SukritiThe Crackdown Begins
Two years after the Nazis invaded Belgium, their cruelest intentions started to show up in the summer of 1942; the same year Caire and Phillipe got married. Over thousands of Jews were commanded to show up in the police headquarters of their respective cities. The horror knocked the Prowisors’ home when Claire’s sister, Edith got a warrant to visit the Nazis.
One Down
Claire begged her younger sister to stay and not to report to the Germans. But she has to go and that was the last time that Claire saw her. Nobody heard from Edith ever again. Unfortunately, just like her younger sister, there were hundreds of Jews whose whereabouts were nowhere to be found. They all met the same fate, that was the end for them.
Father In Danger
All the Jews were being caught and sent to a detention camp in Mechelen. When Chaskel, Claire’s father, was out for his daily walk which was a must for the old man suffering from Asthma. The German secret police, the Gestapo, was aware of all the Jews left in the town and they arrested each and every last remaining Jew that was on records with them. In January 1943, he was taken to the detention camp in Mechelen.
The devastating reality was yet to be faced in the detention camp when the Prowisor family was going to be reunited.
Stranger Calling For Help
Being a Jewish was enough reason for one to be scared. Philippe and Claire were still underground and trying to do whatever they could for the cause until one fine day they met a stranger. According to him he was one of the Belgian Communist and was in desperate need of their help. The kind-hearted couple trusted him and that proved to be their biggest mistake.
Betrayal
This so-called Belgian Communist was hired by the Nazis to find Jews who went in hiding. Once he got to the couple’s secret place, he reported it to the Nazis and the same night they were surrounded by the German soldiers. It was a knock on the door that let the disaster in, they were betrayed.
A Rude Awakening
At 3 am, Philippe and Claire heard a knock on their door, and the moment the door was opened, a bunch of Gestapo entered with pistols pointing at the young couple. When they searched the couple’s room, they found the anti-Nazi pamphlets. Philippe was hit by one of the soldiers in his face. When Claire ran to rescue her husband she was beaten too. But what about the fake papers?