⚠️Warning: This content contains historical information about World War II regarding the destruction of Berlin and Germany. The author does not intend to offend any of the victims or civilians who were bombed between 1944-1945. Remember that all of this is fiction, and reader discretion is advised.
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March 18, 1945.The atmosphere was homely… but battered. The sound of boiling water from a kettle and a pot could be heard. A woman of about 45 years, beautiful, could be seen preparing breakfast.However, on her face was not the expression of everyday life, but the expression of great anguish. She called her daughters, who were sleeping in their rooms.
"Constanz!""Christa!""Come eat now!"
Reluctantly, they went to the dining room. They had to clean the rubble and dirt that always fell on the table. This time, they placed it near the window to eat in peace.Their mother, on each plate —plus one missing—, gave her daughters two potatoes each and a piece of bread with tea, seeing this as the only food they would have today.
The girls were disheartened and frustrated.Constanz, 12 years old, tried to see this without getting angry.Christa, 15, simply resigned herself to eating.The eldest sister had not yet returned home.
Even with all this, the mother tried to brighten their day."My daughters, cheer up… You will see that all this will be resolved… When your father returns… When the war ends, we will move to another city that has not been so bombed, and we will be able to eat bread with ham every day."
"I know positivity is your thing, mom, but frankly, I don't see anything positive in all this. The house is a disaster, the roof is cracked. Honestly, I don't know what to think. The only thing that would make my day is receiving another letter from dad."
"Come on, Constanz, eat your dad and better stop talking."
"Don't pretend everything is fine, mom. Have you seen how it is outside? It's chaos; you can't even breathe out there."
"Constanz, be quiet, and show some maturity… The only thing we need right now is for dad to return. And when dad returns, first things first: do what every girl does, ask him for a candy. And after that, tell him to get us out of here."
"Because this place won't hold up for much longer. If another bombing falls, the house will bury us."
"I don't want to leave here. What if dad comes back and doesn't find us? Don't be stupid, Christa, but I must admit that when I lie down, I see the roof and I say to myself: what if the roof falls on us? Just thinking about it makes my blood run cold.""I think you need to be smarter and…"
"Enough, both of you, okay? Right now, we're going to eat while we wait for your sister. She just went to see if she can get tickets for us to go to Bavaria. She was thinking that we should go to my sister's house. Even though I already sent her a letter, Otto… I just… hope she received it."
"Your father has a very hard job; I feel that enlisting in the SS wasn't such a good idea… Daughters, I understand why you are like this, but we have to show a smile."
"Remember that your father can't work without you showing that smile that characterizes you. I want you to understand one thing: parents do anything for their children. Our children need to show a little more gratitude for the effort they don't see from us. Do you understand?"
"Mom, you know, I'm tired of eating this every day; besides, I notice you only have one piece of bread. You know what? I don't want it… you can eat it."
"Constanz… better be quiet; you'll make mom upset."
"Don't bother, I'm trying to be good…"
"Eat your dad! Because today I won't give you more… understand, daughter… there's no more food!"
This argument was interrupted by the cheerful presence of Adelaida, the eldest sister, who had just arrived home.
"Already! I'm here! What were you talking about? Don't tell me you fought again. Oh my God… calm down. Are you okay? Don't upset mom, remember she's delicate. I brought… the passes, mom. In a few days we'll leave here."
"Also, I went to the post office and guess what? Dad sent us a letter. Do you want to read it? The last letter was four months ago. I have no idea how things are. It sounded a little sad, but I think things have changed. We have to see it in a more positive way."
She opened the letter, and they all looked forward to what it would say.
Her father, when he wrote this letter, was already demoralized; he knew Germany would not win this war and that it would be necessary to surrender in order to prolong his life and have a chance to return home… or desert and wait to be executed.
However, to be discharged, it was necessary to be out of combat, but he knew self-inflicted injuries were punished. He had already been on the Stalingrad front, and the only thing he wanted was to return to passionately kiss Marta, his wife, and their three little princesses.
He knew they would have to leave Berlin because he overheard his superiors speculating that they would bomb the capital as a way to demoralize Germany, writing carefully to avoid German government censorship:
"Marta, woman of my soul, I feel that every day here weighs like a year.The air is dense, and the very earth seems tired of holding us.
I don't know how much longer we can keep resisting like this; sometimes I wonder if our strength will run out before winter.
I have seen friends disappear from one day to the next, and I wonder how many of us will return home in the end.
I don't want you to be frightened by my words, but if I can ask anything, it is that you don't stay in Berlin for too long. Find a place where the girls can sleep without trembling at every noise, even if it's far away.
I think of you at every moment, and in that thought, I find the only spark that keeps me standing.If I were to return, Marta, the only thing I want is to hold you until I regain the warmth I lack. That is the dream that accompanies me on the longest nights."
With love, Otto ShimidtweberWritten on November 14, 1944
The atmosphere became depressing; despite sounding slightly hopeful, they could read between the lines what might be happening at the front. Adelaida tried to soften the situation.
"Listen… I…""Daughter, enough. Better say nothing. We have to go to my sister's house. We can't stay here.""Mom, do you think going to your sister's house will be better than here? I ask because if dad isn't with us, what's the point of going there?""Look, be quiet. Please, be quiet. We're going to my sister's house. This house won't withstand another bombing. We have to leave now. The neighbors upstairs have already evacuated. The only reason we didn't was because your father's funds hadn't been withdrawn yet. You will stop complaining and obey me, okay? I don't want complaints from you."
At that moment, the girls, terrified, packed their things and left the house.
However… when they were near the station, the sirens sounded. What the mother feared most happened. On March 18, 1945, at 10 a.m., the bombing that would bury Berlin occurred.
"Mom, mom.""Just keep moving.""Mom…"
The bombs were falling from the sky. They saw a house, barely standing, collapse, completely blocking a road.The car nearby and the people inside were crushed by the debris. The mother, trying to protect herself, sought the nearest structure to shelter her daughters.
However, due to the tension the girls felt, Adelaida, unintentionally, let go of Constanz's hand while trying to hold it again.
It was at that moment when another nearby structure fell from the impact of a bomb, setting the house on fire and causing part of the building to trap Constanz. The people who were there could only run.
Adelaida, seeing this, went pale. She didn't know whether to go left or right. She could only hear the high-pitched whistle that caused her temporary deafness from the explosions of the bombs.
And it was at that moment, turning back the other way, that her mother and her two sisters were not there. She didn't know what was happening.
Adelaida felt fear, so she went toward the nearest structure to take shelter. She only felt fear seeing how two structures had collapsed. She felt the terror of thinking: what if the structure I'm in also collapses and kills me with it?
As a gesture of pain, she opened her mouth and covered her ears to avoid the blast of one of the houses exploding, due to the pressure exerted by the fire that was near her.
All this happened until, for moments, it stopped. They saw that the bombings paused. They looked at the sky to check that no planes were present.
When Adelaida saw the planes, what she saw were metal birds, spreading disaster.
Adelaida went and searched for her mother, Constanz, and Christa."Constanz, Christa, mom…"But she didn't find them.
In the central square, she saw a large platoon of soldiers, plus a first-aid squad, trying to pull people from the rubble, looking for missing persons, attending to the sick and injured.
It was there that, pleading with the soldiers to help her find her mother and sisters, she received an answer from one of them:"It's not safe to be here, girl, because all we are doing now is just getting the few people here and making them take shelter, because there will be another bombing. Radios and telecommunications have been blocked. I'm sure there will be another bombing. They can't just stay with this."
And so, it was like that Adelaida, sheltered by that soldier, survived the second bombing. It was unknown where her mother or sisters had gone.
When they stopped, it was six in the evening. Berlin was burning in flames.
In one of the community shelters where she was, she was scared. She had been here before, but it was the first time she came without her mother or sisters. It was at that moment that she thought the worst.
The kind soldier could not continue helping her; he also had to keep looking for those who survived the bombings.Adelaida returned to her home only to see that the house she once called home had already fallen. She couldn't enter because she lived on the second floor, and the door was blocked. There was also no ladder to climb.She went to look near where her mother and sisters were supposed to be, but found nothing. She found no bodies, nothing. They simply weren't there.She kept shouting through the streets:"Mom! Constanz! Christa!"But there was no response. The only sounds were the sirens and the people still screaming:"Get me out of here, please!"
Adelaida couldn't help them. She could only alert the squad to get them out. Sleeping in that way, another day passed in the shelter, crying and saying:"Dad, weren't you supposed to win the war? Weren't we supposed to have a better life? Huh?"
In the shelter she was cold. They didn't give her enough food because there wasn't any. The only thing she ate that day was a piece of bread. She looked on the other street, behind her house, for her mother and sister.However, she was able to see Christa. It seemed she had come out of the rubble and said:"Adelaida! Christa!"
They saw each other and ran. But something didn't fit. It was five in the afternoon. And… Christa shouted:"Adelaida! Adelaida!"
But she shouted in fear because she saw someone behind Adelaida. It was at that moment that Adelaida felt a thick hand behind her waist, wrapping around her stomach. It was a man. He grabbed her by the waist and, with a pull, lifted her, carrying her from one house to another."Let me go! Who are you?" —said Adelaida, with fear and terror, for she had never been in a man's arms or at that height.
The man was Galton. Seeing that the girl was making too much noise, he landed on one of the houses with such force that the building moved because it was unstable."Girl, are you okay? Do you have any injuries?" —said Galton."Injuries? What are you talking about? Who are you?" —answered Adelaida."Oh, good. If I had taken you injured, frankly, I wouldn't know who to ask to heal you. If you got sick on me, it would be a big nuisance" —said Galton."Wait, who are you? What are you going to do?" —she asked.Galton, half speaking, slapped her hard enough to knock her out and said:"Child, quiet, you're less annoying that way."
He carried her down the stairs to avoid continuing across the rooftops.He saw a soldier, who recognized him by his Jewish features. The soldier tried to shoot, but Galton used the wall of the house to take cover, climbed to the roof leaving Adelaida in a room, and killed the patrolling soldier by twisting his neck. He stripped him and took his uniform and credentials. With that, he was able to leave with Adelaida without raising suspicion.
By dusk, Adelaida woke up in the middle of a campfire, far from Berlin. They were heading to Dresden. When she woke, she realized she was tied up and had a gag. Galton had found two prairie rabbits and was cooking them.
"I can tell by your face that you haven't eaten. So here. I can't allow the Wind Saint to die" —said Galton.
Adelaida felt fear, but Galton only came closer to remove the gag and give her the rabbit. She had never eaten rabbit in her life, but it was as if she had eaten something exquisite and completely different.
"You have no idea what you cost me, girl. I had to come all the way from the other side of the continent, traveling through a sea of shit, just to get here. I'm surprised at how fast I am. Frankly, anyone in my place would have wasted time looking for you."
Adelaida responded:"Look, I don't know who you are. You're a handsome guy, very beautiful, but I'm already engaged. So, please, could you return me to my sister? I don't know why I'm here. I don't even know who you are."
Galton responded:"I don't know what you're talking about, girl. I never liked this place."
The one who liked this place was Kamei-san. Him and the Stalingrad frontier, near Russia. He also visited the countries of the Mediterranean.
I never cared, certainly, about this place of privileged people. I always thought this place was a dump… and I wasn't wrong.
However, neither of them understood what the other was saying, until the cherub appeared before them.
Adelaida was terrified, for she had never seen such a creature. The cherub touched both of their foreheads so they could understand each other's languages.
Now, Adelaida knew Ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and Mongolian. She also understood Greek, Latin, Ancient Chinese, and at the same time, Primitive English.
Likewise, Galton now understood German.
Galton asked:"What are you doing?"
The cherub replied:"I think it's much better that you can understand each other. Something tells me you are so overwhelmed that you need to talk to someone, right, Galton? Take it as a gift."
Galton wasn't entirely happy with this. However, he accepted it.
Now, Adelaida could understand him in the same way he could understand her.
They were both surprised, because, although Galton had experienced it before, "Language exchange through angels is a very mind-blowing experience.
It's to the point that you can receive a large amount of information with just a flash of 'how to know and why to know.'"
It was at that moment that Adelaida said:"I have to go back."
"Go back where? To that dump?"
"Shut up, that dump is my home."
"Your home? Look, girl, I don't know how many men I've killed to get here, and frankly, I didn't come all this way just to take the package and now have you tell me I have to return it."
Following this, Galton slapped the girl, hitting her to the ground, saying:
"Listen to me carefully, girl! I'm saving your life, but don't think I like you! You disgust me, and the only reason I'm saving you, and the only reason I might have some consideration for you, is because you are the Wind Saint!... There's no other reason. Because if it were up to me… I would kill you."
"I don't like stupid hammock men; they proclaimed themselves the superior race! What the hell does that even mean! You come from a race that killed the children of my ancestors and my brothers. The only thing I feel toward you is disgust."
Galton was not only overwhelmed but tired. Mentally exhausted, he ended his speech saying:
"So, please, just shut up. If you have family in that place, it's better you forget them. Forget them. It's for the best. Trust me."
"I also once had someone I loved, and maybe forgetting them is the healthiest thing you can do, because that way you avoid suffering twice as much as you already are."
She said:"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not staying here."
She stood up and said:"I'm going. I don't know which direction to go."
At that moment, Galton was about to break her legs so she couldn't escape, but the cherub stopped his hand, saying:"I think the slap is all you can give her. This time, Galton, you will have to suffer more consequences simply for hurting and provoking someone."
"Girl, your name is Adelaida. Listen carefully, I'm very sorry to tell you this, but your country has no salvation. You are surrounded. It will only take a couple of months for Germany to surrender."
"That doesn't matter to me. We already knew. My father told us everything in that letter; ever since Berlin became the center of misfortune, we knew this wouldn't be won. All I'm waiting for now is that my mother and sisters are okay."
But at that moment, to prevent any other mishap, Galton grabbed her by the arm and said:"Listen carefully, girl. If you leave here, I won't care what the stupid cherub says, but I will break your legs and you won't leave. You won't leave, over my dead body."
Before he could do that, patrolling soldiers appeared. They didn't know if they were German, French, or American, but Galton preferred to avoid them. Upon hearing the first shot, he held the girl, forced a piece of the rabbit meat into her mouth, and ran away carrying her in his arms.
Escaping the place and heading to a nearby structure, the angel told them:
"Galton, you already have the Wind Saint. Now you have to go for the Lightning Saint."
The name of this saint was Nuriel Szymański.
Rewinding to the same time in Stalingrad:
We find ourselves in Rostov-on-Don, near Stalingrad, where Dánae and Kamei-san were talking. They were both eating a pig they found wandering in a rural area, so they had food for three days.
The girl was eating with great enthusiasm:
"Wow, you've got an appetite. Tell me something, girl. What did you say your name was? It's very unusual."
Dánae replied:"My name is Dánae Vascliev."
Kamei-san asked:"You know? I feel deep down that you know what's going on, right?"
"Yes… We're… at war… Dad and mom went for food… One day I just lost them… And then I found you."
"Not true. I found you. What you did was fall asleep. I'm glad you have so much enthusiasm, girl, despite the situation."
"You know… Right now I don't want to talk… I'm hungry."
Kamei-san laughed; despite everything, the girl had a great sense of humor.
Dánae asked:"Excuse me… I appreciate everything you've done for me. Really, I don't know how you managed to lower my fever. I'm still cold, but I think I'm fine."
Kamei-san replied:"I know… You want us to find your parents."
"I don't know what I'm doing here. I told you we had to keep looking in Stalingrad. I told you we had to keep looking for my parents."
The girl was about to cry again; however, Kamei-san said:
"Girl, I'm sorry to tell you, but the probability that your parents are alive is almost zero. When I found you? I found you in a deplorable state. You were on the ground, inside a house, with no one caring for you. There was no trace that anyone would be there, only you. So we stayed in Stalingrad, but staying there was dangerous."
She exclaimed:"Why was it dangerous? Is it wrong to look for my parents?"
"No, it's not, but it's not convenient for the soldiers to see me. It's much better for both of us this way."
"You know, sometimes I want to trust you. But you don't give me that opportunity because… that aura you give off. Also, what do you have behind your ears? They look like two rat tails. And that long hair? I mean, I appreciate you and all, but you look like a broom."
Kamei-san laughed and said:"Ha ha ha! My God! I hadn't laughed like this in a long time, excuse me girl, I haven't had such a funny conversation in years."
"Well, I think girls are funny. Tell me your name."
"My name is Kamei-san."
Back at the scene where Galton was with Adelaida:
Galton was furious, not only because he wasn't going back to Vermont yet, but because the boy he had to rescue, Nuriel Alessandro Graziani Szymański, was in a concentration camp. And not just any concentration camp: he was in Buchenwald.
Entering the camp, you can see Nuriel; he was working in the industrial sector with other Jews, thinking the following:
"Just duck… or they'll shoot you… just look down… only down… and don't think…"