The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-02-28
THE LORDS PRAYER
PETER CONRAD

IT WAS the first week in April, I
1 believe Thursday. Our street had
been cut off early in the morning
and thoroughly st ched. It was
toward evening VIII a. three cars fun
Of us were loaded ~ and taken of
under heavy guard. In my car were
also Gerbert and JuSsitzka and
Adolf and Franz from my party cell,
and I believe there were also the
zieglers from the next CELL In the
other two cars we're also a lot of &C
quaintances. We drove to the S. A..
(Storm Trooper barracks. In front of
the entrance we're waiting S. A. men
and many folk who had gathered
from the neighborhood. We were
unloaded very slowly one by one,
while the people screamed and
threatened. Among the people for
example I recognized Blaugraeber,
who was our shoemaker for six years,
and I recognized also the fat Engel
woman, the shop-keeper's wife. We
passed whole hedge Of blows, kicks,
splitting, shoVes.
Overnight we all stayed in q court
yard behind the barracks; ON the
right the rear walls Of the houses on
GerbergaSse, on the left the low wall
of Victoria school. There was just a
trtfie Of early foliage on the trees;
there was nobody in the school gar
den, because the Easter holidays had
been extended.
In the early morning the troop
leader comes into the yard, and with
him at least a dozen people. He had
little under officer always close by
him, and when he yelled something
the little fat man stamped his foot
and yelled the same thing. The
troop leader yelled, Come on!" and
the little fat man stamped and yelled,
Come onl" Now they took large
group into the barracks and left a
small group in the yard, Just about
g dozen.
IN WAS left in the yard, also Jul
1 sitzka, who was treasurer of the
Free Thinkers, and Adolf and Franz
from our cell. The rest knew too,
we all knew one another. We we're
read of from list which had GER
tainly been drawn up the night be-
fore from our official papers. So it
was not decided by accident who
were to be left in the yard. The
troop leader yelled, Fall in by fours!"
The little fellow scraped his heels on
the paving and yelled, Fall I'M Fall
in!" We then formed a square Of
four lines Of fours. AT the four
corners Of the yard guards were
stationed. The troop leader sta
| toned himself directly in the middle.
He yelled, Hands up!" The little
man also yelled, Hands upI" We
swung our hands up; our shoulders
seemed to be rusted fast. In raising
my hands I felt the hand of Paul
Gerber, who was standing by me.
felt his hand in the air.
The troop leader yelled, mo! Fold
/ your handsl" The little man, Fold
your hands! Fold your hands" The
troop leader yelled, Nov learn to
{ pray 1IlS uLIle lGllUW kSpb vi
stamping on the paving, Learn to
pray Learn to prayp 1 squinted
along my line. The bald-headed man
at the end, whom did not know
had his hands fairly together over
his breast. Then came Jussitzka
/ His hands wayered over his breast
now up, now down. Gerber, beside
me, only spread out his thumbs. Then
I also only spread my thumbs up and
let my arms hang down.
The little man yelled, you
won't eh?" and then the guards
at the corners went along the lines
banging on the unfOlded hands.
My hands became mere Jumps of
meat, blue and red, but that was
nothing as compared with Paurs
hands. Behind us they yelled and
in front of us they yelled. The
troop leader called, sour Father,
Who art in Heaven" and the little
man called, "Hall0wed be Thy
name!" and cIattered his heels till
1 was crazy enough to Shrek, be-
cause everything else was still.