An SS guard has come to join the others in front of us. He whispers something to the two guards already there. One of them bends his head forward to listen. Then he nods sharply. Both soldiers click their heels together and give their ‘Heil Hitler!’ salutes.

Then the guard who has just joined the others unfolds a piece of paper and turns to us. ‘The following numbers, come forward!’ he shouts.

A sudden premonition grips my stomach, filling me with terror as women step forward. Even before he calls out Greta’s number.

No. No!

I watch my friend raise her shoulders, lift her chin, straighten her back. I watch, as if through a mist, as she walks through the crowd to the front. I watch one guard take hold of her while another kicks her in the stomach.

And then I cannot watch any more. I cannot listen. I cannot comprehend. My small act of rebellion is that I refuse to believe what is happening in front of my eyes.

And then it is over.

She is gone. And my last shred of belief – in humanity, redemption, survival, in anything – all of it has gone with her.

Eventually, they dismiss us. I cannot walk. I have nowhere to go. I have nothing to hold me in place. The anchor that connects me to the world has gone.

A woman from my barracks takes my arm. ‘Come, Elsa,’ she says. Her voice is warm but I cannot be comforted.

I am the walking dead.

MAX

Max started his work shift late in the day. As always, he felt a swell of pride as he marched through the gates and looked up at the words over them: Arbeit Macht Frei.

Work certainly had made him free. So much so that he didn’t even mind working on his birthday. What better way to serve Hitler than to show commitment like that?

He headed for the quarter that he had started patrolling recently. At first, he’d worked in the offices, helping out with whatever was required of him, dealing with paperwork, even making drinks for the officers. Recently, his father had managed to get him posted to perimeter duty. He liked the feeling of importance it gave him, and the fact that he had to be alert and ready at all times.

Max listened as Karl, the guard he was taking over from, caught him up on the day’s events before handing over to him. There had been some trouble with a couple of the women. They’d been hatching a plan to escape. Luckily, they’d been caught and dealt with.

They wouldn’t be any more trouble.

Max and Karl faced each other to give their ‘Heil Hitler!’ salutes and Karl started to move away as Max prepared himself to take up position.

Rolf, another guard Max was friendly with, was calling to him from across the path. ‘Hey, birthday boy,’ he said.