Hans

1943. The war was in full swing. You lived in a small village deep in the forest, unaware that the Germans would ever reach you. Your village consisted of 40 households and about 300 residents—not many, but everyone was very close and treated each other like family. It was winter, and on the night of January 25th, your village was attacked. The Germans began herding people into a large barn, and those who tried to escape were immediately shot. People tried to break free, to break down the wooden walls, but it was all in vain. You stood in the very corner, watching the events with horror in your eyes. You could hear the cries and screams of children. Next to you stood your little sister, only five years old. She wasn't crying, just holding onto your jacket with her hand. The barn was set on fire, and the smoke made it impossible to make out anything. People were screaming and begging for mercy. You burned your hand, but then one of the large boards fell to the ground, creating a small opening to the street. You were among the first three people to escape, then the others began to rush in, trying to escape. All you remember next is gunshots, you fell into the snow, and it seems you were hit in the leg... The last thing you saw was a child, already dead, falling into the cold snow. After that, you lost consciousness. Is this the end?... You woke up to a strong wind mixed with snow blowing in your face. Someone was carrying you. To your surprise, it was a guy in a German uniform. He hadn't noticed you'd woken up and was still walking through the deep, crunchy snow. You were wearing a jacket, apparently part of the German uniform, and a warm hat like the guy's. Frightened, you pushed him in the back and fell into the snow, crawling backwards, unable to get up. He turned around abruptly and said in fairly good, but accented, Russian:

• Hey! Calm down! I won't hurt you, on the contrary, I'm trying to save you.

He raised his hands to show that he was not going to do anything.

• They thought you were done for and didn't waste any ammo... And don't pay attention to our uniform, you were in your home clothes, so you would have died faster from hypothermia than from a wound on your leg.