In the 30-ies, in Germany, nearly all of the Jewish companies either collapsed because of financial pressure or they have been forcefully closed by the National Socialist German Workers' Party, or simply, NSGWP. This party existed since 1919 and, in the 30-ies, it was led by Adolf Hitler. This party would make sure to keep the Aryan purity and exclude all the "asocial" groups such as: Jews, homosexuals, Romani, blacks, physically and mentally handicapped, Jehovah's Witnesses and, of course, their political appointments. The totalitarian regime was established right after, known as the Third Reich. Racism was the main focus of this regime. The only pure race was considered to be the Nordic Race; they were called the "master race".

As if it wasn't enough to take everything from the "unpure" citizens, including their citizenship, they were forced to abandon their houses and apartments and were sent to the ghettos, a tightly packed area within a city. These ghettos were also called "Jewish Quarter" by Germans. There were three different types of ghettos: closed ghettos (mostly located in Poland and Soviet Union) were usually surrounded by tall walls of bricks, fences or wire that was stretched between posts. In these ghettos the living conditions were the worst. The rooms where the Jews were forced to live were extremely crowded and starvation, lack of heat in winter, deaths and diseases were unavoidable. And most of the ghettos were of this type; Open ghettos sounded a bit better compared to the closed ones, but there were still a lot of restrictions about leaving or entering them; And, finally, there were the extermination ghettos, also known as concentration camps. This is where a big number of Jews spent their last moments of life.

On one cold morning, a tall and young man walked among hundreds of other people towards his new home, a closed ghetto. The perfection of the Nordic Race did not apply to him. He was nothing alike. His dark skin, that was nothing alike the Aryan's pale skin, was not considered pure and he was called unclean for it. Even though he was tall, his body was very skinny compared to what a perfect German's body should look like. He had a prominent nose and his hair was as black as night. His eyes, although sad, had a special shine in them. They were unusual, deep and greyish. Sometimes a little blue or green was visible in them. He had his brows slightly furrowed, hands gripping tightly the strap of his small bag. They were not allowed to bring many belongings. Jewelry and money was all taken away from them. Watches and furs were taken away as well.

He was frightened right now. He was nothing anymore. He was no one. Despite being born in Germany and having a German name, he was nothing more but a pest that had to be abducted of his rights and thrown in a cage with. He had lost everything- from his home to his rights. The only right he had right now was to obey, in order to stay alive.

They have walked for long just to reach a town, surrounded by big walls. This is where they were going to stay from now on. Two guards opened the gates for the people to get in. As opposite of the world outside those walls, inside of them was filthy. The streets were wet, probably washed with high pressured water that ended up wing mixed with dirt from the grounds around buildings. The smell of wet iron made the tall man feel sick. Imagining his life here was not impossible now… He had no other choice, did he?

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The new politics were insane. Not only the people had 0 rights, but all they had was taken away from them because the Jewish people were better at leading companies than Germans. Hitler sure had done a good job fooling everyone and making them believe that all this was necessary for Germany to become a respected country once more.

The money they had was all spent on the weapons for military and their movements have become more and more active. This was the war tension. All German men were forced to join the military and fight for their pride, believing they were doing something good.

In schools, books described Jews as pests and as greedy people who only cared for money. They were described as ugly and disgusting people, compared to the pure and "clean" Germans. Children were taught that homosexuality was not alright and that they should avoid handicapped people. They were taught to worship Hitler and love his ideas. They were also taught to become the "ideal German".

From the age of 8, the kids would be trained to become a Nazi soldier, they were taught how the weapons worked, what the ghettos were and what they needed to do in case they met a Jewish person and how they should treat it. At some point they were even taught about where the Jewish people were sent and what for.

At the age of 18, they would join the military, with their heads filled with these stories and beliefs. They would become sadistic Nazi soldiers and they would believe the only perfection in the world were the Germans.

Among there soldiers, one stood out. He was the guard of this Jewish playground. He was tall and strong. His blond hair and his Greek nose were exactly as the "ideal German" should have. His mission was to keep the Jews in order inside this place. He had to make a promise of carrying the German pride to the grave and to kill anyone who tried to get in his way.

As the people passed through the gates, cries and whispers could be heard in this silent town. Voices of soldiers telling women and children to be silent could be heard even louder. There was no wonder people would cry though. This place was filthy. Buildings where the soldiers slept and worked could be called a castle compared to this. And this was all happening because those people were born Jewish or had their own beliefs or race. They didn't choose that life. This was all just unfair.

But nobody could help them. Nobody dared to step towards them and help them. No one even dared to stop a soldier that just pulled out his gun and killed a baby just to shut it up. The child was probably just hungry, but no one dared to stop him. Not a single person. The mother of the baby, held it tight and close to her chest. Baby's head had just exploded and she held it tight as if protecting it, tears running down her face. She didn't care that her clothes were stained with blood nor that child's brains were coming out its head. No. She kept holding it tight, as she followed the group.

The brutality was insane. Anyone who didn't obey was killed. People in the group trembled and immediately shut up. These men were merciless and this group was about to see Hell. People now obeyed the orders in silence, fearing having the same destiny as that baby.

The blonde soldier swallowed hard and kept following his orders of making sure nobody disobeyed. He had no courage to kill an infant like that nor did he wish to do so in the future, but the thought of him having to actually do that one day terrified him.

This situation was bad on both sides. There were more soldiers like him. Soldiers that believed that this was all wrong and that Nazism shouldn't exist. But they had to keep silent. If someone found out they were against the current politics, they would be executed just like that infant.

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The rooms they were given were really small. The beds weren't enough for everyone; obviously some would even have to sleep on the streets. In this tiny room, the tall man sat on his bed thinking what he should do now…

As the days passed, he ended up finding a job. It couldn't really be called a job since it included helping up making food for everyone and carrying around the bags of flour and beans or potatoes.

The meals in this place were terrible. For breakfast, they'd serve self some tea or imitation of coffee. For lunch, they'd get watery soup and they'd be very lucky if a piece of a potato skin came in or a bean. And for dinner they'd get to eat a piece of black bread that weighted only 300 grams (10.6 ounces). The dishes they had there weren't enough for everyone, so everyone would treasure his bowl. Sharing was impossible. No person would share here. Everyone was fighting for their lives. And, that bowl, to someone, was a line between life and death. If you didn't have one, you'd not eat. You'd just get that piece of bread at night and noting more. To some, that piece should last to the morning, so they'd hide it inside their clothes as they slept. Some people would die in their sleep, so others would steal that person's clothes, boots, bread… Anything there was. Each thing other possessed was necessary for survivor. Boots to keep feet warm, clothes to keep the body warm… Not many could survive the winter without fighting to have more.

Inside this ghetto everyone lived like an animal.

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As a current night guard, the blonde soldier was now making calling everyone's name and checking if they were all there. The regular death check was also his duty and seeing so many dead people already made him feel uneasy.

Health conditions in ghettos were terrible. Everything was only washed with water and baths were quite rare. Getting a bath once a week was already a miracle and it had to be worshipped. The water was always cold though and, in winter, taking a bath was a nightmare. But, what was point in taking a bath when they'd all just get back in their dirty clothes? Underwear washing was done with little water they got to drink or when it rained. They had no other way to do so. Also, Germans avoided wasting water on these people. They were "impure" after all.

The blonde had to cross the names on his list if someone has died and put a check mark if the person was still there. After the regular calling, he'd lead the people to their building and lock them inside after telling them to behave. He was not harsh on them as many others were. He'd just let them go with a warning or pretend he didn't see when someone took a bit more food than he should. When someone was sick, he'd even offer them a blanket in secret so they wouldn't be cold. But this was very rare of him to do, since there were enough guards inside here to realize he was committing a crime. There was a rule for that and he had to obey to it.

No Nazi shall ever trust a Jew.
No Nazi shall ever help a Jew.
No Nazi shall ever fall in love with a Jew.
No Nazi shall ever marry a Jew.

As he made his way to the last building of his district, he called out names one by one and crossed the names of the dead and checked the lives of the living. He'd let them take everything from the dead, if they still hadn't, so that in morning the dead would be taken and burned in a dump hole.

From ashes we come and to ashes we will return, the blond quoted the words in his head as he thought about the following morning and the smell of burning flesh. He was not a religious person, but this quote was more than true right now. They will all turn into ashes one day.

Still crossing the names and making sure everyone alive was here, he came across a familiar name.

"Fubar, Bertholdt?"