The Other Side

The Other Side
By: Marie Carter
Note to the reader

The Holocaust was a horrific time in history.When most people think of the word “Holocaust,” they tend to think of the Jews being worked to death.This was the case, but the following story, that you are about to read, tells a different side of the Holocaust.65 million Jews were killed, but many, 200,000 to be exact according to Ouch BBC e-magazine, disabled people were killed too.We must never forget this horrific scene of power, greed, and just plain evil!Enjoy!
Sincerely,
Marie Carter

Chapter 1

The doorbell buzzed quite loudly, and as Sara, my aide walked to open the honey colored wooden door, I thought excitedly, they’re here, my beautiful grandchildren!Oh, I can’t wait to see them!They have probably grown a foot, since last summer.

My daughter-in-law was bringing them to visit; Debbie had called and said that the oldest had something she needed to discuss with me.She didn’t say what Lucy needed to talk about, but I assumed perhaps for school.After all, I was a writer for the local paper.Before Sara could turn the knob, the youngest out of the three barged in, and screamed happily, “GRANDMA!”

I smiled happily.Michael and John rushed in, and grabbed onto my legs for dear life.Michael was six-year-old, and John was four-year-old. They looked more and more like their father Paul with short, bowled brown haircuts, and blue-green eyes. They were thin, but normal weight for their age.On that day, the boys wore red sweaters with blue and white stripes.The collars were yellow.They had khaki pants.Even though I was in a wheelchair, they still knew who their grandma was.

I said, in my German accent, looking down at them, “Hello, I missed you two!”

As the two boys climbed up on my lap, I noticed that Lucy and Debbie were coming into the house.Lucy saw me, and smiled nervously.She waved to me shyly, and Debbie said, as Sara closed the front door, “Hi, Mom!”
I smiled, and asked, “Well, hello, why don’t you two have a seat?”

Lucy stood about 5’3” with shoulder-length blonde hair.She had the same blue-green eyes like her brothers, but they seemed troubled.Her hair was pulled back with a gauzy, white headband.She was dressed rather nicely in a white dress shirt, and a plaid black and white skirt.I noticed that she had black Mary-Jane’s on; she resembled a bit like Alice in Wonderland.

Debbie was also tall with curly, shoulder-length light brown hair.She wore a dark green pant suit with a white blouse. She was a lawyer.She was attractive, and a great mom.I truly loved Debbie like a daughter.Paul knew how to pick them, may he rest in peace.

They sat down on the couch, and for a few minutes, awkwardness gloomed in the air.Debbie was the first to speak.She said smiling, “Well, Mom, you look great!”
“Thank you, you do too…”

I looked down at my grandsons who were playing with Matchbox cars.They were running them up and down my lap.It tickled, and I said giggling, “Say, Michael and John, Sara helped me bake some cookies.Would you like some, if it’s ok with your mother of course and then the swing set is still up, so after you can play outside?”
They begged, “COOKIES, PLEASE MOMMY?”

Debbie smiled, and said, “That sounds like a good idea, but only one cookie…”

They raced off my wheelchair and lap, and Sara guided them to the kitchen.Debbie screamed to the boys, as they raced off to the kitchen, dragging poor Sara, “I MEAN IT; I WANT YOU HUNGRY FOR SUPPER LATER AND NOT TOO HYPER!”

More minutes of awkward silence lured in the air.I asked Lucy, trying to get conversation going, “So, how are you, Dear?You can sit closer, if you like.Can Sara get you anything, cookies, Cherry Coke…?”
“I’m fine for now…”
“Ok, what about you, Debbie?”
“I think that I would like a Coke.”
“Ok, I’ll get Sara…”

“No, no, I’ll get it…everything looks pretty much the same since we last visited.”

Debbie got up from the blue couch, and walked into the kitchen.Now, it was just Lucy and I.She slowly got up, walked to the nearest couch to me, and sat down.I asked Lucy, with a troubled tone of voice, “Is something wrong, Sweetie, you’re usually more lively and happy to see me?”
“Uh, well, I am…it’s just I have to talk to you about school, grandma.”
“Ok, about what, career interview?”

She gently touched my gnarled, twisted hands, and said sadly, “No, Grandma, about history...”

I said shocked, “Oh, oh, well I don’t really know that much about American History.It’s a shame that your grandfather isn’t alive, or for that matter, your father.They were educated in American History.I only know about after World War II.”

I knew what she was trying to get at.The story was told a dozen times, and I hadn’t been able to tell it.Joe always told it, and he always told it in a fairy tale fashion, but he was not there now.It had been tucked away in my mind for fifty years, the true story that is.Joe sugar-coated it, and didn’t tell the children about the life I had to lead.There were movies like the Sound of Music, which portrayed the sugar-coated version that the type Joe told.The truth was if you were disabled, and living in Germany pre-World War II and during World War II, your fate was terrible.I have heard that Anne Frank’s diary gave a good history view about the Jewish side, but I never read it.She said, as I prayed a silent prayer that she wasn’t inquiring about the war, “No, I’m not taking American history.I’m taking World History; we’re studying World War II right now to be exact.I figured that since you were an immigrant from Germany, and you lived during that era, you could tell me again Grandpa’s Joe’s story.Dad used to tell me it as a bedtime story, but I don’t remember it. Can you tell me it again, Grandma; I have to do a report about it.”

A tear trickled down my cheek and a sob escape my lips, as the imaginary door to the closet I had put all those years in blew open and closed in my mind.She said grabbing a tissue on the coffee table, “Oh, Grandma, I didn’t mean to upset you.I’ll just research it on-line.”

I said, as she dabbed my eyes with the pink Kleenex, “No, I’ll tell you, but I think that you’re old enough to know the true story.”

Lucy asked puzzled, “What are you talking about, Grandpa’s story isn’t right?”

“Well, it is, but dragons didn’t exist and nuns certainly didn’t sing, but he did get me out of a tight situation that almost cost my life.”

She sat up interested, and said, excitedly, “Well, give me the 411 already!”
I asked, “The 411?”
She smiled, and giggled, “It means information.”

“Oh, well, I guess that I don’t know that much teen talk.Anyway, you know that I was born with cerebral palsy, right?”
“Yes,”
“Well, Chancellor Hitler didn’t like that…”
Chapter 2

All of a sudden, the lamp light flickered on, and I heard my mother’s voice breaking up my nice dream, “Wake up, Mindy!”

My eyes slowly flickered open.I lay on my side in my bed facing the wall.My Mamma put the breakfast tray on the dresser, and hovered over my bed.She quickly pulled the pillows out of my side, rolled me on my back, and got several pillows from the closet.As she propped me up to feed me, we made small talk.After she got my Vater and sister off to work and school, she woke me up; I loved that time with her.

Once I was propped up well enough to eat, Mamma brought the tray and set it on my bed away from my crippled arms and legs.From Cerebral Palsy, zerebrale L�hmung, my body thrashed, and food had to be kept away from my arm’s and leg’s wrath.From what I saw, breakfast consisted of two pieces of buttered toast, and a glass of milk.Mama said informative, picking up the bitten buttered toast, “Well, we have a new Chancellor today.”

My Mama was about 5’6.”She was always in fashion with curly light brown hair, and a barrette.She also had pretty hazel eyes.She wore make-up on occasion, but wore ruby red lipstick.It was the fashion back then.On that morning, she wore what she wore every morning; a nightgown, and over that, her pink silk robe, and was barefoot. Her hair was wrapped in curlers, like most mornings.
I asked, taking a bite, “Really?”

Mama said seriously, putting the toast back on the plate, “Yes, dear. Mister Adolf Hitler is taking over, because Chancellor Von Hindenburg has retired…The reign of Von Hindenburg is over.”

I said after chewing and swallowing, “Chancellor Von Hindenburg was good…it’s sad that we must change.”

She said picking the cup up, and holding my head to give me a sip, “Things cannot stay the same, my Love.Besides, Adolf seems better.He’s charismatic, and made a lot of good promises to our country, so we will see.All we can do is hope and pray for the best.”

It was January, 1933. I was fourteen-years-old.Because I had Cerebral Palsy, a severe case of it, I was bedridden until Vater returned from work.Mama was getting older, and at 43 years-old, she had a bad back.She did what she had to, and that meant feeding and dressing me, but she couldn’t pick me up.

I couldn’t walk, or use my hands, but speaking was ok.Once Vater returned, he got me out of bed and into a wheelbarrow; I called Fahrerhaus, Cab, with pillows all around it for padding.Then, the children, including my sister, and I would go off on little adventures.We’d race in the neighborhood and the girls pushed me in the alley, and we read magazines.Every weekend, we’d go to the cinema.Sometimes they’d push me so fast, I’d get dizzy, but it was all fun.

I nodded, and smiled.As I ate breakfast, the room was getting quiet.Mamma said, as I finished my toast, “How about some radio?”
“Sure,”

Mamma flicked on the radio.A radio show was in progress.In those days, radio was as popular as television is today. We had two radios; one in my room, and one in the living room.Everything from news to sitcoms played, and of course music.Children’s programs played too.I loved the commercials, and using my imagination to listen to it.

While my sister, Melanie, was at school, my Mamma taught me.I couldn’t go to regular school, because it was not the right thing to do.Most disabled children were hidden away in the family closets, or if they had really “bad” parents, they were sent away to institutions to rot for the rest of their lifetime.Disabled children had to prove to their parents that they were capable of learning.

How did I do it?Well I was four-years-old, and I saw my first magazine.I was sitting on Mamma’s lap and she held it in front of me.It was a toy magazine, and Vater asked her a question.As she answered, she didn’t turn the page.I became bored looking at the dolls, so I leaned forward, wet my tongue and lips, grabbed the top of the leaf of the page, and turned the page.The page ripped in a quarter.This got mother’s attention.She stopped talking to Vater, and Vater became silent, as if I were creating a masterpiece. Mama whispered, shocked, “Mindy, what are you doing?”

I said smiling that I had accomplished something for the first time, “Turning the page, Mamma!”
They exclaimed, proudly, “DO IT AGAIN!”

I must’ve turned a dozen pages that day.They were so proud of me.I continued to use my mouth as if they were hands.I tried everything from drawing to trying to type on the family’s typewriter.It was a success!

By the time I was fourteen, I could write my name with a pen, draw, cook, and of course type on the typewriter.How did I type?Well, Vater sat me in the recliner.After I was comfortable, Vater, Mamma, or Mel sat the black typewriter on a piece of wood, and brought it to me. I’d try to type with a piece of dowel in my mouth.That didn’t last long, because I’d spasm and the typewriter would fall.

My daily routine was simple and sometimes dull.After breakfast, I was dressed by Mamma.A new cloth windel, diaper, was applied, because I couldn’t use the toilet.Next, stockings were put on.Different skirts, depending on the day, would be put on next.Different shirts, depending on the day, would be put on next.Finally, mamma would put my shoes on.Of course, Mamma would always let me choose my outfits.

After I was dressed for the day, Mamma would wash the breakfast tray, dish, and cup.Then, she’d return, and then Mamma would wash my face with ice cold water.Next, she’d get the cocktail of pills. I took barbiturates to relax my muscles.I’d take them 3 times a day.It made me sleepy, but at least I stayed relaxed.

After my medicine, mamma propped a book up on pillows so that I’d be entertained while she did the house chores.When I needed to turn the page, I’d scream and she’d turn the page.Jane Austin was my favorite author.I also enjoyed comic books too…after that, I had briefly school.Then, a nap…
***
Lucy asked looking bored, “Grandma, can we get to your Nazi boyfriend?”

“Oh, yes, sorry…just wanted to tell you about my life post-World War II, but if you insist…his name was Charlie…we met…”
***
Vater said, after I awoke from my daily nap, “Ready to get in the cab?”

My vater, father, stood about 5’8” with grey hair, and brown eyes.He was a broad shouldered man with a kind smile.Men seemed cold in those days, but most men were warmer when it came to their family.He worked as a butcher, so every night he literally brought the bacon home.He was educated, and a great father.
I said excitedly, “Yes,”

Vater said, picking me up, and throwing my twisted body on his shoulder, “Good, because Melanie, Jessica, and Hillary are waiting for you…”

I squealed in excitement, as Vater carried me out of my room and in the living room where the old wheelbarrow was kept.Vater sat me down in the cushioned wheelbarrow, and the girls took over.Because it was freezing outside, Vater tied a scarf around my neck, and a wool blanket was draped over my lap.From excitement, I would eventually kick it off, but the girls would put it back.After a few minutes of talking about how the day went, the three twelve-year-olds pushed me outside.
Mamma said, as the girls ran with me outside, “MEL, BE HOME BY SUNSET!”
We yelled, heading to the road, “OK, MAMMA!”

Once we got on the gravely road, Jessica asked, “Well, we have three hours…where do we wish to explore?”
I asked, “Walk around the neighborhood?”
Hillary asked, “No, we’ve done that twice this week, how about cinema?”
Mel said excitedly, “I HAVE IT!LET’S GO TO THE SODA SHOP, GET A COKEACOLA, AND SOME CHOCLATE!”

Jessica, Hillary, and I all agreed.Jessica had ringlet curly, blonde hair.She wore pigtails most of the time.That day, she wore everything yellow, from the ribbons in her hair to her dress; she wore black shoes that had a strap that buckled around the ankles.Hillary was a strawberry blonde with short curly hair.She had freckles on her face; she wore a purple trimmed dress with purple small dots. Melanie looked like Mamma and Vater and I; short, curly, brunette hair with hazel eyes, and tanned.

Mamma couldn’t curl my hair every day, because I was bedridden.I, actually, had to keep my hair short.It was easier.I wanted longer hair, but it wasn’t possible.If I didn’t wear dresses, or feminine shirts, people would’ve mistaken me for a boy.

It was six blocks from our house, haus, the soda shop.The weather was nice, besides the freezing temperatures.As we strolled down the street, a group of men dressed in matching dry grass green uniform with a red patch on the left arm marched. The patch was red, white, and a queer symbol. They also wore Captain Hats.We never saw those men before.A fancy car followed after them like prodding cattle.I asked, feeling funny in the pit of my stomach, “What’s going on?Who are those men?”

The girls just stopped pushing me, stared, and after they passed, Jessica whispered as we started to walk again, “Vater said Chancellor Hitler started a new army.They are called Nazi’s.My brother, you know Charlie, might enlist.”

Charlie was sixteen-years-old.He was tall, muscular, and blonde.His hair was as blonde as the sun.His eyes were ocean blue, and I was smitten with him.Charlie was smitten with me too, but tried not to show it.We’d hang out, and he’d sit with me if my parents had to do something.Jessica and I joked that I was going to be her sister-in-law, but being disabled, I was going to be an old maid.It was just uncommon for a disabled person to wed, and have children in those days.

By four o’clock that afternoon, we were eating ice cream, and drinking cherry coke-a-cola.It would be one of the last of the adventures…

Chapter 3

By the following year, things were slowly changing.By July 1933, a law was passed.The law was called “The law for the prevention of progeny with Hereditary Disease.”The new law stated that if one had a hereditary disease, one would either have a hysterectomy or vasectomy.Vater didn’t like that idea, because he thought if Chancellor Hitler was capable of doing this, what else was he capable of?So, he started a plan, because he started to have a bad feeling about Chancellor Hitler.It would take a few weeks to execute, but he wanted his family to multiply and have both of his daughters fruitful.

Just like Jessica said, in February, Charlie enlisted in the Nazi army.The Nazis were just a regular army at that time.As usual, Jessica came over, but during the end of February, Charlie hung out more with me when he was not marching around.Charlie began to court me in March of 1933.He’d read to me, play chess with me, and was really my first boyfriend.Because of society, we had to keep it a secret, but my parents knew.

Talks about hiding were overheard between Mamma and Vater late at night.I wasn’t sleeping, but I was trying to.The walls were very thin between the three bedrooms.I kept what I knew, or what I thought that I knew, a secret.I trusted Vater, and Mamma, and I knew that the secret, if there was a secret, would be revealed in due time.

The time did arrive.It arrived shortly after the law was passed.Mel was on summer holiday, and I remember when they told us. A few days earlier, Mamma received a telegram.I heard her cry, and she told Mel to watch me.She was going to the meat market where Vater worked.

A few hours later, they returned.Mamma looked sad, and Vater looked drained.Mel was entertaining me by dancing around my room with the radio blaring Mozart.Vater turned it off, and Mel stopped dancing immediately.Vater said, standing by my bed, “Mel, come here, family meeting time!”

Mel got in bed with me, and Mamma and Vater sat around me.Vater said grimly, “This is not a happy family meeting.We’re going through a very scary time.You’re Mamma and I have hidden it as long as we could, but we can’t now.”
We asked nervously, “What’s going on?”

Vater said sadly, “Well you know that Chancellor Hitler has been in office for six months now, and he passed a law recently.”
I asked puzzled, “What was the law for, Vater?”

Mamma started to cry again, and Vater hugged her tightly.She dabbed her eyes with Vater’s handkerchief.He said, “The new law affects you, Mindy, in a way.I’m afraid that there will be more laws coming soon.You see, Chancellor Hitler ordered for anti-reproduction of any person with a hereditary disease.”

I asked confused, “Anti-reproduction, you mean Chancellor Hitler’s making people stop producing children?”

He said with a serious tone of voice, “That’s right, but don’t worry, because I came up with a plan…”
Mel asked, “What is it?”

“Well what I am about to say doesn’t go past this room, understand?”

The both of us agreed, and Vater continued, “We must have to hide.I have found us a small cottage in the German countryside and we will live there until further notice.”
I asked, “What about food?”
Mel asked, “What about our friends?”
I finally asked, “What about Charlie?”

Vater said getting annoyed, “Girls, girls, one question at a time.We will have supplies brought from a few employees.Friends will have to be on hold until this thing ends.Last but not least, Mindy, Charlie is a part of the Nazi party.Therefore you must end the courtship.You’ll never see him again.”

I asked, trying to grasp the earth shattering news, “When will we leave?”

Vater said getting up, “Tonight, or early morning, we must pack everything; me and Mama will get most of the things packed.Your job, Mel, is to pack whatever you and Mindy want in your bedrooms.”
Mel and I said in unison, “Yes, Sir!”
***

The rest of the day was dreadfully sad. Vater, Mama, and Mel packed until everything was ready to go.For our last dinner at our house, we ate baked chicken with mashed potatoes and French bread.Everybody was somber and quiet.

By six o’clock that afternoon, the telephone rang.Vater answered it, and quickly hung up. I asked curiously, “Who was it, Vater?”

He said, “Don’t worry about it; we have to go to sleep.We have a long day tomorrow.”

Vater got me ready for bed, and at eight o’clock, the lights were out. I tossed and turned my head that night trying to sleep, but I couldn’t.I was so anxious that my muscles were tensing up.I whispered, “Mamma, Vater, I need more barbit!”

Mamma got up and got more of my barbiturates.After that, Mamma returned to bed.I suppose that I fell asleep, because the next thing I knew, Vater was waking me up, and dressing me.He said that it was one in the morning, and it was time to go.We ate a quick breakfast, and then I was transferred into the wheelbarrow.Once I was in the wheelbarrow, they loaded a few things in my lap, and draped a sheet over my lap.Then we took one, last look at the house we called home, and headed quietly to the automobile.
***

Lucy said dabbing her eyes, “Wow, Grandma, I didn’t realize how bad it was!”
“Yes, it was, but that wasn’t the worst.The worst was yet to come.”

She asked, holding my hand and sniffling, “So, what happened?”

Debbie cut in, and said, looking at her watch, “Oh God, Mom, we’re going to have to go soon.It’s five o’clock, and a school night and I have to get dinner started and the boys need baths and Lucy has to finish typing her report…”

“I understand, I will try to finish the story.Let’s see, we hid from 1934 to 1939…”
***

We were captured on one summer August morning. The Nazis barged in on our front door.It was dawn, when our life ended.After they barged in, they screamed in German for us to wake up.As Vater and Mamma rushed into the living room, the Nazi’s started throwing things about, looking for valuables.I was in my bedroom lying quietly, scared to death.I wore a white, ruffled, short sleeved, nightgown.Mel sleepily came into my bedroom.As if to hide me, she pulled the blankets over me.I was claustrophobic, so Mel hid with me.Mel held my arms still, and we prayed quietly.One Nazi asked Vater, pushing him against the living room wall, and almost in a screaming tone, “Wo ist verkr�ppelt?, Where is the crippled?”

Vater said with clenched teeth, “My daughter is in the bedroom…”

As footsteps crept closer to my bed, Vater said in a pleading tone of voice, “Please don’t hurt her!”

The bedroom door quickly opened, and a few seconds later, the blankets were uncovered.The first thing that I saw was Charlie; an older version of him, but with those ocean blue eyes, I knew it was him.I said, trying to distract him, “Good morning lovely to see you here.It has been awhile, hasn’t it?How is Jessica?”
Charlie said to Mel, robotically, “Move!”

She gulped and let go of me.She slowly got up from the bed.Then, he picked me up out of my bed, carried me over his shoulder, and threw me into the back of a black automobile.My Vater tried to stop them, but I saw that the other Nazi had a gun in his back.Charlie got in the old fashioned car, and kept me still.He put his arm around my shoulder, and held my arms still with the other one.
I asked, terrified, “Where are we going?”

As the driver sped away, Charlie, the Nazi, vanished, and the boyish Charlie returned.He said smiling, “Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride…all of that was a sham for Hitler…”
I asked, shocked, “What?What do you mean?”

He kissed my forehead, and said, “Mindy, I’m going to tell you something…you see, the real Nazi’s were closing in on your family, and in a matter of hours, they were going to capture you, and probably kill you…trust me, I have had to go on those missions, and the missions were terrible.I loved, love, you, so I decided to save you, your family, and risk it all…”

I kissed his chest, and said, crying, “Thank you, thank you…I knew that you weren’t one of them.”

He said frowning drying my tears with his handkerchief, “I am, but with you I turn into that teenage boy…the boy that read to you, the boy who played chess with you…”

All of a sudden, he did a taboo thing; he passionately kissed me.After the kiss was over, silence occurred.After a moment, I asked, still tasting his lips, “So, you still haven’t told me where we’re going?”

He sighed, and said, “I have contacted the United States Army, and you are going on a trip.The Army has agreed to help us.A soldier, by the name of Joe Creek, will take you on a train ride, until you reach the sea…from there, you’ll board a Coast Guard ship.They will take you to America, and you will get a new idenification, and Joe will take good care of you…he’s about my age…I’m sure that you and he will get along just grand…”

I asked, sadly, “What about you and my family, will I ever see you, Vater, Mamma, and Mel again?”

He said, “Yes, we’ll meet you in America in a few weeks.By then, Joe will have a house for us, and we’ll get married.”
I asked, surprised. “You want to marry me?”

He replied, “Yes, nothing is wrong with you mentally.Your family and I can take care of you, and our future children…”
“What if Hitler catches you and my family?”

He kissed me, and said, “Don’t worry about that…just relax…oh, I have a small gift for you.”
I asked shocked, “Really?”

For a moment, Charlie let go of my hands.He reached into his pants pocket, and laid a black velvet box on his knee.It looked like a necklace could fit into the skinny black box.With one hand, he said opening it, “When I figured out this plan, I knew that I may never see you again.So, I spent most of my geld on this…”

When I saw it, I almost fell over from muscle spasms. The first thing that I saw was the sliver chain.Then, in the center was a beautiful, gold heart-shaped locket, and it had my birthstone on it.Flabbergasted, I said, “Charlie…it’s beautiful, I love it!Thank you so much…for everything; the locket, and risking your life.I don’t know how, or if, I’ll ever repay you…”

He said, putting the necklace on me, and pecking my lips, “You don’t have to repay me.In case we can’t come to America, just live, live and laugh, and enjoy your new life…”

Charlie said, “Oh, I almost forgot to show you, the locket opens.”

He opened it, and I looked down.The locket revealed two sides with pictures; one side had a family photograph and the other side had a photograph of Charlie.

We were fixing to kiss again, but the driver interrupted us.He said, kindly, “Charlie, we’re almost to the train station…”

He sighed sadly, closed the locket, and pulled out another box from underneath the seat.Charlie said opening the box, and revealing a syringe with liquid.He said, picking it up, and tapping it to inject it, “Mindy, I got a doctor to give me some barbiturate injections.I’ll give Joe the rest.You’ll need to be relaxed for the train ride.I’m going to get you in better clothes before the trip.This will only feel like a pinch…I’m sorry, Mindy, that I have to do this, but if I didn’t inject you, it might attract negative attention if you seize while we’re boarding you.”

“I understand, I’m really nervous, so drugs would be nice.”

He held my right for arm down, and quickly injected the barbiturate.In seconds, I slowly began to relax, and sleep slowly came over me.As I fought to stay awake, Charlie said holding me, “Don’t fight it, Baby, just go to sleep, and when you wake, you’ll be on that train…”

A minute after the injection, I was really feeling dizzy, sleepy, and woozy.My eyes slowly closed. Charlie lied me back on the small backseat.As he began to undress me, my last words were a mumble, “Charlie, Charlie, I love you…”

Vagully, I remember him saying, “I love you too, Mindy, don’t ever forget it…”
***

The next thing that I remember was waking up on the train.I was lying down in a train car.I looked around; I remember feeling scared, but quickly realized that I was on the train.As I felt the vibrations of the train and heard the churning of the wheels against the train tracks, I wondered where Joe, the solider, was.The compartment I lay in was like a twin bed.
It was scary, but I thought the worst is over.

I noticed that I wasn’t in my nightgown anymore.Charlie must have dressed me in a white blouse, and I could feel a skirt on my thighs.I could feel shoes and socks placed on my feet.I still had the locket, because I felt the chain loosely around my neck, and the locket hung under my blouse on my breasts.Because I was nervous, and scared, I started seizing.I quickly realized that belts were holding my arms and legs to the compartments, so that I wouldn’t fall.Charlie must have gotten me on the train, and left.

After it was over, the car door opened.I turned my head toward the door, and a man stood in the doorway.He looked about my age. He wore a strange uniform.It was pea green, or olive green.He wore a triangular shaped hat that matched his uniform. The stranger was tall, tanned, and handsome.His face was chiseled.I thought this must be Joe.

The “solider” said in English closing the door, and coming closer, “Oh good, Sleeping Beauty’s awake!My name is Private Joesph Creek, but you call me Joe…”

I was very confused, because I knew very little English.He must have seen my face, because he sat at my feet, pulled a book out from his pocket and said, “Oh sorry, you probably don’t know that much English…good thing I bought this…”

I looked puzzled.He whispered in German, looking at the translator book, “My name is Private Joesph Creek, but you call me Joe…”

My mouth was dry, but I stammered shyly in poor English, “Hi, Joe…”

Joe said, in poor German, unhooking the belts on my arms and legs, “Well, you look thirsty, so why don’t we go to the lunch car?They should announce lunch soon.Charlie said that you hadn’t ate or drank in a long time.”
I nodded.

Joe opened the car door, looked on either side to make sure that it was quiet, and picked me up over his shoulder.The rest is history…”
***

A sob escaped Lucy’s lips, and for a moment, we hugged and cried.Lucy sat down and asked, dabbing her eyes, “So, what happened with Charlie, and your family?”

I said, while Sara dried my eyes, “Well, a few days later after we got settled in New York City, Grandpa Joe and I got a one bedroom apartment.We didn’t share a bed, and I waited for Charlie and my family to arrive.Grandpa called Germany every day, but the Nazi’s couldn’t tell hyim anything.Weeks passed, and one afternoon, a telegram arrived.I didn’t know how to read English yet.So, your Grandpa read it to me.The telegram basically said that Chancellor Hitler ordered a group of Nazis to kill my mother, father, sister, and of course Charlie…Grief-stricken, I did what was best, married Grandpa Joe.Now, you know the whole story, and the true story.”
“Wait, where’s the locket, Grandma?”

I screamed for Sarah, and she came from the laundry room.Sarah asked, “Yes?”

I asked, “Could you go to my room, and get my jewelry box?”

Sarah left the room, and Debbie said, getting up from the loveseat, “Mom, she can see it another time.We really have to go.”
“Pish-posh, it’ll only take a minute, Dear.”
Lucy begged, “Please, Mom, I really want to see it…”
Debbie said sitting back down, “Well, ok…”

Sarah returned with my antique jewelry box.She sat it down on the coffee table, and opened it.Old velvet jewelry boxes were lined up in my jewelry box; everything from my engagement ring to gold necklaces and clip on earrings were stored there.Sarah asked, “What are you looking for again?”
“The gold locket.”

Sarah pulled a blue velvet jewelry box out of the jewelry box, and said putting it down on the coffee table, “I think that this is it, Mrs. Mindy.”
“Thank you, Sarah!”

She returned to the laundry room.Lucy gentlelly rubbed the blue velvet box, and picked it up.She slowly opened it to find the locket.She gave me the same look as I had when I had first received it.She said taking it out of the box, “Grandma, it’s more beautiful than I thought!”
I asked smiling, “Do you really like it?”
She said, opening it, “Yes, it’s really great!”

“Take it then!I think that it’d look good on you, and you may even get extra points on your report, and besides the past needs to be closed for good.”

Lucy thanked me, hugged me, and soon after that, the grandchildren and Debbie left. The story took the whole day to tell, but it was time to tell it. The saying is true: “How do you know where you’re going if you don’t know the past?” Now Lucy and Debbie knew where they are going, and when the time is right, the boys will know the past too. About a week later, Lucy called and said that she got an “A” on her report. I was so proud of her! I never knew how important the small piece of my life was until that Monday afternoon in New York City.