Lale Sokolov page 2

 Lale Sokolov page 2 by ric gustafson

Lale opened his eyes. The wagon had stopped. He could hear a large commotion outside. Dogs were barking. He could hear orders being yelled in German. He could hear the bolt of the wagon opening. Then it opened. 

" Get down from the train" yelled a German in black.  " Leave your possessions".

Approaching the open wagon door, Lale was scared. He said a quick prayer. 

" Out!".

Lale got out. He landed on bent knees on gravel. He stayed in that position for a moment. He gasped. He was exhausted and very thirsty.

After standing up, Lale could see hundreds of scared men around him. Soldiers in black uniforms were yelling and hitting with sticks.

" Leave your possessions".

In the rush to get out of the wagon, Lale had left his suitcase on the side of the wagon. Already, people were inside throwing suitcases out.

As dogs were barking and men were getting hit with fists or sticks, the men were getting put into columns. A German soldier pushed Lale into one of the columns.

" Move!".

As they marched off, Lale could see trucks approaching to take all of their possessions somewhere.

The columns began to march off toward the unknown.

research help: ' The Tattooist of Auschwitz' by Heather Morris

Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric