DESPAIR

By Tea Sofia Zybartas

She was sitting on her bed silently crying into her palms. You could see the emptiness in her eyes –

almost as if they couldn’t see the amazing world that was in front of them. She was trying not to

breathe loudly so she wouldn’t wake up other women sleeping in the same room with her. She was

cold, her lips were sore from the freezing weather outside and her clothes weren’t warm enough to

make her fall asleep comfortably. Her whole body hurt from working all day. She was tired, desperate

to sleep. She would always think about her future; just an imagination. Almost as if there was no

future for her. Her past - the vague memories in her mind that didn’t make any sense. Her memories

were almost like they didn’t exist – just a simple blur in her brain, washed out completely. She

suddenly stopped crying, there was no help for her she thought. She wanted to die. That was the only

solution. She was just another helpless Jew, a person that didn’t at that time count as a living soul – a

time where she was treated like a worthless thing. That time was to be called nineteen-forty- three.