Anna looked at the pocket watch around her neck. It was 7:53 pm, November 1941. She hurried along down the road, passed many streets, rushing to get home as quickly as she could. Jewish girls such as herself weren’t allowed to stay out passed 8:00 pm. Anna knew this, and began to sprint, afraid of what her parents would say if she was to reach home later than the required time.


Passing through the dark alleyway where she and her family had been hiding, she crawled under a small door, barely big enough for her to fit through. Reaching her house, Anna checked her watch. 7:59 pm. She had just barely made it. Walking through the kitchen, she looked around for dinner, but saw that none was laid out. “Mummy?” she asked, looking around the usually occupied kitchen. Seeing no one, she walked toward her parents rooms, assuming they had already gone to bed. Opening the door to their bedroom, she found it empty, with the bed perfectly made. Anna sat down at the foot of the bed, feeling the smooth quilt. It felt strangely cold, as though it hadn’t been lied on for a great number of hours. Anna sat there, trying to figure out what was going on, until she felt a large hand covering her mouth.

Anna tried to scream, but her attempts were muffled as a large German man carried her away against her will. She closed her eyes tightly as the man blindfolded, gagged, and stuffed her into a sack made out of hard, itchy wool. Anna was too shocked to cry or whine, and just laid there in complete shock, until she could find a way to escape this bumpy detour, if she ever was to escape.

They traveled for a while, and while Anna stayed stuck in the sack, she could hear the German men laughing pleasantly, as if taking a Jew was an event to be cheerful about and not some act of cruelty. Eventually, Anna felt the vehicle come to a stop, and she sat there, shaking, awaiting her next doom, as she could find out what horrors these men had in store for her. Their cruel, rough hands grabbed her harshly, as they carried her off into a building that smelled as if it had been filled with innumerable corpses. The men took her out of her sack, and then threw her down onto a cold, hard concrete surface. The men removed her blindfold, so that Anna would be able to see what horrors awaited her.

She was inside of what seemed to be a prison cell, except this particular one appeared to be in a much worse condition than most. Anna could feel her heart beating nearly out of her chest as she took in the conditions of the building. The walls of the cell were covered in colors of sickly brown and green, with mold growing on the walls. Anna could see rats scurrying about the building, and looking behind her, Anna could see more people. They all appeared to be of Jewish descent, except for Anna had never seen anyone looking like them before. The people looked like skeletons to her, their cheeks nearly sunken in, bruises clearly showing all around their bodies; it was a wonder that they were alive. What seemed worst though, was how sad they all looked. Each looked over at Anna with a look of utmost misery, pity for her and what her life was now to become.

Anna looked sadly back at them, feeling her life to be doomed. Suddenly, though, Anna felt a new feeling. Rather than feel sorry for herself, Anna felt a deep anger rise up into her. She felt her face get hot as a great hatred for the guards showed onto her face. Rather than mourn over what had happened, Anna felt determined to do something about it. Anna got to her feet, her legs sore from the long ride, her face bruised, and a large gash forming around her temple. Despite these injuries, Anna looked fierce, like a warrior preparing for battle. Anna felt determined to escape, and to stop this whole thing.

“I will do something about this, if it is the last thing I do. We will escape! We are stronger than them. We will prevail. These people will fall, and we will rise. If I die because of my actions, then they will die too.”