A Continuation of the Novel Refugee by Alan Gratz
My mom and I stand still, not moving a muscle. Ruthie starts fussing, but my mom tells her to shush. The soldier is still looking at us with a smirk on his face. I can see his Nazi armband in the moonlight.
“Come on, I don’t have all day,” he says.
My mom starts offering him anything she can, not that there’s a lot to offer though. I can tell she’s getting desperate. I glance at my mom, and I notice tears in her eyes. She knows she’s going to have to pick. She looks from me to Ruthie and back, from Ruthie to me. I try not to think about the concentration camps, but my mind fills with imaginary pictures and scenarios. I picture the filthy rooms, the rotten food, and most of all, the thought of unavoidable and impending death that everyone there faces.
My mom’s still glancing over at me and my sister, but I can’t bear the thought of either Ruthie or me, plus Mom, being sent to a concentration camp. So I begin thinking about ways out of this situation without getting killed. The Nazi is surprisingly calm and patient, letting us have more time. I would’ve expected to have been on the way to a camp already. I reevaluate the situation. The results are most likely grim, but my eyes drift to the Nazi that saw us. Something about him just seems off, but I can’t place what. I decide to take my chances.
“Run,” I whisper to my mom in Yiddish.
“What? Are you crazy?” she responds.
“This is our only way out,” I continue, “what good is it to get sent to a death camp and die there?”
“Well, at least not running could save one life,” my mom whispers back.
I look at the Nazi again. Still no reaction. It’s like he doesn’t care that we’re talking. I think at this point my mom realizes what’s going on as well.
“Hurry up, I’ll let you go,” the Nazi waves his hand at the woods behind us. “Hurry!”
I don’t know why he’s doing this, but my mom and I, and Ruthie in Mom’s arms, sprint towards the woods and don’t look back. We find a dark and relatively safe place behind some tall and thick trees and take some time to catch our breath. I’m still confused about that encounter. The soldier looked to be about 17 or 18, no older. He had dark brown hair. Could he have been a member of the Hitler Youth who secretly hated his job? Maybe he joined to help more Jews escape. But why did he stop us in the first place? There were so many questions, with so little answers, but I assumed he told us to hurry to be safe, just in case another Nazi was watching him.
All three of us were really tired at this point, so we decided to sleep under the canopy of the dark, dense forest that night. Ruthie begins to cry a few moments during the night, and we pray that no one, especially the Nazis, can hear her. I didn’t think we would survive that night, but soon, the sun began to rise, and we realized we had made it.
We walk toward a small town just outside the woods, hoping to not get spotted again. We were running low on food, and our clothes had mud and grass stains all over them. I honestly did not think we would survive any longer.
Walking towards the village, we are stopped by an old man. He waves us over, vegetables in his hands.
“Hey, what are you three doing here?” he asks.
“Oh, uh, we were just exploring the village. You know,” my mom responds.
The man looks at us, taking note of the dirty clothes we have on. He asks us if we would like to come to his house and rest for a bit. My mom denies hospitality, but I look at her with a tired expression in my eyes, and she caves in. Inside the house, we all sit down, and he begins talking to us. I have no idea how we got this lucky. I bet the man knows or at least suspects that we were Jewish, but he doesn’t turn us in.
He pauses for a moment. “So, I don’t know how to bring this up, but I assume you guys are trying to hide from the Nazis?”
Oh, boy, here we go. I could either lie, or come clean and now risk him turning us in. I don’t know which option to pick, so I stay quiet. My mom doesn’t say anything either.
The man continues, “Well, I’ll take that as a yes. If you are up for it, I could get in touch with someone you might like. It’s a resistance group here in France. Well, actually, they have sections all over the place, most notably in Poland. Don’t worry, I don’t like the Nazis either. I’m going to trust you with this information, all right?” he pauses, then leans over and says in a hushed tone, “I have Jews hiding in our basement right now.”
My eyes go wide. What? That could not be possible. Who was this guy? I glance over at my mom. She has her head down, most likely thinking, but I’ve already decided.
“Can I join that resistance group?” Throughout the war, I’ve heard of resistance groups all over Nazi-controlled countries. I have always wanted to take part in those events and be able to fight for the justice we deserve. Now that I actually have a chance, I want to accept right away. I know very well how dangerous it could be, as I would hear rumors about resistance groups falling apart because all its members got caught. But I still wanted to join.
“No, Josef, no,” my mom quickly replied for the man, “he is not joining, period.”
My mom turns to me, and the man goes into the kitchen. “Mom, please? Can I join?”
“No, I said no, and that is final,” My mom continues.
I’m pretty sure she isn’t going to change her mind. “Mom, we can’t run for long, we’re going to get caught sooner or later. Please, at least with this we can help people and disrupt the Nazis.” My mom leans back in her chair and sighs. “Come on, please?” I beg.
“Okay, fine,” she says.
The man comes back into the room with 3 glasses of water and some cookies. Ruthie points to the pile of cookies and fusses. My mom picks one up and gives it to her. “So, have you decided?” he asks.
“Yes, I want to join. And my mom said that that’s okay.” I respond.
“Alright then, I’ll get you in touch with some people. Oh also, one of you can have the guest room, and the other can sleep on the couch. I only have one more available bed, sorry.”
“Oh it’s fine, thank you so much,” my mom says.
At night, we decide I’ll sleep on the couch and Mom and Ruthie will sleep on the guest bed. I roll over on the couch, trying to get comfortable. I think about my new job and the dangers I will face. It’s thrilling on one hand, and very nerve-racking on the other hand. I think about why I decided to join in the first place. I want to be able to help my people, that’s all.
I wake up to the brightness that comes through the living room window. I hear birds chirping outside, and I smell the breakfast coming from the kitchen, and for a moment, I feel at peace. But, that’s very quickly interrupted.
“Josef, I found a spot for you!” I turn around and see the man standing at his bedroom door. “You start today. I know that’s very surprising, but they needed someone as soon as possible. I’ll tell you when to meet them. First, eat breakfast.”
After we ate, the man leads me into the woods behind the village, the one my family and I had hid in the day before. He searches around for a bit, then says “ah-ha” as he pulls back what looks like a pile of twigs, leaves, and bugs. I grimace just looking at it.
“Here we go,” he says, “this is the secret bunker.”
I look around to make sure no one’s watching. I realize that yesterday, I almost led the Nazi to this bunker! Slowly, I crawl inside. When we reach the end of the tunnel, I see a few people gathered around. They appear to be discussing something. I cannot believe what I’m seeing, it’s like a whole living room down here! They tell me that there are many different bunkers all over the area with different tunnels going to different places. I introduce myself, and everyone else does the same. I finally feel at home here.
My mom and I stand still, not moving a muscle. Ruthie starts fussing, but my mom tells her to shush. The soldier is still looking at us with a smirk on his face. I can see his Nazi armband in the moonlight.
“Come on, I don’t have all day,” he says.
My mom starts offering him anything she can, not that there’s a lot to offer though. I can tell she’s getting desperate. I glance at my mom, and I notice tears in her eyes. She knows she’s going to have to pick. She looks from me to Ruthie and back, from Ruthie to me. I try not to think about the concentration camps, but my mind fills with imaginary pictures and scenarios. I picture the filthy rooms, the rotten food, and most of all, the thought of unavoidable and impending death that everyone there faces.
My mom’s still glancing over at me and my sister, but I can’t bear the thought of either Ruthie or me, plus Mom, being sent to a concentration camp. So I begin thinking about ways out of this situation without getting killed. The Nazi is surprisingly calm and patient, letting us have more time. I would’ve expected to have been on the way to a camp already. I reevaluate the situation. The results are most likely grim, but my eyes drift to the Nazi that saw us. Something about him just seems off, but I can’t place what. I decide to take my chances.
“Run,” I whisper to my mom in Yiddish.
“What? Are you crazy?” she responds.
“This is our only way out,” I continue, “what good is it to get sent to a death camp and die there?”
“Well, at least not running could save one life,” my mom whispers back.
I look at the Nazi again. Still no reaction. It’s like he doesn’t care that we’re talking. I think at this point my mom realizes what’s going on as well.
“Hurry up, I’ll let you go,” the Nazi waves his hand at the woods behind us. “Hurry!”
I don’t know why he’s doing this, but my mom and I, and Ruthie in Mom’s arms, sprint towards the woods and don’t look back. We find a dark and relatively safe place behind some tall and thick trees and take some time to catch our breath. I’m still confused about that encounter. The soldier looked to be about 17 or 18, no older. He had dark brown hair. Could he have been a member of the Hitler Youth who secretly hated his job? Maybe he joined to help more Jews escape. But why did he stop us in the first place? There were so many questions, with so little answers, but I assumed he told us to hurry to be safe, just in case another Nazi was watching him.
All three of us were really tired at this point, so we decided to sleep under the canopy of the dark, dense forest that night. Ruthie begins to cry a few moments during the night, and we pray that no one, especially the Nazis, can hear her. I didn’t think we would survive that night, but soon, the sun began to rise, and we realized we had made it.
We walk toward a small town just outside the woods, hoping to not get spotted again. We were running low on food, and our clothes had mud and grass stains all over them. I honestly did not think we would survive any longer.
Walking towards the village, we are stopped by an old man. He waves us over, vegetables in his hands.
“Hey, what are you three doing here?” he asks.
“Oh, uh, we were just exploring the village. You know,” my mom responds.
The man looks at us, taking note of the dirty clothes we have on. He asks us if we would like to come to his house and rest for a bit. My mom denies hospitality, but I look at her with a tired expression in my eyes, and she caves in. Inside the house, we all sit down, and he begins talking to us. I have no idea how we got this lucky. I bet the man knows or at least suspects that we were Jewish, but he doesn’t turn us in.
He pauses for a moment. “So, I don’t know how to bring this up, but I assume you guys are trying to hide from the Nazis?”
Oh, boy, here we go. I could either lie, or come clean and now risk him turning us in. I don’t know which option to pick, so I stay quiet. My mom doesn’t say anything either.
The man continues, “Well, I’ll take that as a yes. If you are up for it, I could get in touch with someone you might like. It’s a resistance group here in France. Well, actually, they have sections all over the place, most notably in Poland. Don’t worry, I don’t like the Nazis either. I’m going to trust you with this information, all right?” he pauses, then leans over and says in a hushed tone, “I have Jews hiding in our basement right now.”
My eyes go wide. What? That could not be possible. Who was this guy? I glance over at my mom. She has her head down, most likely thinking, but I’ve already decided.
“Can I join that resistance group?” Throughout the war, I’ve heard of resistance groups all over Nazi-controlled countries. I have always wanted to take part in those events and be able to fight for the justice we deserve. Now that I actually have a chance, I want to accept right away. I know very well how dangerous it could be, as I would hear rumors about resistance groups falling apart because all its members got caught. But I still wanted to join.
“No, Josef, no,” my mom quickly replied for the man, “he is not joining, period.”
My mom turns to me, and the man goes into the kitchen. “Mom, please? Can I join?”
“No, I said no, and that is final,” My mom continues.
I’m pretty sure she isn’t going to change her mind. “Mom, we can’t run for long, we’re going to get caught sooner or later. Please, at least with this we can help people and disrupt the Nazis.” My mom leans back in her chair and sighs. “Come on, please?” I beg.
“Okay, fine,” she says.
The man comes back into the room with 3 glasses of water and some cookies. Ruthie points to the pile of cookies and fusses. My mom picks one up and gives it to her. “So, have you decided?” he asks.
“Yes, I want to join. And my mom said that that’s okay.” I respond.
“Alright then, I’ll get you in touch with some people. Oh also, one of you can have the guest room, and the other can sleep on the couch. I only have one more available bed, sorry.”
“Oh it’s fine, thank you so much,” my mom says.
At night, we decide I’ll sleep on the couch and Mom and Ruthie will sleep on the guest bed. I roll over on the couch, trying to get comfortable. I think about my new job and the dangers I will face. It’s thrilling on one hand, and very nerve-racking on the other hand. I think about why I decided to join in the first place. I want to be able to help my people, that’s all.
I wake up to the brightness that comes through the living room window. I hear birds chirping outside, and I smell the breakfast coming from the kitchen, and for a moment, I feel at peace. But, that’s very quickly interrupted.
“Josef, I found a spot for you!” I turn around and see the man standing at his bedroom door. “You start today. I know that’s very surprising, but they needed someone as soon as possible. I’ll tell you when to meet them. First, eat breakfast.”
After we ate, the man leads me into the woods behind the village, the one my family and I had hid in the day before. He searches around for a bit, then says “ah-ha” as he pulls back what looks like a pile of twigs, leaves, and bugs. I grimace just looking at it.
“Here we go,” he says, “this is the secret bunker.”
I look around to make sure no one’s watching. I realize that yesterday, I almost led the Nazi to this bunker! Slowly, I crawl inside. When we reach the end of the tunnel, I see a few people gathered around. They appear to be discussing something. I cannot believe what I’m seeing, it’s like a whole living room down here! They tell me that there are many different bunkers all over the area with different tunnels going to different places. I introduce myself, and everyone else does the same. I finally feel at home here.
