Posted by Leo. This is the second installment in a short fictionalized series by Leo.
Yesterday we left for France. I was worried
about what would happen next. People told me it was an awful place to go. It’s
said that people die there daily and it’s not uncommon to see your friends die.
It was hard to leave home. Going to the middle
of nowhere with a bunch of men. The train ride was hard. We were in a cargo car
with hay bales. Max dumped his water on people to make them laugh. Max is a
great companion. He always makes the worst situations seem bearable and funny.
He likes to make people laugh. Only once have I seen him struggle, when we were
in training camp and Max was bullied because he’s not as strong as the others.
This was tough for him.
While we got off the train I was thinking. I’m
a young Jewish boy fighting for the Nazis. No one knows this because my family
comes from other places. I’ve lived in Germany all my life but both my parents
are from elsewhere. At home we hide the fact that we’re Jewish. We never go to
Synagogue. We never celebrate holidays. Even when I turned 13 I didn’t have a
Bar Mitzvah. I feel sad about this but also lucky. If I had a Bar Mitzvah the
Nazis would know we are Jewish and would have taken us away. So here I am.
It’s cold here in France. Snowflakes are
starting to come down. Everyone has unloaded their stuff and Max and I and I
are sitting by a campfire to keep warm. People are telling us to move because
we’re sitting on the boxes of food. Max and I set up our tents and as I’m
falling asleep I realize I could die here on the front line. Anything could
happen.
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