Someone Named Eva (3 page)

I was shaking all over and looked up, noticing the stars tucked into the folds of night. They twinkled but looked dull and listless to me and offered no comfort.

Other women and children, our neighbors, began to join us. They, too, were led by Nazis, and I realized it wasn't just my family that was being arrested. The night air filled with the sound of our feet crunching on the gravel path as every house in Lidice was emptied. Mama kissed Anechka lightly on her forehead, and I shifted the telescope in my arm, beginning to feel its weight.

"Milada!" I turned to see Terezie and her mother running to catch up to us.

"Terezie!" I cried, grabbing her in a hug. Mama gave Terezie's mother a brief kiss on the cheek, tears wetting both their faces.

"Do you know what is happening?" Terezie asked. Her eyes were puffy, and she looked scared as she slipped her hand into mine. Like us, they had no men with them. It was just Terezie and her mother.

"Papa said we're being arrested," I whispered.

"All of us? Why?" Terezie whispered back.

"I don't know," I answered.

We were stopped at the entrance to our school, where the soldiers' German commands mixed with the sounds of children sniffling and women whispering. Prodding us with their guns, the soldiers led us into the gymnasium and directed us to stand along a wall in a long single-file line. I stood close to Mama and Babichka, while Terezie sandwiched between me and her own mama.

Casually, the soldiers began grabbing our bags and suitcases, all the things we had been told to pack. A mix of fear and anger ran through me. Why had we packed just to have everything taken away from us?

As the soldiers approached Babichka, she stared straight ahead. She didn't move or show any emotion when the black-gloved hands took her wedding picture from her. It flew soundlessly, end over end, toward one of the growing piles of possessions, finally landing with a loud, splintering crash as the glass shattered.

My doll was torn from me and thrown through the air toward the same pile. But when the Nazis reached for my telescope, I felt tears come to my eyes. I shook my head, pulling away from the Nazi soldier whose hand was reaching for my precious birthday gift.

"Milada!" Mama whispered. "Obey."

I looked at her but didn't move. How could I watch my new telescope get tossed onto one of the piles like a useless rag? I looked up at the guard, trying one last time to use my eyes to plead with him. But with a rough yank he pulled the telescope free from my hand.

Instead of throwing it on the pile, though, he handed it to another Nazi, who was walking up and down the aisle, clicking his heels with importance. That guard took it and quickly disappeared into the gym locker room. I breathed a small sigh of relief. At least it hadn't been broken.

The guard barked another order in an angry, rushed tone. Quickly we were led back outside, where large trucks waited with their engines growling loudly. Each was covered with thick fabric that billowed up like a tent. Even in the dark I could see the black swastikas boldly glaring down at us.

Everyone huddled close together as we were led up the ramps like animals into the waiting trucks. Inside, guards motioned for us to sit on the small benches lining either side of the truck bed. I sat down, suddenly tired. My arm throbbed from having held my telescope, and I could no longer keep the tears back.

"Where are we going?" I whispered to Mama as the truck lurched away from our school.

"I don't know." She brushed a tear away from my face and swept my bangs out of my eyes. Anechka was almost asleep on her shoulder.

"Where are Papa and Jaroslav?" I asked. Babichka took my hand in hers and squeezed.

"Hush now, Milada," Mama said. "Just close your eyes and try to sleep." She pulled my head gently against her shoulder.

Babichka was praying softly next to me, using her free hand to finger the rosary that she had managed to keep by hiding it in her dress sleeve. Terezie and her mother sat together farther down the bench. I closed my eyes, feeling the bumpy gravel of the road, and tried not to breathe in the rancid smell of engine exhaust.

***

I jerked when the truck lurched to a stop a few minutes later. Whispers ran up and down the benches, passing along the message that we were in Kladno, a town close to Lidice.

Nazi soldiers appeared and placed ramps at the backs of the trucks. Then we were herded into another school. This one was bigger than our school in Lidice, and we found ourselves in an even larger gymnasium.

There was hay spread across the floor, filling the air with a soft, sweet scent. Using their guns, the soldiers directed us to a place on the hay, and Mama spread out Anechka's blanket for us to sit on. My sister awoke, and her wail mixed with our hushed voices as we settled down on the floor.

Suddenly, I felt immensely tired. It was as if sleep was the only important thing. Despite the fear, the worry, and the itchiness of the hay, I fell asleep as soon as I put my head down.

***

Rays of sun poking through the gymnasium windows woke me with a start. My body felt stiff and sore, and at first I couldn't remember where I was. But then the rustling of children awakening and the sound of women whispering brought back the events of the night before in a sickening rush.

I sat up, looking around the gym. Terezie and her mother were next to us, and my friend Hana was with her mother and sister not far away. Nearby sat her grandmother and aunt. Our widowed neighbor Mrs. Kucera was on the other side of Terezie. Across the gym I saw my teacher from last year, and near her was Zelenka with her three sisters and their mother, sitting against one of the walls. Ruzha sat with her aunt on a blanket near Zelenka, looking pale and tired.

"They can't arrest all of us," Mrs. Hanak said to her neighbor. "For what crime?" she asked to no one in particular.

Terezie's mama pleaded with a guard as he patrolled near our space, his gun held ready. "Please, sir, what has happened to my husband? When will I be able to see him again?"

He responded in clipped German without looking at her, his eyes continuing to sweep the gym. I turned to see if Mama had heard. A thin smile crossed her face, and she translated for me.

"All the men are being held at a work camp. We will go soon to join them."

Soon. That was what the guard had said. Soon I could see Papa and Jaroslav, and we would all be together again.

"None of us are Jews," Mrs. Janecek whispered loudly, trying to get one of us to talk to her. Her three children, all boys older than Jaro, had been left behind with her husband. She was alone. "Do they know this?" Her voice rose in pitch, and her eyes darted from side to side. "We are not Jews. Why are they taking us away?"

"Hush, Helena, hush." One of her neighbors patted her hand. "Hush. It will be fine. Don't start trouble. Please, please. It will be fine."

The hours passed slowly. I tried to hurry them by counting things; how many windows were at the top of the gym; how many basketballs sat on shelves along one wall; how many doors led outside; how many Nazi soldiers patrolled the rows of women and children.

Almost fifty soldiers walked among us, different ones from the night before. These men didn't look like small boys playing soldier. They were older, and they carried their guns differently. Their expressions were fixed more firmly on their faces, their eyes more focused and alert.

The sounds of women and children whispering and babies fussing echoed around us. If I closed my eyes, I could almost pretend we were at a church picnic or a school festival, rather than being held prisoner in a gym. But then I would hear someone crying or catch the scent of hay and open my eyes again to what was really happening.

Babichka continued to pray, using her crystal rosary beads. Her dress hung wrinkled on her small frame, and pieces of gray hair had begun to escape her bun. Anechka seemed unaware of the fearful things happening around her. She played patty-cake with Mama, who kept smiling and telling me everything would be fine. I smiled back, but I could see the tightness in her mouth, the worry in her eyes.

Terezie's mother joined Mama on the blanket, and they whispered back and forth to each other, their eyes avoiding both Terezie's and mine. I sat next to Terezie on her blanket, and we talked about what we were going to do when we were allowed to go back home.

"I'm going to change clothes," Terezie whispered, "and then go for a long bicycle ride."

"That sounds nice," I said. I liked the thought of riding free through the streets of Lidice on a bicycle instead of sitting in a gym on a blanket. "I think I'll do the same."

"I'll come get you and we can go together," Terezie said, nudging me with her elbow as I smiled at her.

"Yes. Then we'll make some more plans for your party. We haven't decided on dessert yet."

"I want a cake, a chocolate cake," Terezie said.

"That would be nice. We'll find the sugar somehow," I said, and Terezie nodded, smiling back at me.

***

No one ventured far from their blanket or assigned spot. Children stayed close to their mamas, and everyone sat waiting. We were frozen in that gym like some sort of photograph, unable to do anything except wait until we could return to our homes and see our fathers and brothers again.

I wanted to hug Papa hard, harder than I ever had. I wanted to feel the roughness of his beard and hear his deep voice and gravelly laugh. I wanted him to know about my telescope. I wanted to hear him say that he was proud I had tried to keep it from the Nazis, and that somehow we would get a new one so I could continue to look at the stars.

I wanted to see Jaro, too. To give him a hug and let him tease me about the doll I had brought with me. And to see Terezie blush in front of him again.

Instead, all of us sat and waited. The minutes ticked away into hours, the hours turning into another day. The air was hot and sticky by then, and the hay had become itchy and thin. My stomach had grown impatient with hunger. We had been given nothing to eat but cold coffee and pieces of dry bread, and there had been hardly enough for everyone. I watched with envy as Anechka sucked her bottle, wishing Mama had brought food for me, too.

Women had begun to move about more freely, stopping to talk with neighbors or sitting in small huddled groups to pray quietly. But all the while, we were being watched carefully by the Nazis with their guns.

Toward the end of our second afternoon of waiting, two men with clipboards and white coats came down a small set of stairs at the back of the gym. The guards ignored the men as they walked through the rows of women and children. But we watched warily as they moved from blanket to blanket, looking at each child and muttering in German while writing notes on their clipboards. Occasionally, one of the men would call over a guard, who would use his gun to direct a child to stand and walk up the same set of stairs at the back of the gym.

When one of the men came to Terezie, he looked at her briefly, wrote something on his clipboard, and quickly moved on. He came to my blanket next and stopped, taking a strand of my hair in his hand. Gently he rubbed it between two fingers, murmuring softly to himself.

"Ja." He nodded with a quick smile and scribbled something on his clipboard. Then he motioned to a guard, who pulled me up from the blanket. I was to follow the other children up the stairs.

"Mama?" I asked, looking down at her and Anechka sitting on the blanket. Even though it was very warm in the gym, I suddenly felt cold. Anechka reached up for me, her little fingers opening and closing.

"Go with them, Milada. You must obey." Babichka was the one who spoke, pointing to the place where her pin lay under my shirt. I had forgotten about the pin, and I looked into her face, trying to gather courage.

"Go, Milada. Do as they say. I love you," Mama said, squeezing my hand in hers.

Taking a deep breath, I joined the line of children walking to the back of the gym. Terezie's eyes met mine briefly as I walked by her blanket.

A Nazi led us up the stairs and into a small room at the end of a hall. Two boys younger than me and a girl closer to Jaro's age followed me, and we joined about a dozen other Lidice children already standing in what looked like a science classroom. I stopped in the doorway, amazed by what I saw.

It wasn't who was there that surprised me. I recognized most everyone from school, although there was only one other person from my class: Ruzha. She stood on the other side of the room. Boys and girls from the lower grades through year six had been gathered and were standing at the front of the room by the blackboard.

But all of us had one thing in common, something I would not have noticed had we not been put together in one room. Each of us had blond hair and light-colored eyes.

My thoughts were interrupted by the snap of a Nazi command. There was a pause; then the guard repeated his command, sending the same sickening feeling into my stomach as when I hadn't been able to understand the Nazis in our living room. I looked around, seeing a puzzled expression in the eyes of others.

None of us knew what the guard wanted us to do as we stood shaking by the blackboard, underneath a model of the solar system. Books were scattered around the shelves, and animal cages stood empty in the corner, adding to the feeling of desolation in the room.

Two men with white coats and stethoscopes stood on the opposite side of the room. They held clipboards and were laughing and talking in German, ignoring what was happening at the front of the room. A woman in a uniform stood on one side of the blackboard, staring blankly into the open room.

The two men in white coats from the gym had also arrived, and were standing with the other men, talking quietly. I had not seen them wearing stethoscopes in the gym. Perhaps they were doctors.

They all seemed very bored, as if what they were doing was a normal part of every day. One doctor smoked a cigarette casually. Another yawned, looked over at us, then turned back and continued laughing with the others. None of them even seemed to care that we had been taken from our homes and couldn't understand their language or intentions.