Hometown for an Hour: Poems

Letter from Orahovica

Letter from Orahovica Croatia, July 19, 1941 Earlier that day he was with us as we posed in the field at dawn for a photograph, as we smoked and shaved by the river, as we burned every house in the village. I don’t recall his step but his aim was always accurate. When the captain called us, he was neither first nor last in line. Click, click. Hans’s camera framed the partisans we’d caught, propped up against the massive haystack, joined at their clammy hands like cut-outs, identical in their blindfolds. We waited until Hans stepped back. The captain gave his terse command, off-hand as a rich man ordering his car. (This was to let the peasants know how unimportant they were.) Josef—Schultz—seemed not to have heard the captain’s quick Bereit! and stood dreaming with a shellshocked look. Ready, the captain called again, this time bitter, impatient , not for the prisoners’ benefit, but as if he knew what was coming. Josef stared but did not move. The air smelled of smoke and hay and sweat. The captain questioned. Josef put down his gun. The captain made threats. Josef began to undress—helmet, cartridge belt, all the signs. Then he was through and walked toward the haystack. After four steps, he turned back, dropped his dog-tag into his helmet. Not one of us had dropped his gun from his shoulder. Then Josef took his place in the other line. The next man in the other line, though blindfolded and unable to understand German, took Josef’s hand, making a last friend. Hans’s clicking sounded like a bloodless gun. Josef stared and did not say a word. The captain made a sign and then a low sound. The 44 You are reading copyrighted material published by Ohio University Press/Swallow Press. Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. peasants leaped forward, obedient as dolls. Josef still stood, friendless ; none of us had shot him. Hans clicked. One of the peasants gurgled. The captain quickly ordered fire and Josef was dead. Then the captain took his pistol and fired two more shots into Josef’s head. 45 You are reading copyrighted material published by Ohio University Press/Swallow Press. Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. ...