Back in the children’s home

Past

The following weeks or even months went by like a blur. Sigrid tried to find out more about what might have happened to her parents but both Frau and Herr Stuhrmann kept quiet and did not utter a word. It seemed like they really agreed not to tell her anything. Firstly, she was quite upset about that development. Later, she understood that it was for the better because of what she saw in the newspapers. People were being killed everywhere, so she was feeling better not knowing what happened to her parents than knowing that they might have suffered or are still suffering.

It was early the sun was barely up and the sky was still coloured in beautiful hues of orange when Frau Stuhrmann came into Sigrid’s room and told her to pack everything she had into her little bag. It was not much at all. Only a book and two dresses that she got during her stay with the Stuhrmann family. She wondered why she needed to pack. Is she going to leave? A little voice in her head even hoped for her parents miraculously turning up. But Sigrid knew that that was something that probably is not going to happen any time soon.

Outside Herr Stuhrmann was waiting with the vehicle they arrived with and with a motion of his head it was obvious that she needed to go sit in it. She sat down and looked out of the window to catch any kind of hint of where they are going. Surprisingly, she recognised the roads and realised that they were driving back to her hometown. Excitement washed over her, and she was buzzing with happiness when they drove into the little town. It quickly faded, when she saw that it seemed like a ghost town. There was not anybody on the streets and the streets which were usually bustling with people buying and selling things were empty. As if everyone was taken away. That could not have happened right?

When she was in the children’s home she saw that she was not the only one who woke up to find her parents gone, but she did not know that everyone else has apparently left as well. They kept going until she finally saw a few men walking around. Firstly, she thought that they were the few who stayed but with a closer look she saw the uniforms that they were wearing. On the uniforms was the flag of the Soviet Union. Sigrid knew this because she saw an illustration in one of Herr Stuhrmann’s newspapers a few weeks ago, and she asked what kind of flag it was. He explained to her that the people with that flag were trying to make them leave and that it was not good.

Sigrid did not understand at the time what he meant by that. Not long after that, she learned what it was about.