He closed his empty eyes for a final bit of rest
as I continued to let my own wander across the smoky
room. They stopped at one of the younger men. I hadn’t
learnt his name, nor had I learnt to know him, but I
could tell he was very young. Assumingly forced out of
his home to serve in the army. He played with a photo
of a young girl about his age. She had dark hair and a
very distinct, beautiful face. I assumed it was his
girlfriend. The piece of paper spun around in his hand as
he tossed it back and forth.
This is war, I thought to myself. This is war.
War never changes. Innocent men and women die. Non
innocent men and women die. War brings nothing but
death.
I could feel the disease in the thick air.
Bereavement and despair surrounded me everywhere I
looked. We were lambs to the slaughter. But what were
we compared to the greater cause?
Just an hour earlier we had gotten response from higher
up in the “chain of command”.
A concept that was cleverly constructed by the
higher positioned officials, making it possible for them
to sit safely at home and put all the hard work on the
shoulders of the lower class. We were told by someone
sitting at a desk in Warsaw to stay put and wait out
further orders
e Twinning 2016
69