 | From the distance through the iron bars
freedom is laughing at us . . .
But the sun's still not shining. From a song sung by prisoners in the camps
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We wonder what is going on here, but anything is better than Birkenau, so we keep our questions to ourselves. We are put in a basement with seventy-five Jewish girls who work as secretaries in the SS offices, the Politische.
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Our new detail is in the SS laundry, to replace fifty Polish Gentile girls. They were sent back to the Polish camp in Birkenau because the SS learned that the Polish men working in the SS kitchen were sneaking food to the girls. I feel sorry for those girls but at the same time am grateful for this chance at life.
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Our first morning in staff quarters we are assigned to our new positions. Our block elder is German and her triangle is red; she's a political prisoner. Political prisoners are more likely to be kind, as they've been imprisoned for being against the Third Reich. Our friend Mania is chosen as the block scribe, and works for Maria personally. Mania's sister, Lentzi, is placed in the sewing room. Janka, whom we knew in Auschwitz, is in the handwashing laundry. She's responsible for washing and ironing the delicate clothes of the women officers. She also takes the clothes to the quarters of the SS women, and she's Maria's favorite because she's so young.
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The only people who have not been sent back to Birkenau are the Politische secretaries; they are the lucky ones. They were chosen on the transport platform when they first came to camp and most have never lived in Birkenau. Edita is the only Jewish kapo
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