Soon afterwards he was roused by the voice of the guard. This time the man wasn’t alone. Two more men were with him, one of them carrying a folded tarpaulin.
The boys watched in surprise as he spread the cloth out on the platform.
‘Step forward one by one,’ the man commanded.
Hesitantly, Harri took a step forward.
‘Stand here, then undress!’
Harri reluctantly untied the strip of rag that served him as a belt and stopped his trousers from slipping down his emaciated body.
‘Get on with it!’ The guard grabbed impatiently at Harri’s trousers and they slipped to the ground. The man stood behind him and searched Harri’s shirt and sleeves before carefully shaking out his trousers and turning the pockets inside out. A few flakes of tobacco that must have fallen out of the sacks, sailed to the ground.
‘Clear. Next!’ He threw Harri’s clothes at him and shooed him away impatiently.
Behind him, Harri could sense the unrest down the line of his comrades. His courage sank. The two new boys must have stolen something after all. He should have made them turn out their pockets, but he hadn’t expected them to be so strictly controlled. This had never happened before, but then they had never previously been asked to unload anything fit for stealing.
Nervously, Harri waited to see what would happen next. Would they be punished as a group for the misdeeds of the two boys? And what precisely would the guards do to them?
Adam was next, followed by Kuno. The two new boys slunk back to the very end of the line. Harri could tell from their fearful glances that they were desperately trying to find a way to avoid the check or somehow get rid of the tobacco they had taken, but under the watchful eye of the guards, there was nothing they could do. Their restlessness had not escaped the attention of the guards, and these two were scrutinised particularly sharply.
Shaking with fright, the first of the boys stepped on to the tarpaulin. A handful of tobacco trickled treacherously to the ground when the guard pulled out his pockets, and as soon as he took off his trousers, the bulges in his socks were clearly visible, with evidence of more stolen goods. The guard grabbed him roughly by the arm and pulled him to one side, while his colleague went through a similar procedure with his friend.
‘Take them away,’ the first guard ordered and then turned to the rest of the boys, looking stern. ‘Let this be a lesson to you. Theft will not be tolerated.’
Everyone nodded, looking terrified. Harri desperately wanted to know what would happen to them, but he didn’t dare ask.
‘Let’s go.’ The guards marched the two offenders away.
Relieved, Harri lined up next to Adam. At least they didn’t seem to be in trouble.
The following morning Harri quickly realised he had been wrong about that. They had received no official punishment, nor had their food ration been cut – the measure he had most been dreading – but there were no more tobacco shipments to unload and they were back to their heavy tree trunks. They were two down in number now that the newcomers were no longer with them, but the guard ignored this and imposed the full quota for the day, meaning that none of the boys could be sent out on a foray as all hands were needed to get the job done. Harri also reckoned it wiser not to acquire any more clandestine food for the time being. Now that the guards’ suspicion had been aroused, they needed to make sure they didn’t attract any further attention. Once things had calmed down, they could start again, but until then would have to make do with regular rations.
‘Just wait till I get my hands on those conniving bastards,’ Kuno ranted as he reluctantly climbed up on to the fully laden wagon. ‘I’ll give them a drubbing they won’t forget in a hurry.’
The other lads growled in agreement and Harri felt every bit as angry with the two boys whose stupid actions had got them all in trouble. When they came back, they were for it. If they came back, that was.
The days passed but the two boys who had been arrested did not show up again. Day by day Harri and his comrades felt their absence all the more. Their daily quota still hadn’t been reduced, and nor were they given any replacements.
Every morning Harri found it that bit harder to get out of bed, and in the evening he lacked the energy to tell any more stories. Straight after he’d eaten, he would drag himself up on to his berth and close his eyes, completely drained, while the men outside stayed up talking or singing quietly.
His comrades were no better off than he was, and Harri worried over who would be the next to succumb to exhaustion, hunger or disease.
He didn’t want to think about it, didn’t even want the idea to flesh out in his mind, but there was nothing he could do about it. In his head he could already see a death list with all their names on it – starting with Bert, the youngest of them all, and ending up with big strong Adam.
The next morning the boys were about to set off as usual, with shoulders drooping and tired eyes, when the guard told them to wait. They stood there listlessly while two dejected figures approached. It took Harri a few seconds to realise that these intimidated, filthy-looking boys were in fact Alexander and Hans – the two missing members from their gang.
He was struck with horror and anger. The sight of them left him speechless. He did not know what to think or feel but, in the end, relief prevailed. At least they were still alive. He hoped it would stay that way and that they had learned their lesson.
The other boys stepped back to let them through. No one seemed to know how to react. Were they going to fit in from now on or would they continue to cause trouble?
One thing seemed clear enough: none of their group would attack Alexander or Hans without further provocation. The two boys already looked more dead than alive and were probably not going to be much use for the time being.
The group set off in silence, and Harri lined up next to Alexander, who flicked a sideways glance at him, equal measures of shame and suspicion clouding his grimy features.
‘Where did they take you?’ Harri asked quietly. It wasn’t just that the state of these two had aroused his pity – it wouldn’t hurt to know what punishment was imposed for theft.
‘A night in the hole followed by the steel mill.’ Alexander shuddered and laboriously put one foot in front of the other. ‘I thought we were going to die.’
Harri nodded. The authorities were only just starting to expand the steel factory, but the old part, which was still standing, was also in operation. He couldn’t begin to imagine what the work was like in the stuffy, swelteringly hot halls. It certainly explained the large inflamed blister on the back of Alexander’s hand.
‘It’s good that you’re back,’ Harri said, and he meant it. Alexander smiled in relief – he had obviously been fearing what reception he and his partner in crime might receive at the hands of their former comrades.
Turning away, Harri noticed the guard eyeing him with interest.
Alexander and Hans did their best to help with the day’s work. They had to. That was another unspoken agreement between the boys: they would leave them alone but not show them any special consideration, despite their physical state. A tree trunk slid out of Alexander’s grasp and only missed crushing him by a hair’s breadth before Adam finally allowed him to take a break.
Silently and doggedly the others continued their work but very nearly failed to unload the wagon in time. They were all simply far too exhausted. The guard had already arrived by the time they were pushing the last log out of the wagon, grunting and groaning all the while.