Another Day

The next morning, very early, we were repairing the things that had been damaged from the day before. It was long and tiring work. Finally, when I went back to the bunker, someone came in and asked for me. I pulled on a sweater and followed him.

He took me to where many Russion prisoners were gathered. I was needed because they wanted me to ask them questions and translate what they said. And if they refused, a gun was held to their heads.

Around the afternoon, we gathered at the trenches. Another group was relieved when we came, and they left. The trenches were incredibly littered and smelled bad. Dobelmann began explaining what to do in the trenches, and was upset when he found out we didn't know how to work the machines.

Jakob tried to show off and attempted to explain one, but said it wrong. Dobelmann was horrified, and it was rather amusing when Jakob's face turned red.

In the evening, we ate and talked about Dobelmann. Then we went back into the trenches and slept. I awoke to the artillery barrages. Everyone around me was terrified.

A boy named Willi complained of his hand hurting, and when we checked it, we saw it had been blown off. That scared us, but at least it was over.