Peppo

One morning as I just stood about, Mr. Imre Reiner, one of our close neighbors, asked me to light him a cigarette. When I did, he presented me with a small cattle-beet slice, adding that he received half a cattle-beet every day from one of the SS Nazi soldiers as payment for shaving him. "Peppo", as the guard was known, was always seen with a pipe sticking out of his mouth. After our liberation, we found out that Peppo was really a high ranking British officer. When the British army liberated Bergen-Belsen, Peppo jumped unto the first jeep and sat beside a high-ranking British officer. Mr. Reiner added that since he ate half a cattle-beet every day, he would certainly survive the concentration camp, even if no one else did. Was he right? That we will find out after liberation.

© David Muskal, 2001