Humanity

Francis Guring was the commanding Nazi prison officer at Lichtin concentration camp. He did not need the glory of Hitler to persuade him to hate the Jews. He already did. He was a man so monstrous he was silly. He no longer permitted himself to kill the Jews himself, because the Jews could sense the joy he got from killing them. The problem with joy is that it’s infectious and Guring noticed that the Jews that died at his hand laughed or died without much struggle, and he realized that after death, he could no longer control their suffering.

“Commander Guring, you called for me” said officer Stunger.

“One moment.”

Guring was sorting through files on his desk. Stunger opened the silence by motioning to Guring’s lamp. “I noticed you have an odd lamp shade on your desk, may I ask what it is made out of?”

“Jew skin.” Said Guring without looking up.

“I look at that lamp shade and it makes me wonder if maybe we are not on the side of good. There is a certain creepy quality to it. Maybe there are better uses for Jews than turning their skin into decor”

“No. No better use.”

“I sense that your hatred of the Jews is damaging you Guring. You might be concerned with what that lamp shade says about you. How you come across.”

“This lamp is a source of pride. It shows the ingenuity of our people. We can make use out of something as wretched as a Jew.”

Stunger looked at that disgusting lamp shade and wondered what reality Guring lived in. Stunger couldn’t help but show a brief look of disgust.

“Mr. Stunger, I have a problem. Hitler wants me to punish the Jews. I had thought of having them killed but I have a question for you? Are there something things worse than death?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“Isolation.”

“No they go insane. Insanity can bring them joy... I thought of something. I first want the Jews reunited with their families. Then we will determine who are the parents and who are the children.”

“What do you have planned?”

Liam was reunited with his mother. Who was the only remaining relative still alive. He thanked the officer who joined them with grace.

“Are you alright? I have been so worried about you.” Liam’s mother ran her fingers over Liam’s head.

Liam hugged her.

Then the guards separated them, parents and children. Liam grew scared. The officers moved Liam’s mother and other parents along the firing wall.

“Stare into your parent’s eyes. If you blink we will kill you. Do you understand?”

Liam nodded.

“Ready!”

“Aim!”

“Fire!”

He saw her stare right at him. He saw her grace and did not blink. The bullet entered her chest and he watched his mother resist death. He watched her struggle to stay staring at him, into his eye. He felt proud of her. He watched her relent. Water soothed his red itching eyes. His mother dying was not hard for him to watch, but Liam had gross contempt for his mother’s corpse. He wanted to look away. After the firing, he went over looked at her corpse developed a strong hate for it and spat at it.

“Did you order him to do that?” Asked a guard.

The guard replied “No.”

He laughed, “It looks like we did him a favor.”

Guring bellowed a vicious anger “Stunger! You have defied my order!”

“I killed the parents.”

“Yes you killed the parents and made the children watch. I ordered you to kill the children and make the parents watch!”

“I’m so sorry I did not understand.”

“Yes you did! You took pity on them!”

Stunger thought of saying “Isn’t watching your parents die worse enough?” But instead he said “You’re cruelty is unfathomable.” The words came from his mouth without him thinking. Those words would kill him, why did he say it? He panicked and withdrew his pistol and shot Guring in the stomach before the Nazi guard shot him dead.

Guring had to be moved to the hospital and Liam noticed the new commanding officer was of a different sort. Liam noticed that at least with Guring they had hatred in common. But Von Richmann scared something in Liam. Von Richmann had the one thing Liam could not identify with. Absence. He sensed he was like a machine in a man’s body. He attempted to empathise with Von Richmann and when he did, for the first time in his life, he felt the compulsion to kill himself.

***