I can’t believe what I’m watching. The German soldiers are forcing all the Jewish citizens in through a set of gates between the rising wall they’ve been building for months. I watched as Luka walked inside, then disappeared among the crowd. I’ve had my hands gripped on the corner of a brick building for so long, watching, that I can’t straighten my fingers. How can they do this? How many times can I ask this same question?
Every person walking through the gates has grim, matching looks of confusion painted across their faces, each clutching their valuables within a suitcase or knapsack. There isn’t enough space within the confines for everyone. Even though the wall consumes around four-hundred streets made up of small city blocks, it merely makes up three percent of the populated living space in Warsaw. Yet they’re forcing over a third of the population to live between the enclosure.
I don’t know how I’ll find Luka now.
The line is endless, people forcefully waiting for their admission. With my heart heavy and my chest burning, I turn away and run to the shop. I can hardly breathe by the time I spot the line of customers waiting outside to be let in. Some of the locals call my name as I burst in through the door, dodging questions of “what’s wrong?” I can’t be the only one witnessing these atrocities. Are people just acting as if they don’t see what I see?
“Ella, what’s the matter?” Tata asks while counting change from the register.
“They’re pushing all the Jewish people into the walls. They made Luka and his family leave their home. They all had suitcases and knapsacks. The soldiers were banging on every door, telling them all to leave.”
Tata glances past me toward the shop window and I turn, too, finding many pairs of eyes staring at the silent scene. Tata takes my hand and pulls me to the back of the store. “How are you so well informed about this?” he asks.
“After I brought Luka the food and left, I stood behind a corner and watched the soldiers as they paraded into the Jewish quarter, storming through the buildings with rage. I watched them force Luka out. They took them to the walls where so many people are now in line, waiting to get inside, against their will. They’re locking up the Jews, Tata.”
“It wasn’t supposed to happen this soon,” he says.
“What does that mean?” I snap, throwing my hands in the air. “You knew this was happening?”
“I can only depend on the words I hear from others. There wasn’t much logic to building a wall encircling part of the city if they didn’t intend to use the space. The Germans have made it clear they want to segregate the Jewish people.”
“I have to get to him before it’s too late, Tata. I must.”
“You can’t go into that confinement, you may never make it back out,” Tata argues. “He could be in any one of those buildings within the walls.”
“There must be a method to reach him. Would the Judenrat deliver a message?”
“Ella, sweetheart, you are moving into a dangerous territory. No one knows what’s allowed and what isn’t. This isn’t what you want to hear, but?—”
“But, what? Should I give up on him? Forget that he’s just been forced into a prison where he can’t communicate with anyone beyond those walls?”
“No citizen of Poland wants this, darling. We want to see the Wehrmacht go, but nothing is going to happen overnight. People are trying. We are. We’re doing all we can.”
No, we aren’t. Tata drops his head and makes his way into the back room, passing Miko on the way.
“What’s the matter with you?” my brother asks. His question doesn’t come out in his usual irritating older brother tone, but with concern instead.
“It’s nothing you would worry about,” I reply, knowing he hasn’t shown much support for my feelings toward Luka. He never even got to meet him, which just makes him another Jewish person in this city.
Miko leans his head to the side and places down a sack of onions. “What is it?” he asks again, peering at me with a hard look.
I grit my teeth, knowing I’ll likely regret telling him, but I can’t keep it inside either. “Luka’s family was forced out of their house this morning and sent to part of the city within the brick walls. I may never find him again.”
Miko pulls in a heavy breath and peers up to the ceiling. “This is what I was worried about.”
“I love him,” I remind him. “That didn’t happen overnight. I’ve been spending much of my free time with him since the end of April. He’s the most wonderful?—”
“All right, I don’t need more details. I understand. It’s unfortunate we didn’t get a chance to meet him.”
“Miko…is there a way I can have a message delivered to him? Is there anyone who can help me?”
He shakes his head before looking back over his shoulder toward the back door. “Are we allowed through the gates, or is it only Jewish people who are entering?”
“I’m not sure.”
Miko places his hand down on my shoulder. “Let me see what I can find out from the others tonight during our meeting.”
“I want to go with you,” I tell him.
