The Abbeville Boys

Chapter 6: It’s too Late for Joseph

      Joseph had not seen Kurt in several days and decided to ride over to his estate. He didn’t realize this was the night Kurt was purposing to Gretchen. Kurt’s parents informed him he wasn’t there. Joseph knew Kurt was leaving for pilot training in the morning and wanted to see him before he left.

      Joseph rode around the estate for a short time and decided Kurt wasn’t coming back for a while. He went home. He arrived and found his mother and father in the kitchen. His mother was crying, and his father was trying to comfort her.

      Joseph asked, “What’s wrong? What happened?”

      She turned to him, “The SS came today and took the Rosenberg’s away. They took them to the train station. The rumor is they went to Dachau concentration camp.”

      The Rosenberg’s were Jewish friends of the Benowitz’s. They lived on an estate a few miles away. Joesph looked at his father, “If they can take them, they can take anyone. We might be next.”

      His father said, “You’re right. We need to get out of here. When the banks open in the morning I’ll go in and get as much money as I can. We’ll head south towards Switzerland. We’ll set up there and decide what we do next. Everyone try and get some sleep.” Joseph spent the night tossing and turning. He feared what was coming.

      The next morning Joseph’s father left early for the bank. It was time to leave the country. Joseph woke up and felt confident his father would get everything ready. They would escape to Switzerland and wait the Nazi persecution out until it was safe to come back.

      Joesph was uneasy. His father had been gone a long time. Finally, Joseph’s father arrived at the house and had a sullen look on his face. Joseph and his mom stood there as he explained, “I went to the bank, and they said my account had been closed. I couldn’t get any money out.” Both Joseph and his mom were in shock. The situation is bad.

      His father said, “We leave now. Grab a few things. We’ll head south but we must go now.”

      Everyone grabbed only necessities and ran towards the car. The sun was just coming up. As they were about to escape three SS cars pulled up with swastikas on them. The men jumped out and arrested Joseph, his mother, and father.

      Joseph had not realized the magnitude or influence of the Nazis until now. The SS men threw them into the back of the separate cars and transported them to the train station. When they arrived the Benowitz’s were dragged out of the cars to a line waiting to get onto rail cars. Joseph, his mother and father were separated. Joseph was scared. He never got to talk to Kurt. How would he know what happened to him.

      The people were stacked in the rail cars tight. Joseph was in a car where he could not sit down. After a short time, the people started screaming. People were urinating where they stood. It became hard to breathe.

      They rode for hours. The only stops made were so the train could get water for the engines and replenish the coal. People in the box cars were not allowed to get out. There was no water or food. Some of the older people began passing out. They couldn’t fall. The poor souls sunk into the crowd of people, and many were trampled to death.

      Joseph managed to get up against the back wall of the box car. He still couldn’t believe what was happening. He was a strong young man, but his legs were getting weak. He didn’t know how much longer he could stand there.   

      After several more hours the train stops again. This time the box car doors are open, and people piled out of them wanting to get some breathing space. They’re greeted by hundreds of SS guards. The Jews are quickly rounded up and formed lines to get water. The Germans didn’t want a riot situation on their hands. The Gestapo spread subterfuge. They walked the water lines telling the Jews there was food and showers just up the road a short distance in their camp.

      The Jews were feeling better after getting water and told of food and showers. They cooperated with the guards. There was a short walk from the train station to the Dachau concentration camp. Everyone was feeling better, but Joseph didn’t trust anything the Germans said. He was figuring out a way to escape.

      He was torn between finding his parents and running south towards Switzerland as his father had said they should do. A guard noticed him looking around and walked up putting the butt of his rifle in joseph’s head. He fell to the ground and was dazed. Joseph now realized it was too late. He was dragged by other Jews into a barracks. He was thrown on a bed and collapsed. His mind was racing. He focused on finding his mother and father. There was a window by his bed. When he looked out, he saw a massive camp. Unfortunately, he was in the middle of it. Escape was impossible. He laid back and dreamed of better days wondering what he could do.

      Joseph woke up the next morning and the Nazis were herding everyone out to a small building with food. He hadn’t eaten for over thirty six hours. He got to the line and the guards were serving slop to the people. Joseph didn’t care, he downed it without thinking. The guards started to separate people further. Joseph didn’t understand but healthy men were taken in one direction, and women were taken in another direction. Women with children were taken in a third direction. Women with children were a burden. It was found out later the SS put them in showers that turned out to be gas chambers. They killed and burned them in the ovens.

      The SS took the men to do manual labor to support the Third Riech. Joseph was taken to a ditch to lay cable. He decided to talk to the man next to him, “My name is Joseph. Do you know what’s going on? I was taken out of my house in Leipzig a few days ago.”

      The guy looked at him for a second, “My name is Samuel. I was taken from Heidelberg. They’re taking everyone who is Jewish or is a threat to Hitler and sending them to concentration camps.”

      “Is there any way out?”

      “Only death. I’ve seen many people just charge the fences and let the guards shoot them.”

      Joseph was despondent. There were prisoner trustees, who were Jewish, going up and down the line yelling at the workers to keep working. The SS guards made bets on who would be killed. The trustees had to kill someone occasionally, to keep his position. As Joseph turned to ask Samuel a question a trustee came up from behind and hit Samuel with piece of steel cable breaking his skull open, killing him instantly. Blood-spattered all-over Joseph and he broke down and cried. He managed to maintain the cable to the distribution line, and it was not interrupted. It was what saved his life.

      After fourteen hours Joesph got back to the barracks and collapsed in his small bunk. He couldn’t sleep after the day’s events, but he passed out from exhaustion. He still had blood all over him from Samuel’s death. He thought about his father and mother. He wondered if Kurt knew what had happened to him, and he still thought about Hilda.