regretted his earlier conduct with the whores.
Peter felt now a great pity for the prisoners. The inferno of the new crematoriums had been the most ghastly scene he had ever witnessed. Many who had done their bidding for years in the KZ and who bought favored positions were now sent to the shower. Some of the veteran guards were bothered by this since they had worked daily with these prisoners. But Max grinned about it as the shocked senior prisoners who believed they would be spared were taken away and replaced by new arrivals with, as Max put it: “no memories.” The history of the KZ was being erased. “I wonder if anyone’s remembering the meticulous records kept at Gestapo HQ in Berlin?” Max said with amusement.
Now the occasional act of defiance exhilarated Peter. He saw in it that these victims retained a measure of dignity and humanity. Whatever these people had become, whatever they were -- and there were many as sadistic as the guards who were his brothers -- they were what the oppressors had made them. Material now froze routinely at the shower door and refused to enter. Even as Peter clubbed them into submission he praised them for this bit of disobedience.
During that winter there was an act of aggression against the guards. It was by a woman, and occurred the week after the inferno when a group of French Jews was in the Disrobing Block.
They were a clever group and not fooled by the lies nor very intimidated by the brutality. One of the young women, a dancer Peter was later told, noticed SS-Obersturmfuhrer Dietrich eyeing her. Unlike the Ukrainian guard who masturbated as he watched the disrobing, Dietrich only enjoyed viewing the naked women knowing they were all to die in a few minutes. This one knew what was in store for her.
The dancer performed a slow strip, encouraging Dietrich to come closer. When she was nearly naked and flaunting her small dancer's breasts for him he moved within arm's reach. She pulled out his pistol and shot him dead. She killed another guard, the dimwitted, sadistic Selitian who had murdered the baby, and managed to shoot another fleeing guard in the foot.
Peter was back towards the exit and made it out with the rest of the guards. They sealed the doors as the arrivals searched for another way out. An SS-Untersturmfuhrer arrived and ordered the power cut to the windowless Block, then had two machine guns mounted at the entrance. When the door was thrown open the guards let them have it. They sprayed the inside until no one was standing, then moved in with pistols to finish everyone off. Peter found the dancer who had started it all with the empty gun still in her hand. Half her head had been blown off by a machine gun bullet.
Herr Kommandant Hoffmann placed the body spread naked on a wooden plank for two days and commanded that every guard walk by and see what could happen if they got too close or stopped paying attention. It took a full day to repair the inside of the Disrobing Block so that new material was not unduly suspicious.
A few days after Peter realized that he could not get Eva out he told her he wanted to help and was prepared to risk everything for her. Could she or perhaps the old Jew, Sol, think of any way he could get her to safety?
Sol had been an officer in the Kaiser's army and told Peter during one visit without Max that he had always considered himself a German first, a Jew last of all. “Ich bin ein Germaner!” he had said with fervor. He ran a large company in Berlin before the war and, he said, was well known in the international gold circles. German Jews often arrived clutching a handful of medals or pictures of themselves in uniform from the Great War. As if it would make a difference.
A few days later Eva asked if he really meant what he said. “Of course. You know I would do anything to save you. Just show me how.”
“And Sol. He must come too. Without Sol we would already be dead.”
Peter explained that was impossible. He had no
Peter felt now a great pity for the prisoners. The inferno of the new crematoriums had been the most ghastly scene he had ever witnessed. Many who had done their bidding for years in the KZ and who bought favored positions were now sent to the shower. Some of the veteran guards were bothered by this since they had worked daily with these prisoners. But Max grinned about it as the shocked senior prisoners who believed they would be spared were taken away and replaced by new arrivals with, as Max put it: “no memories.” The history of the KZ was being erased. “I wonder if anyone’s remembering the meticulous records kept at Gestapo HQ in Berlin?” Max said with amusement.
Now the occasional act of defiance exhilarated Peter. He saw in it that these victims retained a measure of dignity and humanity. Whatever these people had become, whatever they were -- and there were many as sadistic as the guards who were his brothers -- they were what the oppressors had made them. Material now froze routinely at the shower door and refused to enter. Even as Peter clubbed them into submission he praised them for this bit of disobedience.
During that winter there was an act of aggression against the guards. It was by a woman, and occurred the week after the inferno when a group of French Jews was in the Disrobing Block.
They were a clever group and not fooled by the lies nor very intimidated by the brutality. One of the young women, a dancer Peter was later told, noticed SS-Obersturmfuhrer Dietrich eyeing her. Unlike the Ukrainian guard who masturbated as he watched the disrobing, Dietrich only enjoyed viewing the naked women knowing they were all to die in a few minutes. This one knew what was in store for her.
The dancer performed a slow strip, encouraging Dietrich to come closer. When she was nearly naked and flaunting her small dancer's breasts for him he moved within arm's reach. She pulled out his pistol and shot him dead. She killed another guard, the dimwitted, sadistic Selitian who had murdered the baby, and managed to shoot another fleeing guard in the foot.
Peter was back towards the exit and made it out with the rest of the guards. They sealed the doors as the arrivals searched for another way out. An SS-Untersturmfuhrer arrived and ordered the power cut to the windowless Block, then had two machine guns mounted at the entrance. When the door was thrown open the guards let them have it. They sprayed the inside until no one was standing, then moved in with pistols to finish everyone off. Peter found the dancer who had started it all with the empty gun still in her hand. Half her head had been blown off by a machine gun bullet.
Herr Kommandant Hoffmann placed the body spread naked on a wooden plank for two days and commanded that every guard walk by and see what could happen if they got too close or stopped paying attention. It took a full day to repair the inside of the Disrobing Block so that new material was not unduly suspicious.
A few days after Peter realized that he could not get Eva out he told her he wanted to help and was prepared to risk everything for her. Could she or perhaps the old Jew, Sol, think of any way he could get her to safety?
Sol had been an officer in the Kaiser's army and told Peter during one visit without Max that he had always considered himself a German first, a Jew last of all. “Ich bin ein Germaner!” he had said with fervor. He ran a large company in Berlin before the war and, he said, was well known in the international gold circles. German Jews often arrived clutching a handful of medals or pictures of themselves in uniform from the Great War. As if it would make a difference.
A few days later Eva asked if he really meant what he said. “Of course. You know I would do anything to save you. Just show me how.”
“And Sol. He must come too. Without Sol we would already be dead.”
Peter explained that was impossible. He had no
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