Prologue

I remember it like it was yesterday… September 1, 1939; the sound of tanks rolling through the town, the sound of planes flying overhead, and the sound of soldiers slaughtering countless innocent civilians. Men, women and children… good citizens of Poland brutally cut down by those… bastards… those dammed soldiers called… Nazis.

I watched and prayed from the window in my home, hoping to God that they wouldn't turn their attention towards my home. My prayers were not answered, as they marched on my home, my father ordered my sisters and I to flee while we could. As much as I wanted to argue with him, I knew those mordercze potwory (murderous monsters) would kill us all once they bust down the door. My sisters and I… we ran from home as fast as we could, heading down to Romania, where hopefully we would be able to seek refuge somewhere from someone.

Yet… even as we escaped through the woods, diabeł (the devil) played his sleight of hand and in mere seconds, my sister Gabriela was shot dead by a German tank gunner. I had no time to mourn the loss of my sister, for I and Miriam had to continue running and running until we could barely hear the noise of the gunfire and smelt the scent of smoke and fire. We thought that would be the end, we thought that we could be able to sleep after trying to evade the clutches of those bastards; yet again however, diabeł (the devil) made us think otherwise, as my sister and I awakened and were met by… them: Waffen-SS, elite soldiers of the Nazi military… or at least I thought they were Waffen-SS, until they told me that they were tasked with hunting down and capturing anyone who escaped during the invasion or killing anyone who was of a special heritage.

I thought this would be the end… I thought my sister and I would be captured and taken somewhere to be killed; but salvation came as a group of soldiers appeared and attacked the SS, allowing my sister and I to escape… or so I thought. In the ensuing battle, my sister was taken by them… taken and thrown inside of the back of one of the trucks while we tried to make a getaway. In the end, I continued running… running… running until hunger and exhaustion consumed me and I fell to the ground.

Everything is gone… everything… my home, my friends, my family, my life… I'm… I'm all alone. Why? Why was my country punished for this? What did we do to deserve this...? I asked myself over and over again, as I slowly blacked out… but as I was almost smothered by the void… I heard a voice… and I saw a light. It was at that point that I knew I couldn't just give up right then and there… those bastards took away everything I held near and dear to my heart. Those led by one who believes himself a person who has the right to judge who lives and who dies in his "perfect world".

Only God has the right to make such judgements… this man has no right, and neither did the soldiers who took my family from me! And if God is the judge, then I shall be his executioner. My name is Ariela Liora, and this is my story…