Boris.

A story about a young man's struggles during the holocaust.

The fog filled the camp so much it made it hard to even see the feet below him. It was past midnight he expected and he knew this would be his only chance to escape. Escape this hell in which he still did not know why he was there to begin with. He committed no crimes. He brought no harm to anyone. He was guilty of simply being a Jew.

"It's freezing tonight", Boris said to himself as he quickly rubbed his hands together for warmth.

Boris was twenty-three years old with his whole life ahead of him. He was a rather average young man. Average height and weight. Black curly hair with black stubbles on his face to match.

Before all this came to be he worked at a deli down the street from his one bedroom apartment. The owner was an old, German man named Christoph. He was a kind-hearted, wholesome elderly man and never treated him wrong. Occasionally the old man would have Boris over for dinner to eat with his wife Hilda and him. The three of them had no family so they enjoyed each other's company. They had each other and it was a good life.

That all changed one morning while Boris was asleep at home. He awoke to shouting and banging coming from outside of the apartment in the hallway. He got out of bed and got dressed quickly. He started to make out what the shouting was and he couldn't believe his ears. He heard rumors about the German government and it's hatred of Jews, but he didn't think it was true.

He looked around the small, cramped apartment and panicked. He heard the woman and her baby from down the hall both crying and screaming. His only option was to take the fire escape and run to Christoph's. He barricaded the door to give himself some time.

Everything was happening so fast the next thing he knew he was full on sprinting towards the deli. He thrusted the heavy, wooden door open and startled the old man.

"Boris, you scared me half to death! What's the matter?" The old man shouted out.

"Sir, the rumors are true. The Germans are taking the Jews from their homes," Boris replied trying to catch his breath.

"Quick come here and hide under the counter!" Christoph anxiously said.

Not a moment later two German soldiers came storming into the deli both armed with Browning Hi-Power pistols.

"Where is the Jewish pig?" the soldier demanded.

"I don't know what you're talking about. You must be mistaken sir," the old man calmly replied.

"I have witnesses that say they saw that Jew that works for you run in here moments ago," the soldier started to yell. "I'll give you one more chance. Where is he!"

"I swear sir I haven't seen him," Christoph pleaded.

Boris heard the gun c**k back and he jumped to his feet with out hesitation.

"Wait, don't hurt him!" Boris screamed.

The two brutes then aimed their guns at Boris. Boris could feel every hair stand up on the back of his neck and the sweat trickle down his back.

"Looks like we found our dirty, Jew rat," the one soldier said with a smirk on his face.

"BANG!"

Boris glanced over and in an instance the old man was laying lifeless in a pool of his own blood. One shot was all it took to take away the sweet, old man's life.

"I don't know what's worse. A filthy, disgusting Jew or a cowardice traitor helping a filthy, disgusting Jew," the one soldier jokingly said to the other.

Boris fell to his knees and sobbed over the old man's body. He held him in his arms and was overcome with grief knowing that Christoph died trying to protect him. He looked up with tears in his eyes as the soldier came down with the butt end of the gun like a hammer and knocked the young man out cold.

The ground felt damp and cold when he came to. He was lying in a small cabin filled with other innocent people that were forcefully taken from their homes. His head felt as if he was hit by a train. He slowly sat up and looked to see if anyone was awake. He caught a stare from the younger man next to him.

"You've been out for hours," the young kid said to him. He handed Boris a cloth to wipe the blood from his hands. "My name is Joseph, what's yours?"

"Hello Joseph, my name's Boris. Thanks for the rag," he replied. "Where are we exactly?"

"We're in a labor camp somewhere outside of Buchenwald I believe," Joseph said. "The Germans are gathering all of the Jews and putting us to work like slaves."

Boris looked at the boy and could see the fear in his eyes. He must have been no older than 16. Boris felt sorry for the boy. He wanted to ask him if he had any family, but he didn't just in case it reminded the boy of the gruesome behavior of the Germans. Joseph rolled over and attempted to sleep.

The next morning they were woken up very early. The sun hadn't even peeked over the horizon yet. The Germans had stripped everyone of their belongings, even their clothes, and forced them to wear these dingy, blue jump suits. The men were put to work right away by building more cabins to accommodate more room for more prisoners while the women and children were forced to cook food for the soldiers and make more jumpsuits.

The day was finally over when the sun started to set. A few men passed out due to exhaustion and hunger and were taken away. No one knew exactly where to, but everyone had a good idea of what happened to them.

"I can't take this anymore. I'm leaving tonight," Boris proclaimed.

"What are you crazy? Do you know what they'll do to you if they catch you?" Joseph pleaded.

"I know the risk, but it's something I have to do. I'll leave tonight when the fog makes it's way in," Boris said.

Boris knew his only chance was to try and sneak pass the guard on watch. The fog would definitely work to his advantage, but there is a spotlight as well. He would have to be very careful if he wanted to reclaim his freedom.

"So I guess this is goodbye then," Joseph said solemnly.

"This isn't goodbye. I'll return with help I promise," Boris said as he gave Joseph a firm handshake.

Boris crept out into the night. The stars were out and you could see every constellation in the sky.

"It's freezing tonight", Boris said to himself as he quickly rubbed his hands together for warmth.

He made his way from cabin to cabin making sure to not make a sound and to stay out of the reach of the spotlight's blinding light. Every second felt like an eternity and Boris started to get very anxious as he got closer to the last cabin. The fence towards the back of the camp was close to the woods so he could jump it and run there. As he got in position to make a sprint for the fence he heard something.

"WOOF, WOOF!"

He didn't expect there to be a dog on watch with the guard. He ran for the fence regardless. The spotlight shined it's light down and revealed Boris running like a beetle under a rock. He heard gunshots and somehow ran faster. He leaped onto the fence and started to climb. He got to the top and threw himself over. He fell hard on the frozen ground, but somehow got the strength to stand back up. Boris reached down and felt something warm oozing from his midsection. He looked down and saw the blood. He took another step and collapsed.

Author's Note

Please pardon the grammar. This is my first short story I've ever written. Please tell me what you think.

Reviews

[pvpd sri harsha]

Life
A Poem by luvs2write
Devil On My Shoulder/Winters Interlude
A Poem by Colton Warr is second...
Afterlives
A Story by Raw is third...

[pvpd sri harsha]

very good, imagination and very good grammar... fine i like it...

[Senu Jayasinghe]

Good story. Keep up the work.

[Amberlynn Kaye]

I adore this. You did excellent on it!

[Michael Mendez]

Thank you very much miss. I'm a fan of your work as well.

[Blake]

i love it and will be waiting anxiously for more of your stories. although i can't phase it as well as the others who have commented before, and possibly after, the best i can say is keep up the stunning work!

[David Ung]

This short story is great. Wish there is actually more than this, like maybe a book. Really sad that Christoph died protecting Boris. Keep up the good work, I would love to read more from you.

[Leticia Z]

It was full of intense moments and the ending was so dramatic. It felt like one of those movie scenes. Very powerful.

[Michael Mendez]

Thank you Leticia. I really appreciate it.

[BL]

You write with impact and that makes the read on key and real. Look forward to reading more

[Michael Mendez]

Thank you very much dude. Currently writing another short story but this one is a bit of fantasy mixed into it.

[Mason Red]

This was a good read honestly. It bears a lot of emotion and has a nice touch of detail going on. The setting is interesting, and I think it's good that not everything is fully described (which happens a lot in first stories, in my opinion). I mean, the scene where the Christoph gets shot, it's a rush, and it doesn't matter what color the curtains would be, unless you would mean something by it, so good job.

I have some notes though, if you please.

I see some sentences where you feel like describing more after the sentence has actually ended; "...average young man. Average height and weight." This is where I see many writers use a "-" instead of a ".". It makes it flow more. In the end it's all a matter of style and voice, but it's a suggestion.

This is kind of a big one, but I feel like it would be a good one to know; a lot of things are biased in the story, meaning that a lot of choices are made for the reader by the narrator. The Germans are evil, Christoph is a sweetheart. The more powerful thing to do is show the reader they are evil by action, and let the reader decide for himself whether it's good or bad (and it will be bad, trust me, because you make it so). This way the reader feels more involved in the story, like he makes the decision - like he has control (see what I did there?).

The last one is about the depth. I see some really direct actions; protecting, escaping, rebellious talk, making promises. This is good, and this is needed, but I miss the fear behind it - the stakes are not explained (except for the obvious, which is death). I think the fear and motivation to act is just as interesting as the act itself.

My apologies if the notes are a bit soon, but I'd like to help out here because what I see is already really goood. Looking forward to more stuff from you!

[Michael Mendez]

Thanks dude, definitely gonna take that into consideration once I start to branch out and write more.