Together in Another Place Read Online Free PDF

for your sake, Harriette…that your mother, father…and Betty will be with
you…’
    ‘As
you will be…’
    Harriette
raised her hands to his cheeks to make Simon look her in the eyes and she saw
acknowledgment of a truth. However it would be for them, they would find strive
to find a way to be together if they were destined to leave the camp on
Tuesday’s train. It went beyond a transient physical touch that belonged to
them alone; they shared a unity of spirit and the will to survive the tumult in
their lives.
    ‘Know that I love
you, Harriette, whatever happens,’ he said before the spell between them was
broken by another’s presence.
    ●
    The
calling out of family names possessed an emotionless metronomic madness all of
its own.
    Many
present had become reconciled to the possibility of it being their turn to be
on the lists; few could listen to the roll-call and believe that it did not
sound like a bill of lading being declared. They were looked upon by a remote
authority as items to be transported.
    The
emotions stirred by this revue were disbelief then stoical acceptance. Doubt
had given way to bounded certainty.
    In
many the announcements provoked a scream, of gabbled fears being given full
expression, but they had learnt that they would not be separated from each
other. They could draw great comfort from that realisation. Men and women felt
the sting of tears but the men could not so easily concede to them. Even in
extremis they had to set an example.
      When the name of Polak was called out Judith
wailed out her dismay that Elizabeth, her infirm daughter Betty, was on the
list.
    ‘What
madness!’ she cried out. ‘My daughter’s too ill to go!’
    She
cried out in desperation and clapped her hands to draw attention to herself. Pa
stood by her, possessively clutching her arm to assert their union in seeking
to save their youngest child. She was but a teenager, frail and confined to bed
in the camp’s hospital. Distinctions of that sort, infirmity or age, had not
been made before but they sought to change minds, none the less.
    ‘My
daughter’s being cared for! She should not…my daughter should not travel!’ he
yelled out angrily.
    ‘Take
it up with them later,’ a man’s stern voice consoled. ‘Now, let them finish
this ghastly business? We can’t bear the waiting…none of us can.’
    ‘Yeah…ja,
of course,’ Pa sighed and encouraged his Judith to heed well-intentioned
advice.
    ‘My
poor child,’ Judith wept but nodded her agreement. She could draw no comfort
from the looks the orderlies gave her, or from the reader of the list. ‘How
cruel…’
    ‘We’re
still together, Ma…whatever happens now.’
    It
had taken some time to reach their names. Harriette drew some comfort from the
knowledge that she would not be alone in the camp; an explanation had also been
found for not being a cast member of that night’s cabaret.
    Thus
were their lives to be ordered; those who were to remain and who had been
chosen to depart and set out on a journey with an unknown final destination.
    It
remained for only a few more names to be called out before the listing was
completed. Childless couples and singletons were soon dealt with and when he
was finished the order group’s leader folded the paper and placed it purposefully
in a folder.
    ‘That
is all,’ he announced in a determined booming voice. ‘It is now time for all of
you whose names have been read out to make ready.’
    He
had performed his duty with calm efficiency and cool-headedness. It wouldn’t do
for him, or his staff, to suggest that the next stage in their life’s journey
bore any threat to them. He did not know of it himself, with any certainty.
    ‘There
is no time to lose!’ he called out just to be sure that those affected were
left in no doubt that matters would progress without any impediment or further
discussion.
    In
the hush that fell upon the room Pa yelled out his anxiety once more. He could
contain himself no