“Stop! Listen! I have something to tell you!”

I froze where I was and slowly craned my neck around. It was a scarred old woman, with misty white eyes.

“Please listen to me. Take this seriously!”

The old woman seemed crazy, so I decided to keep walking.

“Stop! Listen! I have something to tell you! 

“Stop! Listen! I have something to tell you!” Repeated the woman.

I was afraid of what was going to happen so I broke into a run.

I wasn’t far from my house so when I got there, I ran into the kitchen. It wasn’t a big home, but it was adequate. There were two gloomy bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. 

“Papa, Papa!” I panted.

“What, Adel?” He replied, with his face still hidden behind a newspaper.

I shook, terrified and speechless.

 “Calm down. Don’t you have anything better to do?” He said, obviously not caring. My father had always been like this.  He never seemed to pay any attention to me since I was 3. Every day, he went to work early, and when he came back he ate dinner quietly and read the newspaper before he went to sleep. My aunt was the one who always took care of me.

I decided to go and check if the old woman was still there. I peeked out, half wanting to know what she had to say, but she wasn’t there. It’s like she had vanished into thin air. However, there was a more peculiar view on the street.

Hundreds of Jews were being marched across, being whipped by guards. I had never seen this many Jews in a single day. I saw their faces sulking as they walked with their friends. It was frighteningly different from the guards, who proudly whipped them like it was the best job in the world.

A tear welled in my eye as I saw them walking. I had to help. I ran back into the kitchen and picked up a small piece of bread. My father saw me walk out the door, through the corner of his eye. I jogged past a guard and into the midst of the Jews, but the guard had noticed. He whistled to the other guards to cover for him.

He grabbed me by my shoulders and threw me out of the procession, and spat at me. I jumped back up and stood right in his face. More guards had gathered around by then. I felt so small around the men. The guard stared down at me and smiled. His teeth were a disgusting yellow.

At that moment, hundreds of thoughts came into my mind that I felt like telling him, but he would have probably killed me immediately. I realised I looked so insignificant trying to stand tall in front of the men who had just humiliated me. They knew I was powerless.

Just as I opened my mouth to speak, someone pulled me from behind. It was my father. He knew better than to argue with the ruthless guards. “I’m sorry about his behaviour.” He quietly said.

The guard gazed at me. “Make sure it never happens again.” The crowd spread.

“What were you thinking?” he barked at me once we entered the darkness of the house. “Do you know what could have happened if I didn’t come?”

“I…”

“They could have ruined your life! They could have taken you away!” He interrupted, as he paced around the kitchen. “Or even worse!”

“Once I lost your mother, I was left alone to take care of you,” he sighed.

“Adel, I think it’s time you knew the truth. Your mother’s death was no accident.” He covered his face with his hands. “She was caught and taken to Dachau because she was seen helping Jews in the general’s cellar. They found her giving regular supplies of food. I wouldn’t have been able to live if they took you away too.”

This came as a shock to me because I was always told that my mother died in a train accident. I had always been against The Führer’s deeds, and this only strengthened my hatred towards him. I did feel slightly relieved that I was following in my mother’s footsteps but that was matched with my confusion as to why my father had hidden this fact from me for so long. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

“I was afraid of what you might do when you grew up. I didn’t know how you might react,” he replied.

I didn’t know how to take this news. Did it mean my mother could still be alive? I couldn’t live without knowing the complete truth. I walked.

“Adel? Adel, where are you going?”

I opened the front door and kept marching. The parade of Jews had already passed by, but they weren’t far away. I picked up a heavy rock in one hand.

“Adel! Come back!” My father had followed me and was now standing outside the house.

I saw the back of the parade and ran towards it. Once I got there, I picked a guard, sneaked behind him and hit him as hard as I could in the back of the head. The guard instantly fell unconscious. Other guards had seen this and came to help their companion. The Jews saw this as an opportunity to struggle. There was chaos everywhere, but the guards eventually took control, and I was captured. My father was pushed back. I saw him lying on the floor, hurt and crying.

The guard who saw me trying to give bread had recognised me. They were saying that I would be taken to Dachau as a Nazi resistant. It was the worst month of my life. Memories of my father plagued my mind everyday. I perfectly remembered one thing he told me: “I wouldn’t have been able to live if they took you away too.”

I had heard rumours of what happened inside Dachau. All of it turned out to be true. I was crammed in a small space for the whole month, with little food or water. I saw people die around me. 

What was worse was that I couldn’t find any information about my mother. Maybe she didn’t even make it to Dachau, maybe she was sent somewhere else. But this was no shock compared to what I was told later.

“You’re being moved to Mauthausen!” the guard shouted towards me. This meant 2 things. I might be able to see my father on my journey to Linz. The other fact was I was about to die very soon.

Mauthausen was notorious as a killing centre. If you were sent there, it was certain you would die within a week. All I ever wanted was to know my mother.

After another gruelling 2 weeks at Dachau, the time came. I was herded towards the gate and started towards Mauthausen. It was unbelievable that just six weeks ago, I was on the other side of the wall of guards, trying to get in to help the people.

It was a ten mile walk to Munich. From there we would be taken to Linz, then Mauthausen, which was a few miles to the East of Linz. I felt my heart racing as I got to within a mile of Munich. My mouth was dry, and I felt like I was about to die of hunger.

I looked intently around for my father as I got closer to my house. Then my house came into view, but I still couldn’t see him. I was almost past my house now. I tried to look through a window to see if he was home.

Then suddenly, the door burst open and my father came rushing through! He scanned the parade from the front to the back. When he saw me, he instantly recognised me. His face lit up and he ran to the parade and tried to get past the guards. Unfortunately, the guards saw him as a threat and pushed him back. I tried to get to him but we couldn’t meet. It was just like 6 weeks ago, except now I was the one chasing him.

Eventually, one of the guards whipped him until he could no longer stand. It was the same guard who I was saved from before I was imprisoned. I was forced to walk on. We stared at each other until I couldn’t see him any more. It was then that I truly regretted my impulsive behaviour. All this had happened for nothing. My father had lost me and I didn’t find my mother.

Now I had to travel to Linz. I thought about Mauthausen and my father as I made my way out of Munich, and what might have happened to my mother.

“Adel. I have something to tell you,” whispered a familiar stranger. I turned around. It was that scarred old woman again. I had no energy to be afraid anymore. I had no reason to, because she was part of the parade. She wore the same clothes as everyone else. I looked into her wet eyes. Once I took my time to gaze into her face, I felt like I had always known her. “Adel, I am your mother.”

I didn’t know how to react. I was overwhelmed by happiness, but I was also exasperated. “Why?” was the only thing that came to mind.

“I was captured years ago because I was helping Jews. I didn’t want to bring disgrace to the family because others might have seen me as a Jew-lover. I had to leave you, but I’ve always known where you were. When I found out you were sent to Dachau because you learnt the truth about me, I had to reveal myself.”

It felt great to finally know I had a mother. We talked all the way to Mauthausen. I told her all about the good times I had with my father, and the bad ones. I am proud to say I died next to my mother.