‘Here’s what you have to do. Tomorrow morning take her, however you can – carry, drag, whatever – but take her to the Canada. Hide her there among the clothes in the day, try and get as much water into her as you can, then bring her back to your block for rollcall. You might have to do this for a few days until I can get medicine, but you must do it. It’s the only way to stop her being taken to the hospital. Now go and look after her.’
‘All right, I can do that. Ivana will help. But she must have medicine.’
He grips Dana’s hand. ‘Tell her …’
Dana waits.
‘Tell her I will take care of her.’
Lale watches Dana run back into her block. He can’t move. Thoughts creep into his head. The death cart he sees every day – Black Mary, it’s called – she cannot end up on there. That must not be her fate. He looks around at the brave souls who have ventured outside. He imagines them dropping into the snow, and lying there, smiling up at him, thankful that death has taken them from this place.
‘You cannot have her. I will not let you take her from me,’ he calls.
Prisoners move away from him. The SS have chosen to stay inside on this bleak, dark day and soon Lale finds himself alone, paralysed by cold and fear. Finally he begins to move his feet. His mind rejoins the rest of his body. And he stumbles back to his room and collapses on his bed.
•
Daylight creeps into his room the next morning. The room feels empty, even of him. Looking down from above, he does not see himself. An out-of-body experience. Where have I gone? I have to come back. There’s something important for me to do. The memory of yesterday’s meeting with Dana jolts him back to reality.
He grabs his bag, his boots, throws a blanket around his shoulders and runs from his room to the front gates. He doesn’t check who is around. He must get to Victor and Yuri immediately.
The two men arrive with others in their detail, sinking into the snow with each step they take towards work. They see Lale and move away from the others, meeting him halfway. He shows Victor the gems and the currency in his hand, a small fortune’s worth. Everything he has he drops into Victor’s bag.
‘Penicillin or something similar,’ Lale says. ‘Can you help me?’
Victor places his packages of food into Lale’s open bag and nods his head. ‘Yes.’
Lale hurries over to Block 29 and watches from a distance. Where are they? Why haven’t they appeared? He paces up and down, oblivious to the eyes in the towers surrounding the camp. He must see Gita. She has to have made it through the night. Finally he sees Dana and Ivana, Gita hanging weakly from their shoulders. Two other girls help to block the scene from easy view. Lale drops to his knees at the thought this could be the last time he sees her.
‘What are you doing down there?’ Baretski appears behind him.
He staggers to his feet. ‘I was feeling sick, but I’m OK now.’
‘Maybe you should see a doctor. You know we have several at Auschwitz.’
‘No, thanks, I’d rather ask you to shoot me.’
Baretski withdraws his pistol from its holster. ‘If this is where you want to die, Tätowierer, I would be happy to oblige.’
‘I’m sure you would, but not today,’ Lale says. ‘I take it we’ve got work to do?’
Baretski holsters his gun. ‘Auschwitz,’ he says, as he begins walking. ‘And take that blanket back to where you found it. You look ridiculous.’
•
Lale and Leon spend the morning at Auschwitz, tattooing numbers on frightened newcomers and attempting to soften the shock of it. But Lale’s mind is on Gita and several times he presses too hard.
In the afternoon, when the job is finished, Lale half walks, half runs back to Birkenau. He meets Dana near the entrance to Block 29 and gives her all his rations from breakfast.
‘We made a bed for her out of clothing,’ Dana says as she folds the food into makeshift shirt cuffs, ‘and we fed her water from pieces of snow. We took her back to the block this afternoon, but she’s still in a really bad way.’
Lale squeezes Dana’s hand. ‘Thank you. Try and get some food into her. I’ll have medicine tomorrow.’
He departs, his mind a whirlpool. I barely know Gita, yet how can I live if she does not?
That night, sleep evades him.
The next morning, Victor places medicine, along with food, into Lale’s bag.
That afternoon, he is able to get it to Dana.
•
In the evening, Dana and Ivana sit beside a now fully unconscious Gita. The pull of typhus is stronger than they are; the black stillness has completely overtaken her. They talk to her but she gives no sign that she hears them. From a small vial, Dana places several drops of liquid into Gita’s mouth as Ivana holds it open.
‘I don’t think I can keep carrying her to the Canada,’ an exhausted Ivana says.
‘She will get better,’ Dana insists. ‘Just a few more days.’
‘Where did Lale get the medicine from?’
‘We don’t need to know. Just be grateful that he did.’
‘Do you think it’s too late?’
‘I don’t know, Ivana. Let’s just hold her tight and get her through the night.’
•
The next morning, Lale watches from a distance as Gita is once again carried towards the Canada. He sees her attempt to raise her head on a couple of occasions, and is overjoyed at the sight. He now needs to seek out Baretski.
The main SS officers’ quarters are at Auschwitz. There is just a small building for them at Birkenau, and it is there that Lale goes in the hope of catching Baretski as he is coming or going. He appears after several hours, and seems surprised to see Lale waiting for him.
‘Not enough work for you, eh?’ Baretski asks.
‘I have a favour to ask,’ Lale blurts out.
Baretski narrows his eyes. ‘I won’t do any more favours.’
‘Maybe one day I can do something for you.’
Baretski laughs. ‘What could you possibly do for me?’
‘You never know, but wouldn’t you like to bank a favour, just in case?’
Baretski sighs. ‘What do you want?’
‘It’s Gita …’
‘Your girlfriend.’
‘Can you get her transferred from the Canada into the administration building?’
‘Why? I suppose you want her where there’s heating?’