My name is Hazel Jesper. I am a fourteen year old girl living in Nazi Germany, though it absolutely does not feel like I’m living. I am oblivious, young, and very uneducated. My family was never rich, proper, or well known. The house we lived in had small rooms and not much space.  I had a little sister, though she passed away due to measles. My parents couldn’t afford any kind of education while paying for my sister's medical bills and when she passed away, we barely had money at all. I stayed home most of the time and helped my mother around the house. Once in a while I sat in the front lawn with a few friends but I never had much time since my sister passed. My father was always out doing work and we never got to see him much. But one day, everything completely fell apart. It all started around the day of my fourteenth birthday. My life was completely ruined.
I was forcefully dragged into this camp by men in odd uniforms. I was scared. I had no clue on what was going on. My mother and I were put into one truck and my father in another and I haven't seen my father since. I used to live in a small town and now I live in a camp. The day I was ripped apart from my father, was one of the worst days in my life. My long hair was shaved off, leaving my head cold and cut all over. I was stripped of my clothes and was given these odd striped pajamas to wear along with a striped cap and wooden shoes. The shoes were made of wood to make it heavier and harder to run with. I refused to wear them until I was lashed on my back with a wooden stick. I was put in a very crowded room called a barrack, with other women and their children. From my knowledge each barrack had one light hanging from the ceiling, no windows; there were wooden bunk beds with no cushions and only one door for the guards to use. The barrack was quiet; we all thought that if we spoke, we would be killed. The barrack was very dusty and dirty. Whenever I sat or laid down, I would have to dust myself off. We only ate small portions of soup and bread. Our days were very repetitive and for twelve to fourteen hours, all we did was labor. No matter how young or old you were, you had to do some type labor to stay living.
It was four o’clock in the morning when the horns blew. Guards rushed in and pulled us all out of bed. We only had five minutes to get up and get our shoes on. The guards yelled at us with no filter. Meaning random words and rude words were yelled out at all of us. All the prisoners including my mother and I, lined up looking straight at the wall in front of us. The guards took attendance of all of the prisoners and soon left the room. The door was wide open and the sun shone in. A woman in her mid-30’s stepped out of the line and ran towards the open door. Guards suddenly rushed in, punching her, kicking her, and beating her with a stick, until she was down on the ground. They picked her up and dragged her out. I grabbed a hold of my mother’s hand. When the guards left, she pulled me into a hug. “Darling, you know not to step out of line, never ever get out of line.” “Mama, I know. I see what happens around these camps. I promise I will never step out of line.”
She quickly let go of me when the guards came back in. I was handed a shovel and my mother was handed nothing. We were both assigned to trench duty. The guards handed us our soup and bread. The guards had fun with themselves. They threw the bread on the ground, in the mud, or they bit off the side, so you didn’t have much to eat. The guards soon left us in peace to eat. “Hazel, this slice of bread was the only solid food you would be receiving today; remember to save some for dinner.” My mom said. I nodded my head and shoved it into the pocket of my pants. We only had twelve minutes to eat and get to our labor areas. My mother and I quickly finished eating and rushed out to the trenches. We jumped into a trench and started digging. The guards started yelling at us to work harder and faster. The trench was cold, wet, and my feet were freezing. If we slowed down, we would be punished. I looked over to my mother and she was slowing down from fatigue. “Mama, come on. You have to work faster.” “Hazel, my hands. They’re wet, cold, wrinkly, and they are cut from the rocks in the ground.” I examined her hands and she was not lying.
I handed my mother the shovel. “Hazel, no.” She pushed it back to me. “Mama, yes.” I handed it to her. She stared at me and then started to dig. I went back to my area and started digging with my hands. Getting handed a shovel by a guard was a privilege, but my mother needed it more than a young fourteen year old girl. “YOU!” A guard yelled. With many other diggers in the same trench, I assumed he wasn’t talking to me. He grabbed my hand and pulled me up. “WHY DIDN’T YOU ANSWER TO ME?” He yelled at my face. If I responded, I would have gotten a worse punishment than I knew I would get. If I glanced at my mother, he would have punished her too, so I forced myself not to look at her. He picked me up and struck the back of my leg with a stick. I ended up on the ground; he swung, hit me in the face, and kicked my stomach. “NOW BACK TO WORK!” He pushed me into the trench. The mud splashed everywhere. I quickly got up, wiped the mud off my face, and started to dig. My mother continued to work, not wanting to know what was happening to her daughter. A whistle blew, signaling a six minute “lunch break,” after break we had six more hours of work to do.
There was a whistle signaling that our “lunch break” was over. I quickly got into my spot and started to dig. The guard was pacing back and forth, with their gun hung on their back and a stick in their hand. I was getting tired, my arms started to ache, and my legs were shivering, but I knew I had to keep on going. The guards kept looking at me and I forced myself to work harder. “YOU.” A guard yelled. This time I actually looked up. The guard wasn’t talking to me this time. An elderly man was pulled out of the trench and the guard asked him, “Why are you slacking off?” The man stared at the guard. “Because I am tired, why else would I be resting?”  A grin came upon the guards face. “Hey, everyone! This man said he was tired. Is anyone else tired? Does anyone else need a rest?” Three women raised their hands. “Well let’s all go clean you up in a shower, and I’ll let you rest.” The guard said. The four people smiled and followed the guard. They thanked him for the opportunity to rest.
“Hazel.” My mom whispered to me. “Yeah?” “If a guard ever asks you if you want a shower or to rest, never say yes. Do you understand?” She asked me. “Yes mama, I understand, but what happens if you say yes?” “Hazel, just get back to work.” I continued to dig and I became more curious. After six hours of digging, another whistle blew. In six minutes, all prisoners needed to be in their barracks. Whoever was left out would be killed. We all lined up in our barracks and no words were able to be spoken. A guard then came in to take evening roll call. If someone was missing, they would find them out in camp to see if they were killed, and if their body was not recovered, we would all be interrogated. After roll call was finished, we sat and waited for dinner.
Dinner was the same as breakfast. Leftover watery soup was served and I took out the piece of bread I saved from this morning. When we finished eating, the guards too our things and disposed of them. We all lay down in our bunk beds with not a lot of room; there were five people in each space with only one blanket. “Mama, what happened to those four people who took a shower?” “Hazel, you don’t need to know. You just don’t want to ever take a shower, okay? Let’s just say it’s not an actual shower.” I nodded. “But mama, how do you know?” “We’ve been here long enough. Now get some sleep, you need it for tomorrow.” I nodded and my mother shut her eyes. My mom was right; I don’t need to know about those people. I need to worry more about myself. I needed to get some sleep, but it was absolutely impossible to sleep. Ever since I’ve been in this camp I’ve barely gotten more than four hours of sleep each night.
The next morning I woke up and we did our regular morning routine. We did roll call, but someone didn’t respond. The guards went and looked for her. A few minute later they dragged her back inside. Right in front of our eyes four men beat this elderly lady. I’m sad to say that she didn’t make it through that beating. Today my mother and I were assigned to stone duty. We quickly finished our food and made our way to the rock area. What we did was remove heavy rocks from ditches and holes and walk them all the way to the other side of the camp. My mother and I started to get to work. About two minutes later, other mothers and their children joined in.
A girl who was in her late teen’s, sat down for a rest and wiped her sweat away. “That’s not a good idea.” A lady said to her. The teen ignored it and lay down on the ground. “Mel, get back to work. They’ll see you.” A woman said to her. “Mom, there’s no one around.” She said. I grabbed a rock and started walking. “WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN STOP WORKING?” A guard yelled at her. The teen got up but the guard ran over and grabbed her. “We cannot have people like you here.” He said to her. The teen’s mom continued to work and I saw a tear shed, from her eye down her cheek. It pushed me to work harder. I did not want to leave my mother like that. The whistle blew signaling lunch. My mom and I sat with each other looking at everyone. “Mama, will we ever get out?” She grabbed a hold of my hand and look at me. “Eventually.” She said. She kissed my forehead and we sat till the whistle blew again.
The whistle blew again and my mom and I went back to work. It was pretty much six hours of watching people get hurt, get tortured, faint, and even get killed. It’s terrible here, every day I see families getting torn apart, I see people losing their lives, and no one ever smiles here, except for the guards. The whistle blew and everyone made their way back to their barracks. I tried looking for my mother, but I couldn’t find her. Everyone was running to their barracks and I ran away. I kept yelling for her, but I couldn't see her. Tears started to build up in my eyes. “ONE MINUTE EVERYONE.” The guards yelled. I ran to my barrack. I stood in line holding my tears in.
They took roll call and when my mother didn’t answer, they searched for her. Everyone in my barrack looked at me. I was trying so hard not to cry.  Exactly three minutes later they came back dragging my mom in. “Whose mother is this?” The guards ask. “Step forward, we won’t kill you.” They said. I stepped forward. “Say your last words before we bury her. You have a minute.” I stepped up and kneeled down beside her. She had four bullet holes in her side. She had gotten lost in the camp and when they announced to go back to your barracks, she did not make it back in time. They shot all prisoners left out and she was one of them. I laid her head on my lap. “I’m going to live through this. I know that, that is what you’d want for me. I will get out and live my life to the fullest. My life in this camp is now over since you have passed. But for you, I will live. I love you mama.” The guards pulled her away and shut the door behind them. A lady in her middle 20’s came up and laid her hand on my back. Everyone sat waiting for dinner. I sat on the ground and the lady sat next to me. “I’m Elizabeth, and you are?” “Hazel.” “Well Hazel, I know how it feels to lose a family member, I lost my daughter.” I sat and felt my tears building up. “Life in this camp is terrible, isn’t it?” She asked. I nodded. “But I have a way to escape.”
“Escaping? We’d be killed.” “Not if a guard would be helping.” “Tomorrow, when we line up for roll call, stand next to me. A soldier and I have been planning an escape for two weeks, and all we need now is someone to bring with us. And darling, if you think I’m setting you up, I’m not. You just have to trust me, you don't need to come. I'm only doing this because I lost my daughter, if we get caught, I have nothing else to lose, and neither do you.” Dinner was served and we ate sitting next to each other. Pros and cons of trying to escape kept running through my mind. After dinner, I lay in my bed and just kept thinking about if I should trust Elizabeth or not. This night, I actually fell asleep.
At four o’clock the horn blew. I looked at Elizabeth and I walked over to her. “Are you in?” I looked at the wall in front of me and nodded. The guards rushed in and we took roll call. After that, we were handed our breakfast and we ate. Elizabeth and I were both assigned to rock duty again. As Elizabeth and I were walking, a guard came up behind us. “I found a hole in the fence behind the gas chamber. Six o’clock is when most guards are on their brake. So that’s when our plan is in action.” Elizabeth nodded. We were working for about an hour and she told me to sit. I looked at her oddly. “Hazel, trust me.” I sat down next to her. “WHAT DO YOU BOTH THINK YOU’RE DOING?!” I looked up and saw the guard from earlier. “We are protesting.” Elizabeth said. The guard pulled us up and walked to the gas chambers. “Guard! What are you doing?” Another guard said. “We’ve got some protesters. I’m bringing them to the showers.” That’s what the showers are, they’re gas chambers. The guards nodded and let us continue. The guard that was helping up escape was pulling us hard by our wrists. When no guard was around, the guard helping us spoke. “Sorry if I’m hurting you two, we need to act like I'm really bringing you to the gas chambers.” When we got to the gas chambers he stopped us. “I’m sorry for this we need to keep the act believable.” He slapped both Elizabeth and I in the face. “Behind me there’s the hole in the fence. On the count of three, you take off the wooden shoes and we run.” If guards see us, we keep running. If they get close, I brought along three of my guns, and I will hold them off. But whatever happens you two keep running.” Elizabeth and I nodded.
“One, two… THREE.” The three of us ran out and threw our shoes off. The little pricks of the ground cut up my feet. “HEY!” A guard yelled. The guard who was helping us turned around and shot the other guard.” We kept running, three other guards were following behind us. The guard helping us stopped and gun shots were exchanged. I stopped to look. “Hazel we need to go!” Elizabeth said pulling me. The three other guards were down and the guard helping us was catching up. After five minutes of running, the coast was clear. We sat to take a rest. The guard fell down holding his side. “ELIZABETH!” I yelled. She ran over to check it out. She ripped his uniform and she saw the red on his white shirt. “He was shot.” I said. “No, we could still save him!” She yelled. “You… can’t.” The guard said with all his might. “The two of you, keep running, hide and live.” Elizabeth had tears in her eyes. The guard’s eyes shut and Elizabeth placed a kiss on his cheek and said, “Thank you.” I started to cry. Elizabeth hugged me. “We didn’t even know his name.” “Peter, his name’s Peter.” “How do you know?” “Because my husband’s name was Peter.” I took a white flower from the ground and held it in my hands. I placed it next to Peter. I hugged her and we continued to run, we ran as far as we can from the camp. After about 30 minutes of running, we slowed down and we saw it. We saw the light of freedom.