The Girl in the Blue Beret - Bobbie Ann Mason [108]
Annette’s voice cracked.
Marshall held her, and he caressed her hair. She turned her head away.
“You are good,” she said, pulling back from him.
“One morning at the work camp we saw a man come from the forest and speak with a gardien. Then the gardiens pushed us out on the road, but we didn’t march five by five in lines, as usual. It was chaotic, and we did not know where we were going. There was turmoil among the gardiens, as if they couldn’t agree on anything. Their discipline was crumbling. Finally, they marched us back to the camp, and they locked us inside again. We did not return to work that day.
“There was no appel that evening. There was no noise during the night; usually there was much noise. In the morning also there was no noise. No guards were there!”
Annette rose from the divan and paced back and forth, unable to contain her energy.
“We crept out of our barracks and rushed around. The gardiens had disappeared! We ventured farther. There were no Germans anywhere. We broke out of the camp. We went into their headquarters across the road and saw that they had left. They had abandoned everything. They had been living there with their families. There were bottles for babies. And food! We found food!
“We began to eat everything we could find. And we carried all we could back to our quarters, fearful that the Germans would return at any moment. They had left in the middle of a meal—lovely vegetables and meat. We ate everything left on their plates. To see how they had been living—with their families, in luxury—so near to us, it filled us with rage. They had their children there! Can you imagine bringing children to such a place? The children would surely know how we were treated. There were toys and sports equipment—tennis rackets, skis.
“We raided the women’s closets. I found sweaters and coats and blankets, and wool jackets and skirts. I found a beautiful navy wool coat and put it on immediately, for it was freezing that day! I took an ensemble back for my mother, who was too feeble to join the raiding party, but I was still strong enough. I brought back an enormous tin of peaches! I wore the coat back and forth—and filled its pockets with food.
“The water was frozen, but we made a fire and heated ice. We had hot water! We washed ourselves. We changed clothing. In luxury and liberty, we walked out in the sunshine. I can’t explain the joy. We were all together.”
Her arms opened wide, as if to embrace all those she remembered. “We were so happy! It was sunny! We felt free.
“Then at dark we returned to our barracks. A Polish girl wanted to escape—to leave—but we pulled her back. ‘Don’t go out there,’ we urged her. ‘It is too cold. You have nowhere to go. We have plenty of food here now, and the Russians will come to liberate us.’ Some Frenchmen who were prisoners of war at another camp had been exchanging messages, clandestinely, with us at the Kommando in the forest, and they had received hints that the Soviet army was coming. But we were afraid the Germans would return, and so we hid carefully all our stolen goods.
“Two Russian soldiers on a bicycle stopped at the camp. One of our women, who was Russian, told them we were ‘partisan,’ the Russian word for résistante. The soldiers left. We knew their units were advancing and they would find us. We waited, praying for liberation. We could hear their cannons in the distance.
“We had two days of freedom. Then a German patrol appeared in the night. We had been sheltering two escaped Frenchmen—two of the prisoners I mentioned—but the Germans discovered them and shot them instantly, then left abruptly. The Frenchwomen had been so happy to have the Frenchmen there. Now our hearts were breaking.
“In the morning we heard shouting and shooting, shouting and shooting. It was