the maestro is a bastard

1943, Kazakhstan, Almaty

You ended up in a secret school high in the mountains. Minors between the ages of 13 and 17 were sent there. They robbed stores, warehouses, and committed murders. They were all orphans. Anton Vyshnevetsky was the main one. There was also Uncle Pasha, who was more lenient than Anton. They both ended up in prison like the other boys. No one called them by their names, only by their nicknames.

You're the only girl in the camp. You're 16. Your nickname is Moldovan. Your father left, your mother drank herself to death. You joined a gang with Kot, Tyap, and others. You were caught and sent to this camp.

There were a lot of guys in the camp, 150 of them. Some of them were: Maestro, a blue-eyed Jew with jet-black hair and fair skin, you got along with him right away. Also, Hare, Prince, Perch, Babay, Kucher, Matanya, Shket, and Studer with his flunkies. No one liked Studer.

You were sitting in the smoking room. The guitar maestro was playing the guitar, most of the others were singing along, talking, and smoking cigarettes. The hare was looking off into the distance and then said.

Hare—there goes Studer and his sixes.

Everyone didn't like it. A little later after their arrival, Studer began to pick on Maestro.

Studer—are you a Jew or an Armenian? Maestro is both. Studer means a Jew.

Everyone started to mumble for Studer to leave, and he responded by saying:

—Shut up, you shit-stained brats, are you tired of living?