Making Bombs for Hitler

At roll call, other prisoners compliment the girls from Barracks 7 on their clothes. Officer Schmidt wonders why Lida did not keep the shirt for herself. Lida responds that she enjoys sharing. He gives Lida her Ostarbeiter identification paper and orders her to the train for a new work assignment. Lida is unhappy to leave the laundry because bombs often strike the city. The train car is different from what she arrived in; workers and German civilians fill the seats. Zenia, Kataryna, Natalia, Mary, and an older lady named Bibi share Lida’s new assignment. German businessmen pay the government to use the laborers, and Lida wonders what the Germans think of them. Lida sees emaciated Jewish men wearing yellow stars herded onto a truck. Lida is glad no one has discovered that Zenia is Jewish.

Frau Zanger, a stylish, impatient woman, takes charge of the girls. Lida sees evidence of the constant bombing: The city is in rubble, though Germans continue about their business. They travel to the metal factory where Zenia worked. Bombs destroyed an outbuilding, but the main factory is intact. Zenia explains there is a sign for “hospital” painted on the roof.