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these names and that's how they found me. And

as soon as they brought me I stayed for a while and then they took me away it was a building of four wards large yards and rooms, the rest of the people were there, four wards, separate, not far from the sea. And we would eat together sometimes and in the middle some wood with cut branches on top, over it an opening for the smoke, and ashes spread out on the floor, black stains and ashes. And from the pores in the walls a little water would ooze and sometimes you could ask to go upstairs and visit somebody else and when from time to time in the evening the current was down and we were sitting silent in the dark, but the wards which weren't connected three four five among us, fond of each other, yet most of us there would die at some point, all of us, me too, and then those who had faith used to cry out, others did not, that right we had, and we were in those wards up to a thousand and each day a man from personnel would come with a list and stand in the doorway, right there in the entrance, the main door, and would stand shouting and calling them to come out, then they would take them from there, ten, fifteen according to ward, and transported them to a special place from the evening of the day before, and next day in the morning they would come and take them, and you could hear at the time they were going inside and shouting their names, hear those now saying goodbye to us, we were about two thousand. And they were saying goodbye to us now, I with all the others together and you could hear them saying goodbye and the place humming with their goodbyes. And after they went out, they'd go into a car and they'd go round the back of the building, there was the sea, and they'd go away. And as soon as they'd go you could then hear people shouting, and from that place, in a car, from the back yard to the sea, it was not very far, that's where they dug pits and sometimes the water would reach there and the town was roused by the noise. And they would lower them down into the pit. This is what comes to my mind most of the time. And to hear their cry as far as the last houses of the town where the wall was, and everybody knew what it means. And some used to get close to the pits and go back again, and it wasn't a secret it was under our feet but nobody. A whole town just about. And that moment, that indescribable moment when I went down past midnight and saw bringing them in that truck down to the sea.





2.


If I only could, from that passage he told me about which leads behind the wall to the abandoned fort and the tunnel through the mountain. Because the other roads were all being guarded to prevent anyone getting through. The lamps broken in the passage apart from one at the far end. And then that skylight, an open hole in the dark. Going that way you miss out the city, the passageway which narrows and narrows, you go up, hear sudden flutterings. Hear like a river flowing somewhere around. Soon you make out the end, light, you come up, trees, grizzle, leaves shed at your feet. Voices and footsteps draw near then away. Then you start going down as fast as you can, before it grows light. More would die tomorrow. And some others will know about you. Night cut in two by the yellow belt running through it. And he had told you to wait until they come and the way out is easier. Until they bring them and separate them, two ranks – two ranks again mingling together as they were pushing them forward. And many were falling into the sea, or stumbling and the rest trampling on them. And I, as he had told me, wore the cross and passed by the side of the tower and came out on the road for the station. From there you could leave. If I could take a train from there. But I sat down then to recover for I was in pain.