I woke up in my bed at about sunset. I looked down to my arms, seeing the evident burn marks from years of torture covering them.
How long will this last…?
Is mother okay…?
I've been in this very building since I was 12, and now that it's been 5 years and now I'm 17, somehow surviving the endless torture in this place. It was early in the morning but since Adele isn't here anymore, I couldn't spend my time with anyone.
Guards came and took her bony thin body from the very mattress above me. I was heartbroken when they took her from me. I still remember how she looked before she was taken about a year ago. How they starved her. How they dehydrated her enough with saltwater that she would try to lick the water off the freshly mopped floors.
Her cheekbones were so palpable. Dark bags rested under her what was once bright blue eyes that had lost their shimmer over the years. Her arms were so thin, I could wrap my hand around them. Her legs were extremely scrawny. Her hair even thinned out. And the jumpsuit she was wearing looked like a size Adult XL on a small child.
A tear slowly rolled down my own emaciated cheeks. We went through the same treatment as the other but somehow, I survived. I haven't seen my mother since we arrived here, my mind was still bugged with what the doctor said when she took blood.
"You may see her when you look into the sky soon".
My father, I still don't know what happened to him, hopefully, I can find out that I still have a family out there.
My thoughts were cut off by the yelling of a man outside.
"We're free! We're free! Come out, we're free! We can finally leave this prison!" He yelled.
I quickly stood from my bed, there scars from the other day's "fun activity" had left on my body. I rushed over, slamming the door open and running outside where the sun has risen enough to see the land. Men stood in brownish-green uniforms. Instead of those horrible swastika symbols, they had a flag. The flag Americans would hang. They helped up some of the survivors here and others pinned down the rest of the nazis. One of the men came up to me with a sympathetic look laced into his features. He places his hand on my shoulder.
"Are you alright son?" He asks with concern. I was so stunned by his worry for us that I only nodded.
"W-what's going on?" I stutter
"Your free kid, you can leave this miserable inferno" He smiled at my wide-eyed look, tears of joy rushing down my cheeks.
"Are you serious?" I elate
"Let's go…" He drags
"Noa, Noa Feldstein '' I introduce.
"Noa," He nods, "I'm Liam Davis" I shake his hand.
"Now let's get you home," He says.
We walk down a long dirt path, passing by people who were getting some medical treatment and others that were heading to the same place as us. We stop in front of the very sign I saw on the first day here. Arbeit macht frei. We walked through the large gate where there were helicopters, and army trucks, so many cars to count. I sat in the back in one of the trucks. (Work sets you free)
"We'll get the rest loaded up and we'll be ready to go." I nodded to Liam's information and shut my eyes, leaning back against the wall of the truck falling into the first peaceful sleep I've had in a long time.
When I woke up, I was on American soil. I lived with Liam for a while before getting my own place, meeting Miranda, and having a daughter then my grandson.
The end"
I look down to my 9-year-old grandson, Wesley, who was still awake from my story. He took my large wrinkled hand in his small ones.
"Wow, grandpa...I don't think I'll ever get tired of that story" He whispered, so he would get in trouble with Vivian, my daughter.
"Good, I need someone to tell our stories when we pass on" I smile.
"But grandpa, I always wondered...What happened to your mom and dad? I only know about aunt Adele" He questions.
"Scientists took the leftover bone matter after they burned my mother and found her DNA," I inform, thinking back to the day. "My father was taken the night of Kristallnacht and thrown into prison for his religion and died in there" I look down briefly.
"Even if great grandma and great grandpa are gone, you still have me and mom and dad!" He encourages me, bringing a smile to my face.
"I know, and I'm grateful for it" I cover him with his blanket and kiss his forehead. "Now get some sleep," I say as I turned out the light and walked over to the door. My hand grasping the knob.
"I love you grandpa" He whispers to me from afar
"I love you too Wesley"
And with that, I shut the door.
The end
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The holocaust was a horrible and gruesome time ever recorded in the history books, but a lot of Americans don't even know what this is.
About 45% of adults know what the Holocaust is.
This is a very sensitive topic for some but we also need to get these correct learning ways back into school and stop hiding and denying facts.
I don't mean to offend anyone with my opinions and the timelines are off but I did a lot of research on different things for this very project, hope you enjoyed it.