H. Adler - Panorama

At the station the men stand ready, most of them between eighteen and twenty, though there are also some who are over forty. Two officials from the employment office travel with them, their job being to oversee the camp, though they are young, one always having a tobacco pipe in his mouth, the other simply a lout. The trip takes almost six hours, but everyone is in a good mood, as they all get to know one another and friendships are quickly formed, families talked about, the war, the days ahead, each debating and talking about whether the work will be good, whether it will be strenuous or bearable, some holding out hope that it will be fine, they will be in the country, almost all the people there being Czech and hopefully friendly, or at least not hostile, some of the group having already had some experience with such camps, all of them involving similar work, such as building roads, bridges, or canals, and while none have worked on a railroad, it’s the same as building roads, for it involves leveling, digging, pickaxing, and shoveling. The youth with the pipe from the employment office also says a couple of things about Wirschenowitz, telling them that the little village is located in a mountainous area dense with forests, the inhabitants having hardly anything, since their houses are simple and for the most part covered with shingles or straw, ducks and geese waddling through the streets. The largest part of the town is in the valley, which is quite deep and surrounded by steep cliffs, from which a little river flows with cascading green water, three wooden bridges and a narrow footbridge crossing over it both in and outside the village. Until now the area has been reachable only by a narrow-gauge train that runs along the right bank of the little river, though the new stretch will run much more directly, meaning that the sharp change in elevation will have to be dealt with by digging and moving large sections of earth.

When they arrive in Wirschenowitz it’s hot, the men are not allowed any water, but instead must immediately run from the station down into the village, where they soon reach the main street, the view offering three little shops, two of them inns serving food, followed by a post office, a hair dresser’s, a tobacco shop, all of them except the inns looking as if they are shut. Then the group turns left and soon reaches the creek, where it crosses the footbridge and begins to climb uphill again, the strongest keeping up with the boys from the employment office, who hurry them along, while the weaker ones soon lag behind, each having to carry his things, whether they be knapsacks, suitcases, bags, or packages. Josef, meanwhile, stays in the middle. At the end of the village they approach the main road, which after another curve turns into the highway that leads the workers to the builders’ huts and on toward Pechno. For a while the creek runs beside the street, which then turns away, after a few minutes landing them in the work camp, which consists of wooden huts surrounding an open space, the canteen to the left, which also serves as a gathering room where the mail is handed out in the evening, sometimes Otto, the leader of the group, speaking to the forced laborers, they also being able to eat dinner here, though since the canteen is so uncomfortable and dirty many choose to eat in the barracks. The canteen is leased by the fat, reasonable, and efficient Frau Miltschi, her two helpers not at all friendly, as together they prepare the meager fodder that they sell for chits — one can purchase a week’s worth from Otto — during the same fixed hours each day, during which it’s a good idea to keep a fork at the ready in order to scoop up some bit of potato or peas that would otherwise go into the garbage. The rest of the barracks are for housing, each containing four spacious rooms holding eight men each, the wooden pallets simple but functional, the straw mattresses stuffed full, a heavy table standing in the middle of the room, benches with no backs running along its long sides, there also being some shelves on the wall, the ample oven with a large cooker a welcome sight, next to it a wood box with beech logs used for heating. The accommodations are stripped down, but they serve their purpose and are welcoming, though there’s no electric light, since oil lamps are used.

Nearby these barracks are others that house some thirty independent tradesmen who are part of a number of men from the surrounding villages who are involved with building the railroad. A bit farther on the overseers live with their families in two nicer barracks, they being called “Master” or “Herr Master,” burly men in the prime of their lives whose names are Rubák, Vodil, Chudoba, and Sajdl. At the end of this settlement the highway leaves the creek and winds uphill to the left, then to the right and back alongside the creek bed until it turns into a cart path, two decorated block houses with little gardens standing at the beginning, which is where those in charge of the building project live with their wives and children. Head Engineer Čiperný is the leader of the section, at his side Technical Engineer Mozol, who has nothing against the forced laborers and, somewhat shy, does his best to chat with them, while the capable and somewhat intimidating bookkeeper, Podlaha, lends administrative help to the head engineer, who certainly is not a bad man, though he is tough on the forced laborers, there being hardly a day that passes when he doesn’t reprimand Otto seriously, who raises issues with Čiperný, who then threatens that if … And this “if” is so clear that he doesn’t have to say another word, there’s no messing around, for there are other means at the ready to deal with any troublemakers, and hinting at such unspoken means is enough to inspire fearful submission. Nothing, however, is known for sure, or hardly anything is known at all during this time, everything kept simmering behind a secret veil, though it must be something quite horrible, the men part of a regiment that is perhaps tougher than any ever experienced before by masters and servants. Therefore it’s unlikely that the head engineer even knows the worst consequences of his own veiled threats, he having to remain fearsome and thus not free himself, freedom being for him a dubious concept that one must continually determine anew, and which according to current circumstances must be asserted or abandoned. The new arrivals are warned by Čiperný that what they do in their free time is not his concern, but no one had better be caught sloughing off at work, for at a minimum everyone has to keep on the go, not even the briefest of breaks allowed, and it should be noted that “eighteen” will be called out when there’s a danger of falling behind pace, the workers calling it out the moment a monitor nears, at which they have to work twice as fast, though once the danger is over “twenty” is called out, a system they call “marking.”

Otto gathers the new ones after they arrive out in the open air and says that things here work through camaraderie, everyone is in the same boat, Otto doesn’t wish to command, but each must give his all so that there are no problems, the group leader expecting that they will understand his difficult position, and that they should make his unpleasant assignment easier, for he is caught in the middle between his comrades and the head builders, his job being to fend off trouble, Otto working to provide the best for the group as a whole, though he expects obedience from each, which the gathering vows openly, after which he warns that sick leave is to be avoided at all costs, the head builders having informed him that there are too many malingerers and deadbeats, which is what they call taking sick leave and slacking off. Then Otto explains the daily schedule, everyone rising early at the sound of the clock at five-thirty and needing to get ready to be at his workstation by seven, which can be as much as an hour away, lunch lasting only half an hour between one and one-thirty, which means only a few are able to eat in the canteen, so everyone needs to bring something along, though the head engineer lets one man from each section go to the canteen to get a pot of soup, lunch being picked up and distributed warm each evening, work lasting until five, everyone working ten hours a day, including the lunch break, Saturday afternoon being free, though sometimes you have to work voluntarily, for which there is special pay, the salary calculated on an hourly basis and paid out on Saturday every fourteen days at the end of work, while anyone who doesn’t have any money can make a special request of the bookkeeper for an advance on the following Saturday, Sundays also free, travel home on the weekends forbidden, though you can shop in the village and get a haircut, although you should allow yourself to be seen in town as little as possible, but arranging for farmers to deliver milk by cart is allowed. Dealing on the black market, however, cannot occur under any circumstances, for any trespass of this rule will be harshly dealt with by the higher-ups with the strongest of measures, thus causing the entire group to suffer, so no one should allow himself to be caught. Visiting taverns is forbidden, and though walks are not expressly prohibited, it’s not a good idea, nor should you move around town as a group, but instead use only side streets, no more than three men at a time and no farther than ten kilometers from the camp. Therefore you can’t go to Sobolec, for it’s eleven kilometers away, although there is a doctor there whom you need a pass from the bookkeeper to visit. Anyone who is sick should first see Otto and the group’s own doctor, who is there to examine all deadbeats, while whoever is in fact sick should show up at 7 A.M. in the office of the builders’ hut, where the bookkeeper will issue a note and the necessary pass that will allow the journey to Sobolec. With that you have to hurry to the station in order to catch the morning train, while in Sobolec you have to go straight to the doctor’s office, since any detour, any dawdling, any shopping in any store is strictly forbidden, there being no way for Otto to emphasize enough how important it is to follow these restrictions to the letter, the police in Sobolec are not very pleasant to deal with, and Otto doesn’t wish a visit from them here in the camp on anyone. The doctor has to make a very careful examination, as he’s not allowed to declare more than five percent of the forced laborers sick at any one time, which is why Otto requests that they avoid asking for sick leave at all costs. The doctor in Sobolec will declare each one fit for work or grant a couple of days off from work, while some he will ask to see again as he hands out a prescription that can be filled at the pharmacy, after which you have to head straight to the station to wait two or three hours for the midday train, hanging around in the waiting room out of the question, so you have to wait on the platform, where you sit on the benches only when there’s no one else to claim a spot, while after you return you have to inform Otto about the doctor’s findings, which determines if you are allowed to go to your room or head back to join the afternoon shift. Otto then explains that on Sundays he collects food tickets for the canteen, each laborer having several in his pocket in order to buy bread, while anyone who doesn’t want to eat Frau Miltschi’s food can keep all of his tickets, though it’s wiser to use the canteen, for it pleases the head engineer. Last, Otto commands the new arrivals to break up into groups so that he can lead them to their rooms.