Together in Another Place (5 page)

‘Know that I love
you, Harriette, whatever happens,’ he said before the spell between them was
broken by another’s presence.

●

The
calling out of family names possessed an emotionless metronomic madness all of
its own.

Many
present had become reconciled to the possibility of it being their turn to be
on the lists; few could listen to the roll-call and believe that it did not
sound like a bill of lading being declared. They were looked upon by a remote
authority as items to be transported.

The
emotions stirred by this revue were disbelief then stoical acceptance. Doubt
had given way to bounded certainty.

In
many the announcements provoked a scream, of gabbled fears being given full
expression, but they had learnt that they would not be separated from each
other. They could draw great comfort from that realisation. Men and women felt
the sting of tears but the men could not so easily concede to them. Even in
extremis they had to set an example.

 
When the name of Polak was called out Judith
wailed out her dismay that Elizabeth, her infirm daughter Betty, was on the
list.

‘What
madness!’ she cried out. ‘My daughter’s too ill to go!’

She
cried out in desperation and clapped her hands to draw attention to herself. Pa
stood by her, possessively clutching her arm to assert their union in seeking
to save their youngest child. She was but a teenager, frail and confined to bed
in the camp’s hospital. Distinctions of that sort, infirmity or age, had not
been made before but they sought to change minds, none the less.

‘My
daughter’s being cared for! She should not…my daughter should not travel!’ he
yelled out angrily.

‘Take
it up with them later,’ a man’s stern voice consoled. ‘Now, let them finish
this ghastly business? We can’t bear the waiting…none of us can.’

‘Yeah…ja,
of course,’ Pa sighed and encouraged his Judith to heed well-intentioned
advice.

‘My
poor child,’ Judith wept but nodded her agreement. She could draw no comfort
from the looks the orderlies gave her, or from the reader of the list. ‘How
cruel…’

‘We’re
still together, Ma…whatever happens now.’

It
had taken some time to reach their names. Harriette drew some comfort from the
knowledge that she would not be alone in the camp; an explanation had also been
found for not being a cast member of that night’s cabaret.

Thus
were their lives to be ordered; those who were to remain and who had been
chosen to depart and set out on a journey with an unknown final destination.

It
remained for only a few more names to be called out before the listing was
completed. Childless couples and singletons were soon dealt with and when he
was finished the order group’s leader folded the paper and placed it purposefully
in a folder.

‘That
is all,’ he announced in a determined booming voice. ‘It is now time for all of
you whose names have been read out to make ready.’

He
had performed his duty with calm efficiency and cool-headedness. It wouldn’t do
for him, or his staff, to suggest that the next stage in their life’s journey
bore any threat to them. He did not know of it himself, with any certainty.

‘There
is no time to lose!’ he called out just to be sure that those affected were
left in no doubt that matters would progress without any impediment or further
discussion.

In
the hush that fell upon the room Pa yelled out his anxiety once more. He could
contain himself no longer or bear to hear Judith’s sighs of anguish.

‘My
daughter is sick! Leave us here to tend to her?’

‘No!
There will be no changes!’ the leader called out in brutal honesty, ‘none! The
decision’s been made.’

‘Who
by…and do they care?’

‘You
will do as you’re told, sir. Besides, I am told the facilities are better where
you are going to…’

‘And
on the train?’ another man was emboldened to call out.

‘Provision
will be made for you…for one and all.’

The man to whom
these questions had been directed now joined the group of OD staff who had
gathered by the main door of the barrack block. Their expressions showed their
relief that they would not be on the afternoon’s train. They could deal with
their fellows with moderate equanimity and breathe a little easier for the next
seven days.

●

Harriette
walked quickly as if each step kept pace with her furiously beating heart.

She
had to see him, to tell Simon of all that had happened and to have him know
that they would be together on the next stage of their life’s journey however
that was to be arranged. They had met within this bounded scrap of ground
called Westerbork. Soon, in matter of hours, they would be on a train. She
couldn’t keep from worrying about that prospect.

Would
she be separated from him now?

Where
would Simon be?

His
smile and gentle touch had brought calm to her anxious spirit.

Was
there a chance that they would meet again at the place destined to be their
next stop if…heaven forbid…they became separated?

Her
shoes crunched on the gravel and she dodged between the people gathered by each
block that she passed; many stood by small suitcases and others by soft flimsy
bags. All of their life’s possessions, all that they were allowed to bring, were
close at hand. There was so little of it.

She,
Mother and Pa, even her sick sister Betty, were reduced to carrying these small
pathetic bundles. But, her spirit, deep within her, remained undimmed and Simon
in his own charming ways had set her free.

Now
she looked for the hut number and the door that he had been barred from
entering only a few nights ago.

There
he was! Her heart leapt at the sight of him. There he was, the young man who
still wore his cap at a jaunty angle. But, his tie was neatly fastened and he
gave every sign of going on a journey that held a certain outcome.

Why
was
that?

‘Simon!
Simon! I’m here!’ she called out and scurried to be with him.

‘And…and?’
he kissed breathlessly, ‘what is the news? I was wondering if I should come
looking for you.’

‘I’ve
done what we agreed…I have come here to you.’

She
clung to his arms and slid her hands until she could grip Simon’s fiercely, possessively.

‘Yes…I
forgot.’

‘There’s
no time now…no time at all…to do this.’

She
kissed his fingers then placed them to her lips.

‘I
want so much more of you…do you understand?’ he said softly.

Simon
bowed his head until it touch hers; he had taken off his cap so that the peak
would not interfere in this moment of intimacy.

‘I
am going with you…I am leaving too. Mother and Pa are collecting Betty from the
sanatorium…somehow. I have to be sure that I can meet them…at the train.’

‘There’s
not a trace of humanity in them…if they put her on it,’ he said with evident
bitterness.

‘Be
still, now,’ she asked of him. A weak smile had passed her lips. ‘I remember
you telling me once…not to be so angry.’

‘Yes,’
he nodded and she heard his surprise that she should think of that moment now. In
a sliding caress of his fingers he touched her cheeks and then cupped her face
in his hands so that she would meet his gaze upon her. ‘Whatever happens…I am
near you.’

‘I
have your necklace…’

‘Yes,
I am glad. I also have something else for you. I wrote a letter to you…early
this morning.’

He
shrugged his apology for the scrap of paper that it had been written on and
that he now gave to her.

‘I
have nothing to give you!’ she gasped in surprise as she felt him close her
hand over it.

‘You
have given me everything I could possibly want, here in this place.’ He touched
his head. ‘I have memories…I have your song…what we have spoken about…a kiss
and a touch. I have them all here until we are together...in another place.’

‘But
where do you mean? Where is that?’

She
saw him sigh deeply. Then Simon shrugged and repeated what he had just told her.

‘In
another place…’

‘Where
is that?’ She goaded him to put her mind at rest. She now saw him press his
lips together for an instant.

‘Heaven
only knows…’

‘Oh,
Simon, don’t…don’t say that…don’t!’

She
had kissed out the words against his cheek and he had nodded dumbly in response
to every kiss.

‘Move
on…move on, now!’

Intrusive
calls were heeded and they began to walk, hand in hand, hustled along by the inexorable
press of people all around them on the narrow path.

‘We
board the train in groups…I suppose?’ Simon spoke dully, taking in the faces
all around them. He recognised those from his block, how they moved, their eyes
staring at the familiar surroundings of the camp and their companions.

‘Stay
close to me,’ Harriette commanded on hearing a moment’s uncertainty in his
voice. ‘Follow me, please? I need to gather up my things.’

She
tugged on his hand and they walked purposefully, brushing past people as they
did so. Harriette was gone for only a moment as she went through the door where
he had often said good night and where men and women now stood in silence,
observing those that were leaving them. They offered words of encouragement and
fortitude.

‘I
met someone special…and I did it right here.’ Simon marvelled at his good
fortune and could even concede to a moment’s sense of elation.

A
lovely young woman stood in the doorway once more; she was buttoning up her
jacket and then chose to fasten a thin scarf at her throat. The sun was in her
hair as she looked around at familiar but all too temporary surroundings. She
met his unwavering gaze upon her.

‘I
love you…I love you like I have never loved any one before,’ he told her as he
sought to take the case from her hand.

Without
any sense of shame he kissed her, first on her hair then on her mouth as she
instinctively looked up at him. He kept his lips on her skin in the only
communion of feelings that time still allowed to them.

‘You
have my letter, still?’ he asked in concern.

‘Yes…yes,
Simon.’

‘I
need to know…I’m sorry that I keep asking it of you.’

‘We…must
go,’ she said sensing that official eyes were upon them. Her case was taken
from him and Simon did not resist for he had his own things to carry.

They
could walk hand in hand along the cinder path that led to the track where a
train awaited them, a train they had seen depart from the camp in weeks gone by
and that they would now board.

‘We
do that together…we go on, together.’

‘It
wasn’t meant to be…’ she ventured.

‘Oh,
and who said that?’

They
squeezed each other’s hands a little tighter as they spoke out their feelings,
noting that with each step that they took drew them inexorably nearer to the
line of people gathering at a checkpoint that marked the end to a way of life
in Westerbork. They also glanced at the shabby wagons behind the steam
locomotive and how inadequate they were for the journey of those all about them.

‘My
other self…spoke to me,’ Harriette continued.

‘I
don’t know her,’ he replied. ‘I saw only you. Besides, what wasn’t meant to
be?’

‘That
I would meet you…and that…and that I would fall in love with you,’ she
confessed.

‘I’m
glad to have heard you say it…at last.’

His
smile teased her but Harriette knew exactly what Simon meant. With his help she
had overcome her fears and accepted that it could indeed happen, even here, in a
transit camp.

‘I’ll
hold onto everything I have found with you, Simon.’

She
had stopped him from walking on and he saw a look of torment in her eyes as
Harriette studied the scene before them, of so many people travelling towards
an uncertain future. It seemed so ordered and yet unreal, just as the concerts
she had been a part of had been a diversion from the reality.

Harriette
gave a startled cry.

‘There!
I’ve seen my parents…Betty is with them…look? There, on the stretcher.’

Simon
chose to clasp the hand she held out to point at her family.

‘Go
to them,’ he said out of consideration for her. ‘I will have you near me. I’ll
know that it is so until we arrive where we are going…near or far.’

‘Walk
with me…do that, please?’

‘I…I
cannot do that,’ he said haltingly as he realised the significance of their
separation. ‘You belong with them…at this time.’

He
saw a moment’s look of understanding, the acknowledgement that what he had told
her was the inescapable truth for them at that moment. Simon kissed her only
once and not even a soft considerate smile could calm her or stop the tears
that now coursed down Harriette’s cheeks.