The orphanage was rather quiet this morning. Not many birds were chirping and it was partially cloudy outside. I wasn’t used to this weather. I was used to the sun beaming through my windows and the light waking me up. I heard a foul bird noise, which I knew was a crow. I saw it flap its wings before it landed on the small tree branch in front of the window. Its head cocked around but it’s beady black eyes never seemed to move. I never believed any of the stories people told me at the orphanage about crows. The nuns say they are a symbol of death and bad luck. But I believe they are just regular old birds that people judge because of their deep midnight color. I excused my thoughts and quickly got out of bed. I shivered as my feet touched the cold wooden ground. The feeling felt as if the floor was made of old dirt.  I walked over to the wooden box near the door and pulled out my white cotton dress. I changed into the dress and fixed my collar in the reflection of the window. I looked at myself for a moment and attempted to fix my hair. I attempted to push down the loose hairs that were flying freely on my head. I push each of the hairs down until they were leveled with the rest of my hair. The result was fairly poor, but it looked natural. I walked away from the window and sat at the edge of my bed. I pulled my socks from the small box on my nightstand and slipped them on. The cloth was soft and made my toes wiggle. I slipped the other sock on and stood up. I made my bed like normal and slipped on my white flats. I heard a knock at the door. I walked over and opened the loose wooden door. It was Sister Mary and my longtime friend, Margaret.

“Good Morning Sister Mary,” I said as I smiled at Margaret. Sister Mary cleared her throat before she addressed me.

“Judith child, where is your rosary? We have a prayer this morning before breakfast.” my face rose to surprise. I hadn’t realized we did that anymore. We only did early morning prayer for the little children in the orphanage.

“But Sister Mary, I thought that was only for the little children on the floor beneath us, I was never told by Sister-” before I finished my sentence she gave me a deadly look. She grasped Margaret’s hand kneeled down to get eye level with me.

“Judith Elizabeth,” Sister Mary said in a monotone voice. She paused for a moment. At this moment my hands started to fidget wondering of what was going to happen next. Was she going to yell? Maybe scream? What more could she do to a 10- year- old? I started to sweat from the thought of it. Sister Mary stood up tall still holding on to Margaret’s hand. But Sister Mary didn’t yell or scream. She sighed. She made eye contact with me once more. Her face looked calmer than it was before. She sighed before she could address me again.

“Since you decided to question my authority, you and Margaret will not be sitting together at any meal times today. Now please go fetch your rosary child.” I didn’t complain. I was rather upset

about Margaret but when Sister Mary is enraged, she’s quite intimidating. Sister Mary’s patience started to fade, so I tried to hasten. I searched the drawers of my nightstand. No rosary. I then rushed over to my wooden clothing box and aggressively yanked out all the clothing in the box.

“Oh, goodness child.” Sister Mary said in a surprised tone. I reached my hand into the box and gently trailed the rosary out of the box. The rosary was white and had shiny blue beads.

“I’ve found the rosary!” I exclaimed as I held it high in the air. Margaret chuckled. Sister Mary gave her a small pat on the back signaling her to stop laughing.

“Stop procrastinating Judith, for we are going to be late to breakfast if you keep it up,” she said sternly “Come along now child,” she said calmly as she stuck out her hand. I shuffled over as I was putting on the rosary. I softly put my hand in hers and she grasped it. We walked slowly around the large halls of the orphanage. My stomach growled and begged for food. Margaret looked at me from the other side of Sister Mary. She gave me a scared look.

“What’s wrong” I mouthed. Sister Mary saw me from the corner of her eye and tugged my arm, signaling me to stop talking. We walked down the long wooden stairs slowly. I heard the clicking of our shoes in sync. We walked down the last step and landed on the wooden floor. I walked over to one of the large chairs in the center of the table, while Sister Mary led Margaret to the other side of the table and made her sit on the corner of the table. She didn’t look well. She looked extremely pale and anxious. I took a moment. The way Margaret looked and felt reminded me of the day I found out my parents died in Hitler's hands. It was the day I knew that

they brought me to the orphanage to protect me. They went back to Germany to risk their lives for my safety. I felt a warm tear down my cheek.

“Are you ok Ms.Elizabeth?” said a high voice. I forced my head up, not even realizing the table was packed. I looked around and aggressively wiped the tear off my face. I turned to the little girl beside my chair. I took a glimpse in her eyes and she gave me a look of sympathy.

“I’m alright, thank you.” she gave me a small smile and handed me a piece of wheat bread. She walked away. I could hear her flats clicking and see her neat blonde braids swinging around with small white bows at the bottom. Reverend mother walked into the dining hall. Chatter stopped and everyone stood still. Reverend mother walked over to the chair to sit down, or so everyone thought.

“Sisters, meeting in the council room immediately” all the nuns stood up and walked towards the dining room door. All you could hear was a huge door shutting. The echo was so loud you could hear it from the dining room. We all stayed quiet. We were too shocked to talk. Reverend mother never did this unless it was a topic about another child coming to the orphanage. But there was no child with them. I felt confused and almost scared. My mind was all over the place. I was getting myself so worked up over something that is probably very minor. Reality then struck me, where was Margaret? I hadn’t looked over at her spot for what seems 20 minutes. I glanced over at her spot. No Margaret. Anxiety started to rise in me. Where did she go? Where has she gone? My thoughts were so loud for a quiet room. I wanted to say something about Margaret’s attendance but I couldn’t. I can’t break rules this early in the day. A door opened. It was the council room door. All the nuns flooded out of the council room. Their feet shuffled on the ground as they were walking. They sat down at their previous spots in a hurry. Reverend mother was the last to come out. She took her spot quietly and sat down. None of the nuns looked worried about the meeting that just happened. They all acted as if the meeting didn’t even happen. Reverend mother got comfortable in her seat and sat up tall. Reverend cleared her throat before she addressed us.

“Good morning children,” Reverend said calmly.

“Good morning Reverend mother,” we said back. Reverend slipped her rosary off her neck and placed it over her clasped hands. Everyone mimicked what Reverend did.

“In the name of the father, son, and holy spirit,” Revered said. The rest of her words were fading away. My mind was cluttered with so many other happenings I couldn’t stay focused. I was so unfocused, I didn’t realize the prayer had ended. I felt a hand on my shoulder from behind me. I turned my head quickly, as a result of the frightening motion. It was Sister Mary.

“Are you well child?” she whispered calmly. I didn't know how to reply to her I froze for a moment.

“Child, Child, Judith Elizabeth!” she exclaimed. After she said my full name, I blinked back to reality.

“I apologize, Sister Mary, I was distracted” I whispered to her. I looked around the dining room. I didn’t realize some children were done eating and went back to their dorms to get ready for the day. I shook my head and held it between my hands.

“Are you sick child?” Sister Mary asked me concerned. I looked at her. I didn’t know anything anymore.

“Can I please go back to my room?” I asked Sister Mary calmly. She looked at me surprised, I never ask to go to my room this early in the day.

“But child, you haven’t eaten a single crumb of your breakfast, it will get stale.” I looked at her with my begging eyes.

“Please Sister Mary, I’m just very tired” I pleaded.

“Alright child” she put her hand on my back and led me up the stairs and down the hall. She unlocked my door for me and I walked inside.

“Please come to get me at my office down the hall if you need my assistance Judith,” she said calmly.

“Yes Sister Mary, thank you,” I said with a smile. Before she closed the door, she gave me a small smile. She shut the door softly. I shuffled over to my wooden box to get my cloth robe. I changed out of my day clothes and put on the cloth robe. I took off my rosary and placed it on my nightstand. I stepped into my bed and put the cloth covers over me. I got comfortable and stared at the ceiling. I look down at my Star of David necklace. The golden one my mother gave me before she went back to Germany with my father. I glided my finger across the star and turned to my side. I shut my eyes slowly and drifted away into a deep sleep.

Judith Elizabeth  

March 12 1938, 10:00 am

Vienna, Austria

I awoke from my slumber and started my daily routine. I walked over to the wooden box near the door and pulled out another clean white cotton dress. I changed into the dress and fixed my collar in the reflection of the window. I looked outside and it was more gloomy than it was yesterday. I looked at myself for a moment and attempted to fix my hair. I attempt to push down the loose hairs that were flying freely on my head. I decided to leave it like that. I was far too tired.  I walked away from the window and sat at the edge of my bed. I pulled my socks from the small box on my nightstand and slipped them on. I grabbed my white flats and slipped them on as well. I went over to my bed and made it like usual. As I was about to grab my rosary from the nightstand I smelled smoke. I breathed in hard and smelled the air. The smoke smell was getting stronger. I shuffle to the door. The knob felt warm and I pulled the door open as hard as I can. I thought it was a fire, but I was wrong. Very wrong. There was a green tank with a sign on it. I couldn’t make out what the sign was, but I ran to the balcony in front of my room to get a closer look. Suddenly I felt someone tug the back of my necklace and hold my mouth closed. The last thing I saw was someone in green. Then the next thing I saw was darkness I blacked out and I couldn’t feel a thing. Then I wake up. And I wish I didn’t. I wake up with my shoes and socks off and dirty rotten clothes. I was surrounded by many people who were coughing as if they were dying of sickness. I sat there with my head against the wall, hoping I wouldn’t get called. But unlucky, I did. I was called to do labor work in digging ditches. The eleven hours that passed were horrid. About two days later I got sick with an unknown sickness. I couldn’t do any labor anymore so I was sent to a room. It looked almost like a chamber. They ordered me to sit in the chair and wait. All I did was wait and the only thing I saw was darkness as my final breath left my body.