The cards of hope

A skinny guy was standing next to a barbed wire fence.
Shots, screams, cries were heard in the distance.
From up close you could hear the hum of electricity
running through the fence.

The young man stood with his eyes closed, his head bent to the ground, one hand at his
side
And the second…
Reaching out to the fence. Almost touching, approaching and moving away.
The guy was shaking all over, tears were flowing from his eyes, praying silently.
Every now and then he reached out and pulled it back.
debating
and then…
took a deep breath
turned towards the buzzing fence
Stretched both hands forward.
reached a decision.
At that fateful moment he heard
“Why do you want to kill yourself? This terrible war will end and we will have a good,
great and happy life.”
The guy turned around and saw in front of him someone skinny just like himself
wearing a striped outfit with a small smile on his lips.
The guy didn’t have to answer, his eyes expressed the fear, hunger, and hopelessness in
which he was filled.
“What do you want from me? Leave me alone.”
“Let’s play cards” the smiling guy holding the cards answered him
“Cards??? Here??? Inside the concentration camp?”
The guy was intrigued.
The one holding the cards took a few steps back. The intrigued guy moved towards him.
“Draw a card!”
He pulled out a card with a wedding picture.
“You see? The war will end and you will get married.”
The cards moved a few steps back, teasing the guy to pull out another card with a baby
drawn on it. The tears turned into heartbreaking cries.
“Will I have a baby?”
Immediately another card was pulled out on which a family with three children were
drawn. The crying turned to laughter; tears of happiness covered his face.
Little by little, encouraged and happy, the guy forgot his desire to commit suicide.
“What is your name?”
He asked the angel in the form of a fellow just like himself who had just saved him from
death.
“Joseph”


Clila Bau-Cohen

Clila Bau-Cohen is the daughter Rebecca and Joseph Bau who were married in Barracks 13, the women’s barracks of Plaszow Concentration Camp in Poland. The wedding had barely ended when the SS arrived to comb the camp for men who had snuck into the women’s barracks for the wedding, beating to death the wedding guests. Joseph lied on top bunk covered with a pile of rags serving as a quaking pillow for his wife and later escaped.