Chapter 4

As it turned out, Grandma Pola was not so bad. She fed me, gave me a drink, even gave me some clothes after her daughter and Mateusz's mother. Mateusz was acting somewhat reserved or offended by me. Maybe I accidentally kicked him too hard as I struggled to get away and now he blames me for it?

However, it wasn't until the evening that we all sat down again in the living room and a little interrogation began. They asked me mainly about my family. So I told them about Romek and his sick leg, about Anka, who did not take a step away from me and constantly tried to imitate me. About my mum who tried to raise us somehow and keep us alive and about the dad who constantly drank and then disappeared, appointed to the frontline ...:

"And how did you get here , Maria?" She asked, and Mateusz helped himself to a cookie that we baked with Grandma in the meantime.

"It is not a very pleasant story ." I sneered, because in front of my eyes I could see Ania's shot-through head and our mother dead in the snow. Ultimately,  I told them everything and expressed my dislike for the German soldiers. Then Mateusz was animated.

"Not all Germans are bad!"

"You really think so?"  I hissed offended, and Grandma Pola gave him a scolding look, as if he had not heard what I was telling a moment ago. "Listen, the Germans killed my family in front of my eyes, so I have the right to think of them as brutal creatures, not humans . Man has even a heart. Tell me who takes to shoot a six-year-old in the head, who the hell ?!" I din't even notice when I started screaming.

"Okay." he agreed, seeing my reaction. "Your anger is reasoned... I'm sorry."

"It is not okay at all!" I cried " Now I have neither a family nor a home. I'm an orphan!" I hid face in my hands "And it's all because of the Germans ..." I whispered.

"See what have you done?"  Grandma scolded him and hugged me to her."It's okay, child. Do not cry. We'll take care of you for now, so you don't have to worry about anything. '' She reassured me with her soft voice.

"You will really take care of me?" I asked still not so sure.

"Of course, sweetheart ." Granny assured. " You are welcome here. Come on, I'll show you your bedroom. '' She led me to the guest room, and Mateusz unfolded the sofa bed. I helped grandma make my new bed, and then we went into the kitchen to eat a fairly modest dinner.

Before going to bed, Grandma Pola came to my new room and told me a story.

"As you noticed, Mateusz has different opinion on the Germans. It is because Alexander, the soldier from above, helped his parents once. It was August last year when my daughter and son-in-law were involved in a kind of conspiracy against German army that, unfortunately for them, was discovered. They both fled the streets of Kołobrzeg from soldiers when they ran into him. He had lived with us for some time, so he knew them from sight. He quickly hid them elsewhere, because the soldiers came to us several times and asked about them, he gave them some money and secretly obtained passports, thanks to which they escaped to England in a short time. They didn't even say goodbye to us or pack anything. Fortunately, they remembered the address, so now they write us letters every month..."

So maybe these Germans aren't that bad after all? No! They are monsters who can only murder people and nothing else ...