Train

Werner didn't have any clothes that weren't military clothes, so at 7 o'clock sharp he snuck into Nikolai's dorm and stole some of his friends clothes. They were a bit big, but he tucked the shirt in and rolled the pants up at the bottom, they looked better than his army fit. 

He'd thought that Nikolai had been kidding the night before but when he walked down he saw the soviet and a handfull of other soldiers still at the table, playing cards and smoking cigars. They each still had full beers next to them. Werner headed over to say good-bye.

"Tschüss, Hart. I stole some of your clothes, I hope that's alright."

"Of course it is, Killy. If you need anything else just take it. Do you have any money?"

"No." Werner admit. Nikolai reached into his breastpocket and took out his wallet, he handed it to Werner. 

"Don't spend all of it." Kolya said with a smile. "But do knock yourself out please."

"I will. Thank you." Werner said and pocketed the leather pouch. It was first then that he realized that one of the men was the Lagerführer. He smiled at him and put his hand on Nikolai's shoulder. "I have to go now, but have fun. And by the way, do you want me to bring you anything back."

"No need for that." He said. "Now go, hopp hopp, I don't want you to miss the train." Werner nodded and left. Nikolai turned back to his comerades. "He's such a sweet boy, isn't he." He said. "If I had sons I would wish they were like him."

"Do you have children?" The Lagerführer asked geuninly interrested. He really liked Nikolai, like everyone in the camp did. The soldier was simply so comfotrable to be around. 

"Yes. Two girls. Very beautiful." Nikolai answered. "They're the best thing in my life." 

"That sounds wonderful."

"And yourself?" Nikolai said, posing the same question. 

"I have a son. He's four years old. My wife keeps calling me to tell me that all he does is talk about me, he wants me to come back to München."

"You didn't take your family here?" Nikolai asked in surprise. Some of the high-ranking officials had, and he'd expected the Lagerführer to have. He shook his blonde head. 

"I didn't want them to. It's so depressed here." 

Nikolai nodded in agreement. The Lagerführer smiled and laid down his cards; he bore a perfect score. "I win." 

Werner passed though the gates of Auschwitz. In the beginning he looked back quite often, and somehow the camp never seemed to back futher into the distance. He reached the small train station that he'd take the train on. He could still see the KZ looming in the distance. From here it didn't look so terrible...it was cold though. He pulled his coat closer around himself. The train was due to arrive in twenty-two minutes. There was nobody else waiting at the little station with him. 

The freezing air hurt his nose. It was about -7°C, a termperature cold enough to make it uncomftorable to wait outside. He paced up and down the station, just to keep himself warm. And then he started to whistle, but his lips wouldn't pucker up, it was simply too cold. I'm going to see Marie! I'm going to see Marie! The thought warmed him up a little bit. She'd said she'd meet him at the station. That meant that he wouldn't be able to buy her flowers, but maybe he could buy her a second coffee. 

He finally saw the headlights, and soon enough the train chugged to a halt. He got on. It wasn't crowded but no cabinette was completely free. He sat into one where an older gentleman was seated. "Ist da noch frei? (is it still free here?)" The man nodded and Werner sat down.

He didn't talk much with the man across from him, but the man offered him a newspaper and he gladly took it. He started to read it, it was terribly wrong, and reminded him of a propaganda film. The old man's face remained emotionless as he scanned through the paper. He must have been used to the lies that Hitler spoke, or maybe he believed them. Werner put the paper down after pretending to read it for about half an hour; he hadn't wanted to lay it away earlier because it would have seemed inpolite. 

He paid by the ticket master. He hadn't checked how much money Nikolai's wallet had before, and he was surprised to find a rather large sum. Nikolai wasn't bad-off. 

He looked out the window. The pastures raced by him, covered in powdered sugar. He felt happy, as if something that had been resting on his chest had been moved. Auschwitz already started to feel like a bad dream, like something far away. But he knew it was behind the hills, behind the forrests and villages of Nazi-Poland.