A Flicker of Light (32 page)

Search parties combed the surrounding forests, some on foot, others on horseback, as they hunted through the countryside. Trained German shepherd dogs were exposed to the smell of the straw where Aaron had slept in the camp, enabling them to trace his sent. Then the animals were sent off with their trainers.

The search covered a five-mile radius around Dachau. The search parties spent two exhausting days looking for any trace
of
the escaped Jew, but found nothing. Finally, it was decided that the effor
t was simply not worth the
the
trouble, for one insignificant Jew
, and the mission was aborted.

Berlin

O

utside the hospital
, the bombing continued. Deafening blasts shook the building as Petra struggled in labor. Her water had broken, but it appeared that the baby’s head had not descended, and it would be born breech. The nurse squeezed Petra’s hand to reassure her.

“I’ll be right back.”

Petra nodded, t
oo weak to speak. Outside
,
Dr. Fie
dler held a pair of forceps in his gloved hand.

“Sh
e’s in trouble. The baby is bree
ch and does not seem to be turning. Perhaps we will be forced to attempt a forceps delivery. It is already to be a dry birth. The water broke hours ago. Her contractions are very close together, and I am afraid the ba
by refuses to get into position,
”
t
he nurse said.

“Very well, then.
”
T
he Doctor sniffed the air,
“Something is burning.” He looked out the window. A fire had engulfed a large part of the city. “Erna, the city is ablaze. I don’t
know if it will come as far as the hospital before it can be contained. If you should choose to go now, I will understand. Gather your things and leave Berlin. Go out to the countryside. The Allies will be here any day. Because we are Germans, we will be considered the enemy. I don’t know how we will be treated. Perhaps it is best if you leave, my darling.”

“And leave you? Leave all that we have built together? No Erik, we will see this through together. Besides, there is a woman in there fighting for her life and the life of her child. It goes against everything we believe in to leave now. No, darling, we have a baby to bring into the world. And as we always have, we will do this together.” Then, being careful not to disturb the forceps in his hand, Erna reached up and tenderly kissed him. Together they entered the room to inform Petra of what must be done.

The Forest
Outside
Munich

A

s Aaron knelt beside a spring drinking the cool clear water, he heard the trees rustle behind him. Before he knew what had happened, two drifters came upon him. One of the men fired two shots, hitting Aaron in the shoulder and the knee. The ragged men then took the package of food he carried, as well as his shoes.  After a short discussion, they decided that since he would undoubtedly die from the loss of blood, they would be wise to save their bullets and not bother to shoot him again to kill him. They bore Aaron no real animosity, but their thoughts were only of their own survival. Now they had enough food to live for another day.

Aaron lay face down in the dirt.  A tear came to his eye. He had almost made it…
As he closed his eyes, he saw Saul smile and wink at him in his mind’s eye.

Aaron lay shivering, chilled from the loss of blood. He had no idea how much time had passed as he tried to endure the agonizing pain spreading through every nerve
in his body. He was dying. He knew by
the
amount of blood spilled all around him.

H
is mind went to Petra and how lovely she looked as he remembered her blonde curls shimmering in the sun, her smile beckoning him to join her. He was with her once again as his mind took him back to his love. They lay together, naked in the summer air. Wrapped in her arms, he felt the silk of her skin against his chest. She smiled at him, and he felt her lips on his. “Petra,” he whispered hoarsely, “my love, you’re here. Dear God, you’re here.” Aaron no longer felt the cold. Warmth infused his heart as the pain that racked his body disappeared and he drifted into unconsciousness.

Aaron awoke to a stabbing pain in his shoulder. When he opened his eyes, he saw a large, burly man with thick, curly black hair standing over him. The man held a bullet covered in blood. On the ground beside him lay a knife. He dropped the bloody bullet and threaded a needle with thick black thread. Then he poured some whiskey from a bottle over Aaron’s wound. It stung, as if his shoulder had caught fire, but Aaron did not cry out. Instead, he watched as the man stitched the lesion. After he tied the string, the man bit the remainder off with his teeth. Wiping his hands on his pants legs, he got up and stretched.

“Who are you? And where am I?” Aaron studied the man.

“You are here among the Partisans. We, my friend, are freedom fighters. Jews, Poles, Russians, Gypsies, Communists - enemies of the Reich, you might say. Some of the people here are survivors of the Warsaw uprising. We have been traveling Europe, avoiding the Nazis and imprisonment. We fight them whenever possible. Now the real question is, ‘Who are you?’”

“My name is Aaron Gold. I am a Jew. I escaped from Dachau.”

“Welcome. I am Karl Kohan. I am the head of this camp, and I too am a Jew, a proud Jew who believes that someday soon we will have our own land in Palestine.” Everything about Karl Kohan appeared bigger than life.

He shook Aaron’s hand. Aaron winced in pain. “Ah, I am sorry. For a minute I forgot your injury.”

Aaron nodded and smiled, “No harm done. Thank you
for treating my
wounds.”

“I found the one in your knee much worse - good thing you slept through that. I really had to dig in there to find the bullet.”

“Are you a doctor?”

“No, before all of this, I shod horses. I’m a blacksmith. Now, I am a doctor, a nurse, a fighter, and whatever else I need to be.” He laughed and ruffled Aaron’s hair. “You will be fine. And by the way, before your arrest what did you do? Perhaps we can use you here.”

“Me? I was studying to be a doctor.”

Berlin

T

he forceps proved unsuccessful. Dr. Fiedler could not protect the baby’s neck and therefore decided he must forgo the forceps delivery. Now, he considered the only choice left to him: a cesarean section.

The smell of smoke grew stronger. Outside the window the sky had turned black. Petra and Erna coughed as the fumes drifted through the infirmary. Crashing explosions continued. Then the lights went out, leaving them all in darkness.

Chapter
4
7

B

ack in the waiting room,
Siegland’s
heart raced in panic. She smelled the smoky air and saw the fire burning in the distance. Now, surrounded by only blackness and shadows, she sat alone, wringing her hands. The clock stopped ticking, but her heart thundered on.

The Forest
Outside
Munich

“A

aron Gold, welcome. I am Lillian. You can call me Lil. I am also a Jew. I’ve been with this group for the past four years. It’s a fine group of people. They saved my life.” Aaron smiled
at her
and tried to sit up, but he was too weak.

“Here let me help you.” She had rolled a pile of rags into a bundle to make a pillow and placed it behind his head. “I have some food for you. You must be hungry.”

The injury, pain and loss of blood had made Aaron forget his hunger. However, the fullness in his bladder made him need to go outside.

“I have to go out.”

“I have a pan for you.”

“No, I prefer to go outside.” With all his strength he tried to pull himself up, but fell back. Karl, observing his plight, extended his massive hand. Aaron accepted the big man’s
assistance and rose from the bed. A sharp, throbbing pain shot through his leg as he limped outside.

For the first time, he saw his surroundings. He had been inside a log cabin. Walking as far away as his injury would allow, he relieved himself. Then
,
with a great effort
,
he made his way back to the house.

“Well, you are a first. Most people I’ve seen in your state are happy to use the pot,” Karl laughed, a loud and roaring belly laugh. “You have a sense of pride, and I think, from what I can see, you have a good character.”

Lil gave Aaron a thick hunk of bread and a block of cheese. His mouth embraced the flavor as he took the first bite. He realized if he ate too quickly he would vomit, so he forced himself to set a steady pace.

“Where did you get this food?
I hope you don’t mind me asking,
” Aaron said.

“We steal. We hunt. We fish. We forage. We survive
.” She smiled at him and winked,
“Eat, enjoy; build up your strength. The war is not over yet. You might still need it.”

Karl walked across the room to drink a hearty gulp of water from the canteen on the other side. “I have heard that the end is near. From what I have gathered, the Allies have entered Berlin and will be coming through Germany. I
wonder what they will think of the Germans when they see the conc
entration camps,
” Karl said.

Aaron found Karl’s size astounding. “You spent time in a concentration camp?” Aaron asked. Karl had to be at least six feet, four inches tall, with a large frame and rippling muscles.

“Not as a prisoner, but as a thief. I broke in to help others escape. I once killed a Nazi guard with my bare hands.”

Looking at him, Aaron found that claim to be plausible. “How did you avoid the camps?”

“I lived in Poland all of my early life. When I was twenty-two, my family and I were arrested. I wanted to fight, but my father pleaded with me. He said that if we just cooperated it would all be over soon. I didn’t agree, but I showed him respect and did as he asked. They sent us to the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw, a nasty place, crowded with people
,
and filled with filth and disease. Still, it wasn’t so terrible yet. Our family stayed together. Then my mother got sick. We couldn’t get her any help. Within a month she died,
leaving my father a broken man,
” Karl said as he shrugged his shoulders.

“So my sister and I decided that we must stick together and make a go of it on our own. We took care of my father, but he no longer cared what happened. I guess you could say he gave up. Every day at the train station
,
the Nazis offered bread and jam to anyone who would willingly board the train to Auschwitz. We heard rumors about the camp, but most refused to believe what was said. Let’s face it, Aaron - the annihilation of an entire race is an astounding f
eat. We just couldn’t fathom it,”
Karl continued.

“I tried to trade on the black market to secure extra food. Our rations could hardly be called sufficient. Those who were successful at trading in the market climbed the roofs at night and left the ghetto through tiny openings in the barbed wire. Then, once outside, they bargained with the Poles for supplies
. The next day they brought the goods
back and sold them. Within an hour of their return, everything would be bought up.

“My size made it impossible to maneuver through the small spaces, but my sister had always been small for her age, so she decided to try. I did what I could to forbid her, but she would not listen to me. She got out all right, but on her way back a guard shot her, and she bled to death in the street. After that, my father stopped speaking altogether. But instead of joining him in his depression, I
became angry. They had taken my family, our home
,
and everything we had.

“Several weeks earlier, a man had been arrested and brought to the ghetto. He arranged a secret meeting. I attended to hear what he had to say. It was there he told us that we must unite and fight back. His speech touched me deeply, but it wasn’t until I’d lost my sister that I decided I had nothing left to lo
se. So I joined the resistance.

“We made deals with the Polish resistance. Through them, we acquired guns. In case of a raid, we knew that we must conceal our artillery, so we tore out the insides of dressers and used them as storage units. Then we placed these chests in various apartments belonging to members of our group, scattering them throughout the ghetto. That way, if the Nazis found one, we still had the others. After we found the Poles who were willing to sell us the guns, we began to plan our attack. With only a handful of broken, starving, but very angry Jews, we planned our uprising for April 19
th
, 1943, the day before Hitler’s birthday. We wanted to give him a present he’d never forget.