The deepest, most profound darkness descended at 1:00 AM, not with the gentle hush of night, but with a searing, unforgettable pain that etched itself onto my very soul.
I stood there, utterly helpless, watching as the rough hands of soldiers tore my father away, pulling him towards a horrifying, unknown fate in a concentration camp.
The air, thick and heavy, was saturated with the acrid, metallic tang of smoke and illuminated by the ominous, flickering glow of distant fires, making it almost impossible to breathe, to think.
My throat burned as I choked back desperate, raw screams for my Pa. "No!" Ma shrieked, her voice a ragged, desperate cry, as she lunged forward, her fingers stretching, straining to grasp his hand just one last time.
But they simply threw her, brutally, across the cold, unforgiving cobblestone street. Susan, my younger sister, a small, trembling figure beside me, and I scrambled frantically to Ma's side.
Through the dense, swirling curtain of smoky mist, I caught one final, agonizing glimpse of my father, his beloved form slowly fading into the terrifying abyss.
It was 5:00 AM when the biting, relentless cold finally drove us from the street, forcing us to move. We huddled together, each of us desperate for any scrap of warmth, as Ma, Susan, and I walked in a heavy, almost suffocating silence, every single step burdened with the weight of unspoken tears.
Once we were inside, the unbearable, crushing grief seemed to fill every corner of the house, pushing us apart, each seeking the solitary, hollow comfort of our own bedrooms. Ma retreated into hers, and Susan and I sought refuge in ours.
Later, in the profound stillness of the night, the muffled, heart-wrenching sounds of Ma's silent sobs pierced the fragile quiet.
"Cassandra," Susan whispered, her voice barely audible, thin and fragile as glass, "do you think we'll ever see Pa again?" I closed my eyes, the question a fresh, bleeding wound.
"I don't know," I whispered back, the words catching in my throat, utterly desperate to fend off the overwhelming, suffocating sorrow that clung to that night.