she is also taking care of the Jews. She really cannot ignore these compatriots who are closely related to her.

After thinking about it, Bella made the same decision. After she continued to report, as expected, the hospital agreed to take in these Jews and arranged for many doctors and nurses to take care of them. Rosia was one of them.

Originally she didn't need to go there, but she was too busy at work on weekdays, and she was the only female doctor in the thoracic surgery department. She was more attentive than male doctors and could take care of people more comprehensively, so she was transferred there.

There are more than 150 Jews in this group, who escaped from the Lodz Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw not long ago.They are skinny and emaciated, and even if they put on clean clothes, they can still see the shadows of being tortured for countless days and nights.The eye sockets are very sunken, and when looking at people, the dull eyes make people unconsciously think of the devil!And they did come from the hell where the devil lives!

After settling in for the day, Rosia organized a physical examination with several other doctors.The examination results showed that almost none of these Jews were completely healthy. All of them were malnourished, some had soft tissue contusions and fractures, and some of them were basically disabled.

Bella arranged nearly twenty wards and allocated many nurses to take care of these Jews, but they were still too busy.Although they have escaped, their hearts and spirits are still in the quarantine zone in Poland.There was an unbelievable fear about everything in front of me.

Bella was so busy every day that she could not comfort these Jews. Fortunately, there was a relatively sane Jewish young man. He was also the leader of this group of Jews, so he could help the hospital fund and manage them.

The weather began to get colder, and the pattern of the European battlefield also changed.Germany's war myth was shattered. After three or four consecutive months of air combat, Britain still failed to be captured.

And then, Germany occupied Romania.

Rosia didn't know much about Romania. The reason why she knew it was because when Poland fell, the entire Polish government fled to this country.

And now, this small European country has also joined the Axis fascist camp.

But for the French, these are trivial matters, because the British victory is equivalent to the dawn of this war, which means they have a chance to make a comeback.In fact, this was indeed a turning point in World War II. It was just that the French, who were so happy, had forgotten their fate before victory.

Bella was really affectionate for the Jews in the hospital. In order to take better care of them, she even delegated the work of the front yard to Vitti.Winter was coming soon, so she spent every day in the ward chatting with the disabled Jews and knitting scarves and gloves.

Rosia didn't stay here every day, but she was very interested in the scarf Bella knitted.This is not the colorful scarves full of holes in later generations, but is made of thin and soft wool and woven through various weaving techniques. The color is not eye-catching, but the appearance is exquisite and low-key. It has that low-key look. It feels luxurious and very comfortable and warm.

She initially planned to learn this knitting method completely from Bella, but she gave up after knitting one piece.I got out a gray scarf that was crooked and the stitching lines were unbearable to look at. I felt it was a pity to lose it, so I just wrapped it around myself.

Bella wanted to laugh when she looked at her scarf and knitted it quickly in her hands: "You'd better take it over and I'll change it for you. How can you give it away like this?"

Rosia had a strange look on her face: "Why do you think so?" She did want to knit it for Pino at first, so the scarf wasn't too big, and it looked like something girlish.

"Any girl would like this color, she must give it to her lover!"

"You think too much."

Bella shook her head and was about to say something when a blind Jew lying on the bed next to him suddenly shouted: "Carter, Carter is back."

Bella paused her hand and the ball of wool stopped spinning, but she only pursed her lips and did not move, but a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.

Carter was the young man who led the Jews to escape from Poland.He was young, handsome, tall, and knowledgeable. If he hadn't been a Jew, he would have lived a better life.The blind old woman was Carter's mother. Because of a small mistake, she was blinded by the Skeleton Team. After that, she became delirious and did not recognize anyone except Carter.

Carter walked to the bed with something in his hand and held the woman's hand.

"Carter, Carter, Passover is here, hurry up, pray, drink wine, and I have to wash my hands..." The woman kept shaking Carter's hand, Bella quickly put down the ball of thread in her hand, got up and walked over, Rosia was extremely He quickly handed over a glass of water.

"Candlelight, candlelight, I see a light." The woman suddenly became excited, opened her gray eyes wide, and looked at the ceiling without focus. Bella quickly helped her up and gave her water, but she pushed her away with one hand. He took a position on the bed and began to chant devoutly: "...May we never be so complacent that we ignore the injustice in the world."

Bella anxiously grabbed her hand again: "Madam!"

"May we never forget about the homeless because we are so comfortable in our own homes."

"Madam, drink some water, please calm down!" Bella went to signal Carter, but Carter lowered his head and knelt down silently in front of the bed. "

“May we never take freedom for granted so much that we forget those who are not free.”

"Carter, that's enough!"

“May we never accept authority indiscriminately without seeing whether it is just.”

Carter also made the same gesture, but couldn't help but close his eyes and shed tears.

“May we never forget to use our voices, time and energy to make the world we live in a better place.”

Rosia had never heard this prayer before, but Carter's mother's voice had a mysterious power because of its softness, and it had a strange soothing effect on people's hearts.

"...May we never lose hope and always hope that things will be better. And, we should always make it better."

Carter's mother showed a kind smile and slowly opened her eyes. However, Rosia was frightened and shouted hurriedly: "No, Nurse Bella, go and call Dr. Chen."

This is no longer just delirium, it's probably a cardiac disorder.

Carter's mother still held Carter's hand tightly and said softly: "My child, you have to live strong and obey God's laws. Don't be afraid of evil people. God Yahweh will curse him forever!"

Carter knelt on the ground, weeping uncontrollably.For more than a month, today was the most normal day for her to speak, but Rosia found sadly that this might be her last flashback.

A mother's devout blessings and prayers before she died, and her sincere teachings and comfort to her children!

Rosia has been staying here a lot this month and has a deep impression on this woman.Her body was not healthy, but with Bella's careful care, no one could believe that she suddenly had to choose death.

Rosia ran over to give her CPR, but Carter hugged her.The tall young man leaned against her neck in an extremely vulnerable manner and choked with sobs: "No, no, she has been saved..."

Rosia comes from modern times and advocates science. She has no beliefs and no religion, so she can't understand the thoughts of these people.Even though he was praying for a better world just now, he died in the blink of an eye.It was clear that there might still be salvation, but he stopped her from talking about salvation.

Carter kept holding her with frightening strength until Bella walked in with dark eyes and until Dr. Chen calmly announced that the woman was dead.

Although these Jews were all suffering from diseases, they were all still alive, except Carter's mother who died.For the French in the hospital, the Jews were not all of them. If you die, you die, no big deal. Therefore, Carter's mother's funeral was very simple and few people attended.

Originally, Carter also invited Rosia, but she had a minor surgery that day, so she didn't go.

Vitti was her equipment nurse. After coming out of the operating room, she suddenly asked Rosia: "Dr. Luo, do you think I am cold-blooded, selfish, and cruel?"

Rosia was stunned for only a moment and immediately denied: "No, everyone has their own position. People who do not actively harm others do not need to have these words."

Vitti didn't seem to expect her to say this, and she couldn't believe it: "But I always insist on deporting the Jews, isn't that right?"

Rosia stopped and said that she had always had a good impression of this straightforward girl: "But you didn't hurt them intentionally. Sometimes, even if we have to give in because we are weak, Keren always wants to protect us." Something, isn’t it?”

Vitti was obviously stunned, and Rosia smiled and left.Women in this era are always like this. During the transition period, they always wander between weakness and strength. They want to hold up the pillars, but they are confused because of morality.In fact, from the perspective of modern people, it is just that, as long as you obey your heart, you will be worthy of your heart!
She had walked a long way when she heard a voice from behind: "Wait, wait for me."

Rosia turned around, and Vitti ran over panting.

"Let's take the tram together. My home is in the [-]th District, so I should go with you."

"OK!"

After talking about it, Vitti seemed to have figured it out. She is naturally outspoken and can't hold back what she says and won't say it out loud: "Actually, I wasn't anti-Semitic before: "I don't have perverted racial concepts like the Germans.But it is undeniable that the Jews are really cunning and ominous.Our whole family was deceived by the Jews. I was still young at that time and did not understand what happened. I only remember that I suffered from hunger for a whole year. I remember that I was hungry because of the Jews. "

"As I grew up, there was no particular hatred. But my brother, who died in Poland last year because of Jews, so I can't forgive them, never will."

With that said, Vitti turned to Rosia and said a little funny: "Doctor Luo, do you know why Bella is so kind to save the Jews?"

Rosia shook her head. From their position, they should give some care, but Bella did too well and almost took care of the Jews as parents and relatives.

"That's because she also has Jewish ancestry."

"Wha, what?" Rosia was stunned, she really didn't see it.

"Actually, she can't be counted. She is only a quarter of the blood. Her grandfather is Jewish. But these are not important." Vitti suddenly showed a sarcastic smile: "The important thing is that she fell in love with Carter. Then A Jew too!”

It was like a bolt from the blue. Rosia was so shocked that she could hardly speak.The French refreshed her understanding of how romantic and sentimental they are.Carter is a handsome and outstanding young man, and it is normal for someone to fall in love with him, but he is a Jew. As the public enemy of Europe, very few people are willing to contact a Jew, let alone fall in love with him.

I didn't expect Bella to be so irrational. Rosia, who had never experienced love, had no idea why she did this.

This caused Rosia to glance at the two intentionally or unintentionally when she went to work the next day.Then there was some unpleasant discovery that Carter didn't seem to have feelings for Bella.He is very calm every day, going out calmly, and coming back calmly, without any superfluous performance, Bella has always been unilaterally taking care of him.

Because she observed more, Rosia discovered some differences.For example, Carter comes back at different times every day. When he comes back very early, there will be some abnormal marks on his body. Although he should have sorted it out in advance, if you look carefully, you can still see a few huge footprints. .

These were minor injuries, nothing more than skin injuries. Bella felt distressed and walked around people every day, so Rosia wisely decided not to make light bulbs and reduce the number of visits.

But not long after, Bella came over with a look of anxiety, distress and helplessness: "Rosiya, what should I do, Carter, Carter... please save him, let that person save him!"

(End of this chapter)