Breaking From the Enemy

by J. R. Sharp

  “Okay, hold that while I get the wedges and bracket.”

  Giacomo held the pole and looked at the train station. The lieutenant emerged from the station, but without the angry man, and he was in a hurry to catch up with the major. Gino placed the last bracket and wedges in place, and the lieutenant passed by them.

  “Where’s the guy?” asked Gino.

  “I don’t know, but I don’t think he’s coming back anytime soon,” said Giacomo, staring at the lieutenant.

  The train approached.

  “Herr Major, we have blocked off this section of the neighborhood,” Lieutenant Muller said. “Once the Gypsies and Jews arrive, they will have nowhere else to go until they are loaded up for their journey to the Motherland.”

  The major continued without acknowledging what the lieutenant said. “What about the lights? Are there enough lights at night? And can we provide more power if we need additional electricity?”

  “We have extended the lights up to the alleyway where they’ll be entering at night.”

  The major inspected the alleyway lights.

  “You will need more lights in this area.” He pointed at the check-in area. “I also want them extended through all the alleyways in this ghetto so we can see what they are doing at night.”

  “Yes, Major.”

  The train stopped past the station house. The sergeant came out by himself. Gino and Giacomo were finishing the last light when they heard a commotion in the train area. German soldiers had opened the doors to livestock and freight cars.

  “Nobody is saying anything or objecting to getting on the train,” remarked Gino.

  “I think they all figured out that if they say anything, they will be escorted to the same place as that fellow who hasn’t come back,” answered Giacomo.

  The group of the men who were taunting the missing man to speak for the group were the first to get on the freight car, without hesitation. A half hour later, all the corralled individuals were loaded. As the train left the station, Gino and Giacomo finished their last light and were ready to hook power to see if all the lights worked.

  “I’m going to finish hooking up the power. When I give you the signal, push the switch up to see if all the lights come on,” ordered Gino.

  As Gino made his way to the connection area down from the alleyway, Giacomo heard people leaving the alley and turned toward the noise. Looking in his direction was the major, with the lieutenant next to him. Giacomo didn’t move a muscle as they walked toward the train station.

  Gino yelled, “Okay, give it a try!”

  The major stopped when he heard the yelling. He saw the large Italian soldier lift a switch, and the lights came on instantly and without any issues. After observing this additional accomplishment to report to his superiors, he continued toward his awaiting sedan with his head held a little higher.

  Gino jumped on his big friend in excitement that the lights all came on without problems. But Giacomo wasn’t as excited.

  “Now, that is what I call good work,” remarked Gino. Giacomo looked at the train station. There, for the whole world to see, two German soldiers carried the protestor’s limp body out of the train station. They loaded his body into the back of the waiting troop transporter and climbed in. The sergeant looked in their direction, and Giacomo and the sergeant seemed to have a staring-down contest. Gino grabbed his belligerent friend and pulled him away. The sergeant continued to smile as he made his way toward the passenger side of the troop transporter. Sergeant Braun continued to stare at Giacomo even as he entered the troop transporter. He wasn’t enjoying his time in Rome but had served under Major Schmidt since the war started. After the major recovered from his wounds, Braun requested duty with the major and regretted that decision. Life in Rome was boring; plus, he detested the Italians. He wanted to be back on front line.

  “That asshole, he just stood there looking at me like he wanted me to do something. I should have walked over there and beat on him,” said Giacomo.

  Gino wasn’t in any mood for problems as this day ended.

  “Giacomo, you can barely stand straight without any pain, and besides, you only have one good eye. You will have your day. How about we call this a day and head to the pick-up area?”

  They picked up their tools when the troop transport took off in the direction opposite the sedan.

  As they waited for their transport to take them back to the barracks, Gino noticed the little lieutenant inspecting the lights that led to the clearing. After the officer was done, he wrote something in a small notebook he drew out of his pocket.

  What is he writing down? thought Gino.

  His attention shifted as the troop transport pulled up to gather all the Italian soldiers working in the ghetto. It was already half full of soldiers from other sites. Most were ditchdiggers or helping out at construction sites. They were of little use due to their wounds, but the military leaders refused to let them out of the army.

  Gino and Giacomo were sitting on the ground when the transport pulled up. They got up and noticed the lieutenant hand a note to the German soldier in the passenger seat. The workers were told the German soldier was there for their protection, but most of them knew he was present to make sure none of them deserted. He was the only one with a gun, and none of them wanted to get shot.

  Once they were all loaded, the transport headed back to their barracks; the ghetto was the last stop of the day.

  “I guess the Germans are in charge now,” remarked Giacomo as he sat next to his friend.

  “It would seem so, my friend, but we still take orders from our army.”

  They held onto the upper bars of the transport as it rumbled on. They disembarked in front of the barracks. Gino and Giacomo were the last ones to get out. As they exited, their Italian senior enlisted approached the front cab. The German soldier’s arm extended, holding the same piece of paper Lieutenant Muller handed him earlier. Sergeant Sal did not say a word before he headed for the Italian officer barracks on the other side of the road.

  “I guess we have our work assignments for tomorrow,” remarked Giacomo as he entered their open-bay barracks. Gino smiled and followed his friend to some well-deserved rest and hopefully their one hot meal of the day.

  Chapter 10

  GETTING READY IN THE open-bay barracks was always a challenge. With so many soldiers living in one room, everyone wanted the same thing at the same time, which never worked out. Saturdays and Sundays were the only days that they enjoyed a meal sent by their superiors. They had to fend for themselves during the week. Saturday was a day of work but usually filled with tasks like cleaning or other less physical jobs. Sunday was the only day that the Italian workers enjoyed off, but they still had to muster in the morning and evening.

  Gino was up before most of the other soldiers and ready for work when the food arrived. He waited for Giacomo. Both were tired and in need of rest as they moved toward the large vat of smoking mystery pasta.

  “I need to go home again and see if my mother is alive,” remarked Gino.

  “Then go back home. I’ll cover for you. Just make sure you come back by Sunday night,” answered Giacomo.

  “It would take all day just to get there. Then I’d have to come back in a few short hours.”

  “If my mother was missing, I would want to know if she were alive, especially if there was no one to take care of her. You already lost your father and brothers. Go find out if your mother is alive. If you get caught, there is no one but your mother that they will go after. You still have the shoe salesman suitcase from the last time you went. Use that ploy again.”

  Gino had stored the suitcase under their table in the barracks with the other contraband. He could get Giacomo to distract everyone, get the suitcase and head for the train station for the noon train going north.

  “I’m going. Distract everyone so I can get the suitcase. See you back here on Sunday night.”

  “Good luck, my friend. Tell Catherina I said hello.”

/>   Gino was moving before Giacomo finished the sentence. Within a minute he was at the table with his jacket and hat ready. Gino watched Giacomo move toward the vat for his morning food. Just about everyone was either in line or eating when he heard his giant friend’s first words.

  “What kind of food is this you’re feeding us this morning? We work our asses off all week for this crap! I bet the Germans are being fed better than us.”

  Giacomo threw his plate down to make his point. As the food settled on the floor, out came Sergeant Sal from his one-room office and bunk.

  Sergeant Sal walked with a limp and had only one arm. Nobody knew where he had been wounded, only that he was always in a bad mood and hated the Germans.

  “What is going on here, Private Romano?” demanded the sergeant.

  Giacomo looked over Sal’s head to see Gino and saw the table in the tilted position through the rows of bunks. He needed to continue his uproar longer.

  “Sergeant, look at this watered-down, soupy pasta they serve us. I bet the Germans are eating better than we are. We don’t even get bread with this pasta. What kind of Italian serves pasta without bread?”

  Sal looked at the mess on the floor, then shifted his attention to the vat and the workers serving the food.

  “Where is the bread that I requested with this meal?” asked the sergeant.

  “This is all they gave us to serve this morning, Sergeant.”

  “Private Romano, clean up this mess or I’ll have you put in the barracks jail.”

  Giacomo was about to launch into another rage when he noticed Gino slipping through the exit with the suitcase under his jacket.

  “No problem, Sergeant.” He retrieved the cleaning supplies. Sergeant Sal went back into his office, but not for long. He emerged with his hat and headed out to find out where the rest of the food was going.

  Gino made the switch to salesman as soon as he cleared the barracks. Getting around the city on a Saturday proved to be no problem, especially if you were not wearing a uniform. Since arriving in Rome, he had learned not to board trains at the main station. The main stations were the ones being watched by the authorities. If you wanted to leave Rome without being noticed, you needed to board trains at smaller stations and switch trains later in the journey. With little effort, he was on his way out of Rome, heading back home in search of his mother.

  After switching trains in Florence and Venice, Gino arrived in Pordenone early in the evening. With little time to spare, he purchased a one-way ticket back to the Rome before leaving the station in search of his mother. He would deal with what Rome had to offer the next day. As he left the station, he spotted a farm truck heading out of the city toward his family farm. He waved at the driver, who just pointed to the rear, which already had passengers. After throwing the suitcase in the back, he joined the other hitchhikers. Gino sat at the end of the truck, looking back with his hat lowered and coat covering most of his face. If the truck kept this pace, he would be home in about twenty minutes.

  Gino noticed that the terrain looked horrible as they left the city. All of the majestic trees that once lined the roads were long gone; just the stumps remained. Most of the houses and farms looked abandoned. He worried that his childhood home would be another casualty of war. Looking right, he soon saw the distant house in the middle of his childhood playground field. Without raising any suspicion, he kept looking to the rear of the truck just in case someone recognized the farm and him. After they had passed several other homes and farms, he jumped off the truck and went the opposite direction. Within minutes the truck was out of sight and he was on the other side of the road heading for the farm. The field was overgrown with weeds that he did not recognize but they gave him great cover.

  It was close to evening muster when Giacomo noticed that everyone was moving toward the front of the barracks. Giacomo surveyed the room and waited at the exit for the sergeant. When the last soldier left the barracks, the sergeant came out with his muster sheet in hand.

  “Sergeant Sal, I want to apologize for this morning,” remarked Giacomo. He smelled the wine on the Sal’s breath.

  “Private Romano, you need to control that temper of yours before someone takes out your other eye.”

  “You are correct. It won’t happen again. Do you want me to take muster for you so you don’t have to go out in the cold?”

  Sal looked at the overgrown soldier for a minute. Then he handed him the muster sheet. “Let me know if anybody is missing. I’ll be in my room.”

  “No problem, Sergeant,” smiled Giacomo as he exited the barracks.

  ***

  Dim light came from the main house and smoke rose from the lone chimney. The light was hard to see through the cloudy, solitary window on the side. Moving to the back, he noticed that just about all the farming gear was gone, but a motorcycle leaned against the house. There were no animals and the small barn in the back was about to collapse. Gino took a deep breath before opening the back door. Soon he was looking into the eyes of his cousin Maurizio.

  “Gino, is that you?”

  “Maurizio, what are you doing here?”

  Maurizio stood with a cane and was missing half of his right leg. Before saying another word, they hugged one another.

  “What happened to your leg, where is my mother, and what are you doing here?”

  Maurizio moved slightly away from Gino before replying, “Your mother is in France with my family. The Germans came looking for her after they killed your father. She was able to get away before they arrived. I was in Egypt when I lost my leg and they discharged me. This was the only place left standing when I returned from the war. I’m taking care of the farm until she returns.”

  “Can you take me to the Zucchet Farm? I need to see my family before I head back to Rome tomorrow.”

  “If you don’t mind riding on a motorcycle, we can be there in fifteen minutes.”

  Pietro was sitting outside the farmhouse enjoying his evening smoke and coffee when he saw the lone headlight coming toward the farm.

  “Bruno, come out. We have a visitor coming.”

  Bruno heard his father from the kitchen and headed outside to be by his side. As soon as he made his way through the door, he could see the headlight coming toward the farmhouse.

  “It doesn’t look like a German motorcycle, and there are two people,” remarked Bruno as the light got brighter.

  The motorcycle made the left into the driveway leading to the farmhouse. Pietro threw his cigarette on the ground as he rose for their unexpected visitors.

  “It’s Maurizio, but I don’t know who’s in the back,” remarked Bruno.

  “It’s Gino. I recognize the bag,” said Pietro.

  “What are you doing here?” asked Bruno as the motorcycle came to a stop in front of the farmhouse.

  Gino stepped off the motorcycle and replied, “I needed to check on my mother and I was hoping to see Catherina and Maria before I go back tomorrow.”

  “Of course, you can see them. Catherina is upstairs putting Maria down for the evening. Maurizio, you come in as well and have some wine and food.”

  Gino was heading inside when he heard a loud noise from the house and out came Catherina to greet her husband.

  “I heard your voice from the upstairs window.”

  “Everyone go inside before someone sees Gino,” ordered Pietro.

  ***

  Bruno waited for the express train. It was the first of the day and the only one going to Rome. This train would only make a few stops before its final stop in Rome. Gino stood next to the lobby exit waiting for the signal from Bruno. If there were any issues, he would bolt and head for the woods.

  The train was already five minutes late when Bruno noticed Fascist supporters waiting for the same train. Bruno moved to the end of the tracks. He wanted to put some space in between them and Gino. Just as he made it to the other end, he heard the train coming into the station.

  Where did Bruno go? thought Gino as the train rolled
to a stop.

  With only a minute to spare, Bruno walked away from the tracks. Within seconds he stood next to Gino.

  “Head toward the back of that passenger car. There are supporters on the other car. Good luck.”

  Gino headed toward the tracks, not taking his eyes off the passenger car in front of him. He boarded and took a seat at the end. The train soon headed off for the southwest part of Italy. After leaving the station, Gino raised his head to assess the situation. There were a few passengers, but none that concerned him. He rose and spotted the familiar brown jackets of Mussolini supporters in the next car. There was nothing he could do but sit with his head down low and hopefully get back to his unit before being missed.

  On Sunday morning the barracks was about empty when Giacomo started looking for a substitute for Gino. Luckily, he and Gino were always in the back for muster, which made it easy to conceal them from the roll call. Standing about two rows from him was a good substitute for Gino. He moved quickly toward the unsuspecting soldier. Sergeant Sal was always the last to emerge from the barracks to start the muster, and today would be no different.

  “After you answer your name in the roll call, move in the back next to me to answer for Cartelli,” Giacomo whispered to the soldier that was about the same height as his missing friend.

  “No problem, but I want two packs of cigarettes for my troubles,” he answered.

  “Deal, but if you screw this up, you’ll be needing a patch for one of your eyes.”

  The sergeant emerged from the empty barracks barely awake and only slightly in regulation uniform. He started yelling names before he even came to a stop in front of the muster. Before long, the soldier who agreed to answer for cigarettes had answered his name. The other soldiers moved out of his way so he could stand next to Giacomo. In less than a minute, the soldier answered for Cartelli, the muster was over and everyone was dismissed for the rest of their day off.

  The train was almost to Rome when Gino looked at his watch. If he moved very quickly, he could make the evening muster once they arrived. As the train slowed down for their final stop, Gino noticed Germans all over the tracks looking in the train cars. He started to sweat; if he was the first to depart, he probably would be noticed. The forward car emptied out. The Germans greeted the brown jackets as they exited.