In Warsaw

[Asua]

It is the summer of 1942, the second World war is in full swing, much of Europe has been overrun by Germany and the Soviet's are losing territory and in Warsaw a Ghetto has formed, all of Poland is occupied by the Reich and the jewish population is swiftly being exterminated. In Warsaw, two people on opposite sides of the war meet, a young Nazi soldier and a Jewish girl.


@Dante Verren

 

[Dante Verren]

*Thump Thump thump.* that sound echoed down the still street and apartment. All activity has still a as citizens and soldiers alike stopped to etch as a fiteen man squad formed a perimter around a worn down apartment building. This squad was one of many Austrians squads who served under a german comander. Manfred stood at the gate entrance to the courtyard with his G43 in hand and bayonet gleaming in the mid day light. His CO had sent in five men while the rest waited outside. There were sounds of crashes and voices yelling, one was the shrieking of a child and soon Manfred's suspicions came true. The five soldiers came out to the apartment dragging an elderly woman , a woman who looked to be about thirty years old, and one soldier held the hand of a crying five year old. All three of them were wearing necklaces with the star of David. 


All eyes fell upon their german CO and he nodded returned the looks. "Take them to HQ," he said in german. The Austrians saluted glumly and formered up around the three Jewish people. Just as they were about to set off the CO turned to Manfred. "Corpral Lehmenn You and three men will remain here and secure the are if any other news show up you know what to Do. Oh and search the building one more time." the officer turned on his heels and took off leaving Manfred and three others standing at he entrance. The three men looked at Manfred with emotionless faces as he turned and walked into the building.


The four men went from apatment room to room. They would stand by an aprtment door and count to Five as loudly as they could. If no one answered they bashed the door open and would force the occupants to line up on the wall at gunpoint until the search of the room was done and it was confirmed they weren't jewish. This process was repeated until they reached one certain room. Manfred stood with hai gun pointed at the door and began to count. "Eins! Zwei!" 


@SuperSpice

 

[Asua]

Jan sat, curled up on the windowsill as she watched the street below her, there was hardly anyone down there and absolutely no cars in sight besides the odd German patrol car that drove by. For a moment she almost forgot the siuation that Warsaw was in, at first it hab been invaded from two directions by both the Soviets and the Germans but now it was under full control of the Reich. Jan was broken from her thughts by the arrival of another patrol car, this time it stopped in front of the apartment and the soldiers jumped out, quickly racing into the building below her. They were doing another search. Jan quickly rolled off the windowsill, falling onto all fours before quickly standing up and tiptoeing towards a bookshelf that rested against the wall. Jan could hear the cries of the civilians below her and the shrieking of a child. 


As Jan pushed the bookshelf aside it revealed a medium sized hole in the wall. Her hiding place. Jane quickly stepped into the hole, pulling the bookshelf back into place behind her, suddenly everything went pitch black but she could still hear the soldiers footsteps as they moved up the staircase and the crashing of doors being bashed in. The crashing quickly became closer as Jan tried to steady her breathing. Suddenly the footsteps stopped at her door  "Eins! Zwei!"  She heard a man yell as she prepared for the door to be kicked open. Hopefully she would remain hidden as even though she did not personally bear a star of David, the star could be found in her apartment which was quite foolish on her part to keep such an incriminating symbol in proximity to herself.


@Dante Verren

 

[Dante Verren]

"Funf!", Manfred's voice rang out down the hallway but stop no repsonce from inside. He stepped back but kept his rifle aimed at the door while the strongest of the four stepped forwards. In one fluid motion the man kicked in the door and the soldiers quickly stepped out of the doorway in case of oncoming fire. Manfred peeked his head in around the corner and saw nothing inside. He slowly stepped inside the apartment with his weapon raised and finger on the trigger, his men following closely. 


The four men stepped into the main room and was greeted with photos, furniture, and decorations, but no people. He lowered his rifle and turned towards his men and started to speak in German. "Search every room but try not to cause an unesicary damage and make sure to put everything back. We don't want to cause any unneeded trouble." his men nodded and the moved to follow his orders.


While his men searched the different rooms he was left alone in the main room. He walked around slowly takeing everything in. He stopped next to the windowsill and ran a finger on it. Their was a little dust at the back corners but otherwise it was clean. That meant someone was here recently. He turned and looked around slowly walking over to a small that had pictures on it. One was of a mother, father, and a young girl. The next picture seemed to be n older version of the girl. He leaned his rifle against the wall and took the pictures off the wall. He tossed the frame back and forth between his hands but almost dropped it. He dived to catch it but kncojed his rifle over in the process, the rifle tumbled over and hit the near bye bookshelf. Luckily he caught the frame before it but the ground but he froze. The noise the clatter had made against the bookshelf wasn't normal. It sounded almost hollow like their was anything solid behind it.


Manfred stood up and returned the picture to the wall before grabbing his rifle and standing in front of the bookshelf. He tilted his head and tapped his foot against the bookshelf twice. The sound was still off. Just then he headed a yelling from the bedroom and one of his men came out holding a star of David. He looked at the man who had a quistoning look on his face. Manfreds eyes went back and forth between the man and the bookshelf, his grip tightned around to his rifle and he knew he was about to do something stupid. "Get rid of the star. We found no one of Jewish decent in this apartment understood." the Austrians nodded and seemed more relaxed now. "Move on to the next floor. I will finish up here and join you in a bit." the soldiers saluted and hurried out of the apartment, leaving Manfred alone, and in front of a bookshelf.


@SuperSpice 

 

[Asua]

"Funf!" There was a moment of silence before a loud crash richocheted through the walls. The door had been kicked in, followed by the hurried sound of muffled footsteps. Jan held her breath, she could tell that multiple soldiers had entered her apartment. Jan heard more muffled voices but couldnt make out fully what they were saying, she thought the main voice had commanded a search of all the rooms.


Jan continued to listen to footsteps being heard around the house as she started to run out of breath, then suddenly there was a clatter against the bookshelf and a faint echoe ringed in her ears. Jan let out a small gasp beofre covering her mouth quickly, hoping whoever was on the other side had not heard her. She hear more muffled voices as whoever was standing at the bookshelve announced that there were no Jews in the apartment. She breathed a little bit, not daring to take in a full breath as s she waited to see what would happen next. There was no where to go so all she could do was wait.


@Dante Verren

 

[Dante Verren]

He tapped his foot against the book shelf but it still sounded wrong. He placed his rifle down and began to feel around the book shelf. He did this for a few minutes but could find anything. Out of frustration he kicked the side of it with the bottom of his boot and he felt it shift. His eyebrows raised in confusion and he tried pushing on it, The book shelf shifted again. Someone must have wanted to hide something prey important to make a bookshelf its cover. Placing his rifle within arms reach encase he needed it, He leaned his back against the side of the bookshelf and began pushing backwards with all his strength. A loud sliding noise greeted his effort. He only pushed far enough to make a crack big enough that would allow him to see whats in side. Taking a small flash light he crouched down and shined the light inside the hole, H is eyes widened in surprise at what he found. A girl was curled up inside of the hole, Most likely she was the owner of the star of david. He stepped back quickly and grabbed his rifle aiming at the hole. "Come out now!" He commanded in german.


@SuperSpice

 

[Asua]

"Come out now!" A german soldier yelled, he had pushed the bookshelf aside and discovered Jan hiding in the hole. "Okay, okay im coming" She said nervously with her hands raised above her head as she stepped out of the hole, the solider still holding a gun to her. She wouldnt of been surprised if he had decided to shoot her right then as shooting happened regularly in Warsaw now that it was occupied by the Germans. Jan slowly put her hands to her long red hair, brushing the dust out of it before raising her hands again "Please, dont shoot me" She pleaded with the soldier, wondering if she could make a run for it, but it would be no use, there were German soldiers all over the building and out on the street in front of the apartment block.


@Dante Verren

 

[Dante Verren]

Manfred stood there for a moment as he took in her appearance. she had long red hair and light blue eyes. His finger tensed on the trigger as he realized that she was most likely the owner of the star of David. His orders would be to bring her in, that or shoot her if she resisted. His brain went back to the image of the three people his squad mates had taken away not to long ago. He lowered his rival a bit and motioned to the furniture with his gun. "Go sit down." Manfred's voice was emotionless as he spoke but the commanding aura in it was obvious.


@SuperSpice

 

[Asua]

Jan nodded and went to sit down on a nearby armchair. She could hear the voices of german soldiers outside and the sturggling wails of other people who had been found. She wondered what would happen next, would they take her a labor camp? It was quite stupid of her to keep the star of david in the apartment, the soldier who had found her must now be certain that she was a jew.


@Dante Verren

 

[Dante Verren]

Manfred turned his head away from the door as he heard the screams of more people being dragged out of their homes.  Hey silently looked back at the girl. Did he really want to take another person from their home? Her red hair was unusual to see and probably would have brought a smile onto his face if it wasn't for the current circumstances. "Whats your name? Oh and were you the owner of that star one of my men found?" He knew asking if she owned the star or not was pointless. anyone found in possession of one other then a soldier was immediately taken away. 


@SuperSpice

 

[Asua]

"Jan.. Allon" She rplied, wincing slightly as she spoke, Jan Allon was a painfully obvious Jewish name and the Star of David was hers so there would be no point in denying it. "Yes, that was my star" She said, holding her head up high, trying to look strong in front of the soldier who had already lowered his rifle. She sighed "So.. what happens now?" She asked, already knowing the answer. She would be packed off to a labour camp.. if they had enough room that is. If they didnt she would be taken down to HQ and interrigated and filed into their system, then sent back home, that was the best case scenario.


@Dante Verren

 

[Dante Verren]

Manfred cursed silently as she said the one question he didn't wan to answer. He turned around and looked back at the whole behind the bookshelf then back at her. A voice from outside called to him. "Hey corporal you still up there?". Manfred's eyes drifted towards the window. He muttered something to himself before gesturing towards the door with the rifle. "Miss Allon you need to come with me." Their was a slightly different tone in his voice as he spoke. Something that resembled scheming.


@SuperSpice

 

[Asua]

Jan looked at the soldier curiously as there was a strange tone in his voice as he ordered her to come with him. Jan now knew the man was a corporal as a soldier had called him that. Looking at the insignia on his uniform Jan could make out that he was not from a regular German regiment, Perhaps Barvarian? Or maybe Austrian? She wasnt sure as she didnt have a great knowledge of uniform insignia. Jan walked over to the door, and stopped, not opening it.


@Dante Verren

 

[Dante Verren]

Manfred folowed her towards the door but stepped infront and opened it. He ushered her out the door and through the building. Once the reached the gorund floor and stepped outside he was greeted by a dreadful sight. His men had rounded up another seven people. Three elderly women, one elderly man, and man who looked to be in his thirties, and a woman who looked to be the same age as Jan. Manfred sent up a silent prayer inside of his head as he moved Jan towards the group that was being loaded into the back of a supply truck. Once everyone was on board and seated Manfred climbed inside and sat down next to the girl, making sure to keep his eyes focused on the scenery outside of the truck.


@SuperSpice

 

[Asua]

Jan led the way downstairs and outside in front of the apartment building where seven other jews were standing. Soon they were all rounded into the back of a supply truck. Jan sat next to a brown haired woman that looked to be the same age as herself, unlike Jan, the woman seemed to be sobbing uncontrollably. Jan moved her hand and held the woman's hand. The woman looked up at her with tears rolling down her cheeks "What is your name?" Jan whispered to the woman "Bella" the woman sobbed back, a little to loudly.


@Dante Verren

 

[Dante Verren]

One of the soldiers heard the name woman speak her name and he glared at her. He pulled back the slider on ghis rifle and it made a loud click, this was to prove it was loaded and give the girl a warning. Manfred signaled to a different soldier sitting next to the man who clicked his rifle. The soldier raised his hand and brought it down on the back of the younger soldiers head. "Oww what the hell" complained the soldier who was hit. "Knock it off you damn show off" replied the older man. Manfred chuckled lightly but returned his gaze to the street.


@SuperSpice

 

[Asua]

Jan sat silently for the rest of the way to HQ, keeping her eyes on the wooden floor of the truck. Once at HQ all the jews were rounded off the truck. Jan stepped down by herself, looking at the large police building that had once belonged to the Polish government, but Poland didnt exist any more, the Soviets were losing ground everday to the Germans and it was looking as if Germany would dominate the entirety of Europe, there was simply no hope for her in sight now, and if the labour camps were really death camps then she would be dead along with the seven other Jews before long.


@Dante Verren

 

[Dante Verren]

As the truck came to a stop the soldiers stood up and ushered the seven jews out of the truck. The men rounded them up and took formation around the jews as they set off down the street. Business continued on a usual around the HQ, the sight of rounded up "prisoners" was no longer a foreign sight. A fact that was very evident. The group neared the "prisoner" area where all the jews where placed until hey could be transported away. Manfred raised his right fist and the group stopped walking. Manfred turned to face his men. "Alright standard protocol, get them checked in and help them to their assigned area. You come with me." He gestured towards Jan as he spoke the last part and turned around walking away before she could reply.


@SuperSpice

 

[Asua]

(On my phone, short post)


Jan stood there for a moment before following the soldier. She was unsure why all the other Jews were being checked in by the other soldiers but the soldier who found her, who also looked like a commander of some sort, was commanding her to follow him. Jan walked behind him quickly, trying to keep up with his quick March.


@Dante Verren