You Are My Sunshine: A Novel Of The Holocaust (All My Love Detrick Companion Novel) (50 page)

Manfred found the trap door in the ground behind the bathroom, just where he’d been told it would be. With some
effort, he moved the thick patches of grass that had been placed over the opening. Then he pulled the door and descended into the underground hospital. It was dark except for candle light.

Katja
began to cry softly.

“Shhhh, it’s alright…it’s alright.” Christa whispered a
s they went down a narrow iron ladder.

Katja
slipped and almost fell. Manfred, moaned annoyed.

“Watch the child, Christa.” He said.

Manfred reached the bottom. Then he helped Katja and Christa down off the ladder.

The three
of them walked through the silent hall until they reached a room where several oil lamps were lit.  But instead of Dr. Schmidt, they were greeted by soldiers wearing Green Berets.

“Hello Manfred Blau, we’ve been waiting for you. You’re buddy, Doc Schmidt? W
e already arrested him. After a few minutes of coaxing he told us to expect you.”

“Y
ou are American’s or Russian’s, or British?” Manfred stammered.

“Americans
, and you, Mr. Nazi concentration camp torture man, are in a hell of a lot of trouble.” The American said, taking a puff of his cigarette, throwing it on the ground and stamping it out with his foot.

Manfred stared at him in disbelief. The flame in the oil lamp grew larger.

“Manfred Blau,” The American soldier said, taking a pair of handcuffs and placing them on Manfred’s hands while another solider held him at gunpoint. “You are under arrest for crimes against humanity.”

Chapter
81

Zofia threw herself into her work. At least she might feel useful if she could help others in some way. Shlomie remained at her side, hoping that time would change her mind about marrying him. She’d fought so hard to go on living and now it seemed as if she’d fought for nothing. The endless lines of displaced persons in desperate need were the only thing that forced her to keep going. Most of them still wore the tattered stripped uniform they’d worn in the camp. One after another, they came to the front of her line, their eyes hopeful, and their faces thin and tortured. Most of the time, she had no luck finding the Seakers loved ones on the list of names and so all she could do was add their name to the endless list of those who searched. However, on rare occasions there would be a connection, two people who’d been separated would find each other again. When this happened, the look of gratitude on the faces of the people was enough to keep her going. Day in and day out, she sat at that table scanning the lists over and over again.

One afternoon as the sun beat down on her she called out “Next in line please,” as she always did

A woman approached dressed in a dove grey suit with a cream-colored blouse. At her neck, she wore a broach of gold and pearls. Her dark hair was caught up in a twist and pinned tightly.

“Hello.” She said in Polish. “My name is Bernadette Holland. I am an attorney. Are you Z
ofia Weiss?”

“Yes, ma’am
.”

“Did you know a man called Manfred Blau? He was the
Arbeitsführer at Treblinka?”

“I knew him.”
Zofia said looking away, not wanting to remember.

“
I need to speak with you can we go somewhere?”

“
Yes, we can take a walk. Let me ask someone to watch the table.”

Z
ofia walked beside the beautiful attorney and listened.

“Manfred Blau
has been arrested for crimes against humanity. He is to be tried in Nuremberg. We desperately need witnesses. If we don’t have any witnesses, he could get away with everything he did. We need your help, Miss Weiss, would you be willing to testify against him?”

She thought for a moment, remembering Manfred and all he’d done to her.
The thought of seeing him again, made her sick to her stomach, but the thought of him walking away without punishment for all he’d done to her and everyone else, made her feel even worse.

“Yes
I will do it. And my friend, Shlomie, he knew him too. Perhaps you would like to speak with him?”

“Yes I would.” The attorney said.

Zofia introduced Miss Holand to Shlomie. She explained what she needed from him.

Shlomie agreed to testify.

That night after dinner, Shlomie and Zofia talked about the trial to come.

“The thought
of seeing him again makes me sick.” Zofia said.

“Yes, I know, but we must. He must
be made to pay for what he did.”

“I am ready to put all
of this behind me, Shlomie. I am ready to leave this camp and find a place to live. And to find a job I want to begin my life over. After the trial, I am going away from here. I am going to try to forget.”

“Have you given any
further thought to my proposal of marriage?” He was wringing his hands.

“I have given it great consideration. Shlomie, I can’t
marry you. I told you before, nothing has changed.  I care for you very much, but I don’t love you in that way. Not in the way that you deserve to be loved.”

“I will take your love in any way that you are willing to give it to me.”

“No Shlomie, don’t settle for this, to be loved like a brother rather than to be loved like a man. That’s all I can give you. And that is not enough for either of us.”

“
This is what you want? You are sure, this is your decision?”

“Yes, I am sorry.” She said.

He nodded keeping his eyes shifted away from hers.

“Perhaps it is best if I leave
this camp now. It will help you to heal, if we are separated. I will not see you again until the trial.”

“Are you sure Z
ofia? Where will you go?”

“I will go and begin again. My friend, my dear friend,
Fruma taught me a trade. I will find a job. I will work; I will live and save money. As soon as I can, I will leave here and go to Palestine.”

“You still have that dream?”

“Oh yes, There will be a Jewish state. You mark my words, Shlomie. There will be a homeland for the Jewish people, a place where we are safe. And when I can find a way, I am going.”

“
A promised land, yes?  Well, I hope so, Zofia. I hope so for your sake.”

“
It will come to pass, Shlomie, you’ll see.  I only wish Isaac were here to see it.” She sighed.

He nodded
unconvinced.

Chapter
82

For Zofia time to leave had come, time to begin living a normal life. Zofia talked to Marion explaining that she must quit her volunteer work with the Red Cross and start over. Marion was disappointed but understood her need to go. She insisted that Zofia take some money to help her get settled. Zofia reluctantly agreed.

“An American attorney
, a woman, is going to come looking for me. I will forward an address where I can be reached as soon as I find a place to live. Will you see to it that she receives the information?” Zofia asked.

“
Of course,” Marion said.

  It was almost dawn when Z
ofia gazed down at Shlomie sleeping on his cot, his breathing steady and even. Only in sleep did he ever look at peace. She leaned over him and gently kissed his forehead. He stirred but did not awaken.  Zofia  took a single a moment to take in his memory. She would miss him. They had spent a lifetime together. But after the love she’d shared with Isaac, she knew that the love she felt for Shlomie was not enough to sustain a marriage. Zofia looked down at Shlomie one final time, a tear formed in the corner of her eye. Then she turned and walked through the camp and out the gate into the real world. It was time.

Thank God for Marion. She’d given Z
ofia enough money to find a small flat in the basement of a burned out apartment building. There was no work for a seamstress. Not even a good one. But Zofia was a quick learner and willing to do anything, so within a few days; she secured a job baking at a local bakery. She swept and washed the floor on her hands and knees. She cleaned toilets and scrubbed pots and pans. Her day began at two am, and ended at five in the afternoon. It was hard work, but she had plenty to eat, and a safe place to sleep at night. The smell of bread made her think of Isaac when he was just a child sitting in the back of his mother’s bakery, a bittersweet memory. Isaac was the one true love of her life.

Z
ofia sent word to Marion with her address, and three days later Miss Holand, the lawyer came to the shop where she worked.

“I will see to it that you have a paid
round trip train ticket to Nuremberg from here.”

“I am afraid to
go; I will lose my job if I take the time off of work.”

“I will give you enough money to hold you over until you can find another position when you return.

“But there are so few jobs available.”

Miss Holand looked at Z
ofia. She needed her testimony, without her testimony, another war criminal might go free.

“Perhaps I can help you
to find work in England. Do you have any skills?” Miss Holland asked.

“Yes, I am a seamstress. I can make beautiful wedding gowns. I can do embroidery…”

“Very nice,” Bernadette Holland bit her lower lip in thought “I think I can help you. I have friends in England that should be able to give you a job. Just, please show up at the trial.”

“Miss Holland. I am a poor woman. Please, this job is all I have right now. Are you sure that you can help me? Because
, if I leave here I am going to be in trouble, I will have no money and no place to live.”

“I give you my word. I will help you.”

“Then I will be there. I trust you, Miss Holland.”

“And I will keep my promise.”

The weeks passed, and finally it was the night before Zofia was to leave for Nuremberg. When she told her employer that she must take a leave of absence, she was discharged just as she expected. Her nerves were on edge. By the end of the week, she would be face to face with Manfred and all of her memories. Zofia wondered if she were crazy for agreeing to do this.  She’d lost her job on a promise and now she was headed to Nuremberg and back into the nightmare of Manfred Blau a terror she’d escaped from. Yet, she agreed with Shlomie, the Arbeitsführer must pay for what he did. If no one stood up against him, then he might go free.

Chapter
83

When the war ended and the Allies liberated the concentration camps, what they found sent a cry of horror echoing around the world. There were heaps of dead bodies, piles of human ashes, lampshades made of human skin, pillows stuffed with human hair, huge gas chambers built to kill in large quantities, massive ovens to burn the bodies and the prisoners that were still alive were emaciated to the point of being walking corpses.  Some of the soldiers cried, others vomited, but they all witnessed what everyone had been trying so hard to ignore. Now the Nations who, during the war, closed their doors to the helpless people that begged them to let them in, while trying to escape Hitler’s tyranny would demand vengeance. They insisted that the Nazi’s pay for their crimes against humanity.

It was decided that there would be a trial. A tribunal consisting
of the Soviets, the French, the British, and the Americans would be created. This tribunal would be called “The international military tribunal.” They would stand in judgment of the war criminals.

Due to the destruction from the bombings Germany incurred during the war
, very few courthouses remained intact. However, the courthouse in Nuremberg known as the Palace of Justice was in perfect condition. This was ironic because it was in Nuremberg that Hitler had put his laws of racial purity, which stripped the “Lesser Humans, like Jews and Gypsies, ect,” of their human rights, into effect.

It was decided that there should be two sets
of trials. The first would be for major war criminals. The second would be for doctors, lawyers and judges, and the third was for the Einsatzgruppen, also known as the death squads. These were murders who killed civilians like Jews, Gypsies, ect in large numbers.

Twelve trials took place in Nuremberg, conducted by the International Military tribunal. On October 11,
1946, the first set of trials ended, and verdicts of the 22 accused Nazi leaders were handed down. Eleven of those leaders received the death penalty; three were given life imprisonment, four received prison sentences of 10 to 20 years, and three were acquitted.

Sadly, Hitler was never brought to justice. Instead, as the Soviet army began to advance on Berlin Hitler and his newlywed wife Eva Braun went down into the underground bunker and committed suicide. It is
rumored that before they took the cyanide capsules they tested them on Hitler’s beloved German Sheppard to be sure they were effective. The dog died.  Dr. Goebbels chose to kill himself, his wife, and his children rather than face trial.  Heinrich Himmler took a cyanide capsule while being examined by a British doctor and died within seconds. Herman Goering took cyanide on the day he was to be hanged.  Still, many Nazi’s managed to conceal their identities and escape to Europe or South America. Some were never found.  Others, like Adolf Eichmann were perused by Mossad, the Israeli secret service. Mossad found Eichmann living in South America, they captured him and brought him to Israel where he was tried and executed in 1962.