“Frau Krafft… please, wait. All I can do is follow orders.”
Elaine walked out exactly the same way she came in, not speaking to the guard at the gate to let her out. She opened the front gate by herself.
From his bunk in the infirmary Karl Ernst could see out of a small four-pane window, half of which was covered in snow. Eight days going into 1945 seemed more of an ending than the beginning of a new year. There had been no New Year’s celebration among the prisoners or the guards, many of who seemed nervous of the advancing Americans and British from the west and the Russians from the east.
“You’re up early this morning.” A raspy voice from below him said softly.
“Good morning Henrik.”
“Good morning Karl Ernst.”
Henrik, a film cameraman who had the misfortune of telling his true feelings to the wrong person after the German public was made aware of the assassination attempt against Hitler on July 20, 1944. A person still blindly loyal to the Nazi cause reported Henrik Sternberg to the Gestapo as fanatic Nazis were trained to do. He arrived in Oranienburg prison 4 months before Karl Ernst Krafft, yet both of them came down with pneumonia on the same day.
“What can you see up there today, my friend?”
“They are still standing for morning roll call.” Karl Ernst said in disgust. Both of them had been through the ordeal many times. Roll call is normally done at 6:00 am and 6:00 pm. An occasional surprise one might be called due to a discovered escape attempt, or for no reason at all.
“Bastards. Who is doing the inspection?”
“Sergeant Weiss.”
“God help them this morning, I thought he was still on vacation.”
Sergeant Weiss was a huge thug who used to be a boxer before the war. His favorite form of entertainment was to shadow box in front of a couple of prisoners, who then had to wonder who would get the damaging blow. Many times the other guards would come to cheer when the victim fell to the ground, or even bet on which one would be hit. Most of the bets were if the victim would die from the blow. With his own eyes, Krafft had seen thirteen weakened and emaciated men who died from a direct blow to the chest, rupturing their hearts.
“Has he started to shadow box?”
“No, he looks angry today.” Karl Ernst hated where his mind had to focus on in order to survive in this camp. Rather than calculating the aspects of planets – his calling and joy – his time was now spent with who said what, who saw what, and wondering what kind of mood the guards or commandant was in. This was the type of information that kept people alive. Over the months of living here his emotions only seem to produce hate. Krafft began to cough.
“You sound worse.” Henrik sensed further talking could be damaging, so he began to hum “In the Hall of the Mountain King”, a melody he knew Karl Ernst was fond of. Karl Ernst coughed deeply several more times and closed his eyes. He saw Elaine. She was walking down a path and he knew she was looking for him.
“Elaine! I’m here!” The pain in his chest became numb. Elaine walked by, and further down the path he saw his sister Anneliese, who looked exactly as she did on April 23, 1919 before he went off to university. “Ahh!” Karl Ernst tried to speak, but could only manage one vowel sound, which seem to vibrate from his lips to his toes.
“Karl Ernst. How nice to see you.” There was a glow around her.
“Ahh.” Krafft tried to say her name. He knew she had been dead for over twenty years, but enjoyed the experience since she appeared so real. His mind seemed so clear. Is this a vision or a psychic dream? He wondered over the images while feeling every part of his body.
He could not turn his head, yet could see Sergeant Weiss inspecting the half frozen skeleton-like creatures in the January morning dew, yet at the same time could see his long lost sister in front of him.
“Annalise.” He now heard his own thoughts as if he had spoken them out loud, but at the same time realized his lips were shut. “Annalise.”
“I’m here, Karl Ernst. Come with me.”
“Karl Ernst was confused. He knew he could not just get up and leave the camp, the guards would never allow it. Yet in looking into Annalisa’s eyes, he instinctively knew she was telling the truth.
“How…?”
A sudden flash of energy into his thoughts seemed to answer his own question immediately. He began to get up.
“Where are we going?”
“With me.” Annalise said while reaching out her hands. “Come, it is time.”
Karl Ernst hesitated. He knew his sister standing before him was real, however at the same time part of his consciousness told him something was not right. He looked around and saw he was still in Oranienburg prison, yet there was something different about his perspective. He could see Henrik in the bunk below him, and Sergeant Weiss out the window punching a faceless man who fell over. He could also see the commandant, working at his desk inside his office on the other side of the camp. He had never been in the commandant’s headquarters, but he could now see every piece of furniture and every piece of paper on his desk. He also saw Elaine again, walking along a road he somehow knew led to Oranienburg.
“Elaine!”
“Karl Ernst, its time to go!” Annalise said soothingly.
“But Elaine is coming.”
“Elaine has already been here.”
“But I saw her. On the road, she is coming here.”
“Elaine has already been here, and she was too late.”
“Too late?” Karl Ernst now focused on Annalise, who now appeared somewhat older than he remembered her.
“She came some time ago, Karl Ernst.”
“How can that be? They didn’t let her see me?”
“Yes, Karl Ernst.” Annalise began to lift Krafft out of the room.
“Annalise…” Karl Ernst began to feel air rushing all around him. It was as if the pores in his skin had widened so air could ventilate through every organ of his body. “…I’m afraid.”
“I know, Karl Ernst, I know… we all are.”
The breeze of air flowing throughout his body now turned into a wind that seemed to cleanse not only his body, but his mind as well. The tingling of the wind then turned into a comfortable sensation of warmth. From this warmth he could almost see a light radiating from within himself, the same kind of light that seemed to illuminate his sister. The feelings he now had overpowered his mind. This was not a dream.
“Annalise?”
“Yes, Karl Ernst?”
“Am I dead?”
“We never die, Karl Ernst.”
“Yes, but I’m with you… and you’re…”
“You and I are leaving now, Karl Ernst.”
It now became clear to Karl Ernst a small part of his consciousness was the only thing keeping him on his bunk. To leave Oranienburg prison, all he had to do was decide to let go.
“Annalise?”
“Yes, Karl Ernst?”
“I’m not afraid anymore.”
Elaine looked up as a pair of silver American fighters roared overhead. She could see one of the pilots looking down at her as he flew by and wondered if he was anything like the two Americans she met in Zurich once. How crazy, uninhibited, and open they were!
American planes over Germany were all too common now, what was most rare and caused a lot of excitement among those on the ground was seeing a German one.
To the northeast, looking towards Berlin, she could hear the booms of Russian shells exploding over the horizon.
“Poor souls.” She thought. “Whoever was living under those falling shells.” She had experienced several bombardments herself.