Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-09-24
Out Of the Night

rules I'd ger IT In the
neck :"
"Gretchen." Gerdes called
her. Never mind, Gretchen.
Accept my thanks"
Gretchen beat her fists
against the door.
"NOw's she's weeping"
guard said disgustedly.
MERCHANT SIGHS
Gray daylight seeped
through the air holes. The
train was approaching Berlin.
The merchant sighed.
81 am troubled about my
wife," he said drearily. THE
business Is going down
she'll have such a hard time
undeserved, undeserved
-.
The soldier had become
silent. Gerdes was singing
one old German folk-song
after another. The train
slowed down. IT rolled into
a station and stopped. The
guards unlocked the doors of
our steel cubicles.
"Good-by, Gerdes," Gretchen
cried. "Good-by, boy"
"Step out! Single file. No
talking, you dogs"
No one among the prisoners
spoke now. The soldier craned
his brawny neck. Not far
ahead of me walked the girl.
She had a slight angular
figure, and her face looked
thin and serious. The plat
form was roped off by Elite
Guards.
Wide-awake eyes stared out
of mask-like young faces
under black steel helmets.
From other platforms and
from the windows of the wait
ing rooms. scattered groups of
civilians gaped in silence. The
clocks showed Sis, The
prisoners of each coach were
marched off in separate for
nations. Now ii was our
turn.
GRETCHEN SMILES
The girl and three other
women were called out first.
Before they went, Gretchen
smiled family in the direction
of Gerdes. Gerdes' taut face
the face of a man who had
made self-discipline his god
showed no sign of response.
l never saw Gretchen again.
There was a ringing of iron
heels on the concrete, and
series of commands, curt and
harsh, leaped along the lines
of convicted men. One after
one we descended from the
train.
Each two prisoners were
handcuffed together. Then
chain was passed through the
handouts the whole length of
the column. So, each man
became chained to II others.
A dense detachment of
policemen surrounde d our
crew on all sides. A man
complained; his handouts
were too tight, his wrists were
swelling rapidly.
"Tut's web >" asked a police
man, docs 1t hurt?"
"Jaw
That's what 1 want
Abteilung. marsch"
We marched through the
station hall which by that
time was packed with people
who stood in a solid mass on
both sides of lane cleared
by the police. An old man
whimpered; he h m b @ d
ahead of me like a decrepit
ape.
A marching Jew closed his
eyes in gesture of utter
desolation. ALL the others
marched erect, their heads
high. as if they were proud
of their fate, their eyes stony.
or defiant, or glued briefly
to the shape of young women
in the front row of the
watching multitude.
STOOD IMMOBILE
The watchers stood i'm
mobile, staring mutely. some
gloomy, some thrilled and
curious, but most of them
without a trace of expression.
Once outside of the station,
we were herded into a
grimy windowless truck. AS
we entered it, the chains
which linked the column were
taken off. Policemen were
with us. Speaking was pro-
hibited.
At high speed the truck
bounced and ratified through
unseen streets. Twenty min
utes went by. We stopped
suddenly. There was the
sound of voices outside, then
the clanking of an iron gate.