Sunlit oak tree

The first planes buzzed in the sky, and Agatha and Augustine hurried to the shelter from which they had emerged yesterday. There were few people on the street, and they were also in a hurry to take refuge in the basements. The raids became more frequent; According to Augustine’s calculations, the break between them lasted no more than ten minutes. Agatha looked around and looked for familiar faces of neighbors and other people, but could not find anyone. Augustine walked, dulling the pain in his head. They took refuge in time: when they closed the door to the shelter, the first bomb touched the ground and an explosion occurred. — What happened then? “Agatha decided to ask the question again. Augustine turned as if in bewilderment, but Agatha’s curious eyes insisted on continuing. “What happened next is something that I usually don’t like to remember. Job. I worked quietly and quickly in a small office and simply kept records. Accounting of deaths. You know, this is probably the most terrible thing when you don’t touch death directly, but you see it and feel it. You hear the screams of these people, see their fates and simply type the verdict on a typewriter. You might think that I turned a blind eye to it, but, you know, even though I gave money to my younger sister and younger brother, I still felt bad, even though I was deliberately lying to myself. “I always,” Augustine was interrupted by the roar and shaking of the ceiling from the explosion that thundered nearby, “I always told myself that I was innocent, but I think this can hardly be explained if something happens, if I am captured. Agatha became sad. She sighed heavily. “Oh, by the way, I know you’ve been here a long time.” After the occupation of Austria, I came to Germany and saw your sister, Agnes. Augustine grew cold. — How do you know her? — Augustine perked up; he had not written to his sister since 1943, when Germany began to be bombed. He was not sure that, due to interruptions in the mail, her letters to him would also reach him. He had not heard anything about his sister for a very long time. — We were children when we met. Do you remember when you came with Victor to my father’s workshop? — Augustine nodded. — So, that little girl who stood and shyly said hello was me. — Agatha smiles, and Augustine opens his mouth in surprise. How she changed… Yes, now he remembered. “I didn’t recognize you, I’m sorry,” the man says in confusion. — Doesn’t matter. I saw your sister, she looked better, and, as I know, she married Alex. And then she left,” the girl said in a whisper. Apparently, Augustine did not know this. — Did you go where? — Augustine says in confusion. He read those terrible headlines during the war and prayed to God that Agnes, if she left, would go to the USA, but not to France. — She, in my opinion, left for Switzerland as soon as the war began. She came earlier this year, as far as I know, she wanted to find your younger brother and sister, but I don’t know what happened to her next. Augustine shakes his head. Tears choke him; As long as nothing happens to my sister. He prayed that she was alive. At this moment something falls on the bomb shelter. Augustine freezes. “It’s good if she managed to leave,” Augustine says quietly, and his words are drowned in the general noise. “I don’t know, I just remember that she rushed to everyone for information about Yuma and Yuna, but she never found anything about them.” “Hume was probably sent to serve somewhere,” Augustine remembers his brother: probably, over the years, his ardor did not diminish, but on the contrary, it overwhelmed Hume’s mind with redoubled force. The people who had taken refuge in the basement with them began to whisper about something. Augustine did not attach any importance to this. — Agata, tell me, what happened to Alexander? Did they leave together? — I guess so. But when they arrived, they were hardly allowed to leave. And your sister didn’t want this without the younger ones and you. “Well, yes, it looks like Agnes,” said Augustine, grinning. — What’s happened? — asks Agatha. The basement is filled with noise and screams, someone feels bad, panic spreads throughout the basement like an infection. — Looks like the exit has been blocked. — Before Augustine has time to say this, the policeman — an elderly man — says the same thing. “Apparently, our story will end here now.” This will last a long time. Agatha sighs heavily. *** — So how did your story end? — Augustine continues. He and Agatha are sitting in the basement, the exit is blocked and it will not be cleared soon. “Well, I came to Germany at the beginning of the war and, since I had nothing to do, I decided to get a job as a housekeeper, but little good came of it. — How does he take it? Agata is picking at the concrete with her boot. — I joked, then my sister, but, to tell the truth, I always wanted to work in the camps. It seemed to me a prestigious job, albeit a grimy one. — Augustine is surprised. Agatha looks no more than twenty-three; Why does she have such a desire to get involved with death, even if they pay a lot for it? “You remind me of my brother, who also said the same thing back in 1935.” I wonder where he is? Does he, like everyone else, still believe in the inviolability of the tenets of the party? — Agatha shrugs; she herself doesn’t know what to answer him. Her trip was too short to find out about everything around her. — I hope he didn’t die. You have him, if my memory serves me right, handsome. Besides, there is no greater sadness in the world than knowing about the death of those for whom you tried. — Agatha was right. His greatest fear was that he would come to Germany after the war and find out that all his relatives were dead. That all the people who were once for him are dead, and he has no joy on this earth. — That’s not the point. I worry about Anna and Wilhelm. These are my uncle and aunt. They raised us, and it scares me to think that something could happen to them. And for my parents, for example, I’m not worried. Because everything I had for them disappeared a long time ago. — This is fine. Children lose close connections with their parents as they grow up. The heavy door began to be slowly opened, a faint light began to filter in, and people began to go out into the street; Panic and chaos reigned in the city. There were so many dead that there was no time to identify and bury them. Debris scattered everywhere made movement difficult. Clouds of smoke and soot curled everywhere, fire burned at every fifth meter, people fled in horror, someone left the city. People were rushing around and shouting. Augustine covered his ears for a minute or two; he realized that he couldn’t stay here: if the city was surrendered soon, he would be under suspicion, and then he wouldn’t be able to get to his sisters and brother. Augustine realized that he needed to go to Berlin; coming is the best thing you can do to see for yourself that everything is okay with your family. He ran up to the soldier and asked where they were going. He said that he was going to Berlin. Augustine asked if he could go with them. The soldier said that if he could do anything, then the extra hands wouldn’t hurt them. Augustine, without thinking twice, jumped into the car. Agatha looked for him with her eyes, but Augustine, without saying goodbye, left in a thundering truck. He didn’t care if Agatha lost him. In such difficult times, it was not often possible to meet people who, although they would not become family or important to you, would help you find the path along which you would go further. Now it was important for him to find out if Yum, Yunna and Agnes were alive, how Alex was doing and what was happening with Irene, if she was alive. The city was destroyed: many buildings were destroyed, and they will not be restored soon. Approaching the station, Augustine came to the horrified conclusion that the carriages were simply overcrowded with people — they were squeezing each other so that the crunching of bones could be heard. All the questions mixed into one big lump in my throat, which slowly sank into my chest, and from there spread throughout my body. He needed to go to Berlin, urgently to see his native land. Everyone around was trying to leave here. Augustine has not seen panic for a long time — Real panic, which covers a person from head to toe, and you don’t know what to do or where to run. Augustine had difficulty getting on the train. There were many strangers with him. Augustine understood that the next stop would be in Salzburg — there were the usual redistribution points. However, he did not know whether he would be able to escape. Although he was aware of the punishing laws for deserters, he did not really know what it was like to be court-martialed. He remained in a daze all the way to Salzburg. *** Arriving in the city, Augustine never expected to see such a huge crowd intending to get as far away from here as possible. The once bustling streets are empty. Local residents saved themselves as best they could, many fled to neighboring Switzerland or Germany. Passenger trains were overcrowded; tickets were sold out at lightning speed, but no one cared — people were crowded into the trains so much that it was difficult to even breathe. The Germans, visitors, SS party officials, soldiers — everyone was gripped by the same fear. Even the roofs of the trains were crowded with people fleeing death. Augustine figured that contacting the bureau for help was also useless. You need to pretend to be one of the soldiers — if he turns out to be useful, perhaps he will be taken to Berlin, because all the roads to the city were blocked. Augustine, standing a little away from the crowds, observed that the soldiers were huddled together and walking somewhere along with the officers. Due to the raids that the city was constantly subjected to, there were many corpses on the streets, including soldiers. Augustine noticed one and, dragging his corpse into a dilapidated house, took off his clothes and changed his clothes. He took the dead man’s documents, tearing off the photograph. They shouldn’t have found fault. He put on his helmet and went out into the street, slowly moving towards a group of soldiers. Even among the soldiers there was a feeling of depression and a desire to get out of this place as quickly as possible. Augustine, only after entering their ranks, realized that he did not know what to do next and how to behave. “Hey, man,” someone called out to him. Augustine turned around and was called out by an officer. The blood in my veins froze. Augustine thought that his deception had been discovered. — Yes, you, come here. — Augustine quickly walked up to him. — Help us drag away the boxes with mines. Augustine, exhaling, took the box and, together with some guy, carried the mines. They were heavy, but Augustine remained silent through clenched teeth. Then he was assigned to carry rifles along with other soldiers. Augustine did everything diligently and clearly — he doesn’t need to stand out now. A soldier standing nearby asked what his name was and said that he had not seen him before. — I was just sent, transferred from the Czech Republic to Vienna, and from there to here. — So this is how it is. What’s your name anyway? — The boy narrowed his eyes, Augustine easily extended his hand. — Herbert. And you? “Herman,” he shook his hand and, interrupting the conversation, they began to listen to further instructions. Augustine exhaled; he might be exposed, but who cares? They will all be allowed around the world anyway. Augustine looked around him — there were few men his age, mostly young people under thirty and younger. Among them were many youths who were barely twenty. Augustine held his breath; his chest felt cold when he imagined that somewhere in the same rows Hume was now standing, surrounded by desperate soldiers. They were quickly loaded onto a freight train, where they crowded together like herrings in a can. Augustine looked at the sky; the sun was setting behind the horizon, and the roar of guns was heard closer and closer — they were approaching Munich. The train was constantly shaking, but the clanging of the rails did not drown out the aircraft engines. It was impossible to make out anything in this heap of alarming sounds. Augustine felt cold inside when he saw the first destroyed villages at the entrance to the city. People were running everywhere, desperately trying to find some food. Like animals, they gathered in packs and slowly wandered wherever they could, in search of at least something that could save them from starvation. Night was falling, but the stars were not visible due to the smoke from the fire over the city. Augustine was overcome by despair — what if he never saw any of his relatives and could not find out what happened to them? Ahead lay the city in ruins; They drove kilometer after kilometer towards Berlin, there were more ordinary people, fewer soldiers, the smell of blood, which had previously been illusory in the air, now persistently permeated the suburbs. Augustine asked God for one thing — to survive. He hoped to see his brother and sisters, Irene and Alex, once again in his life; he left here back in 1935 and, now returning to his once beloved city, indulged in soul-piercing memories. Let them help him find his relatives.