PEOPLE With Big Heart : (friendship without borders - Dr. Miodrag ...

verge of tears. I knew that his visit meant nothing good.
The officer and two soldiers entered the mill gate, and
soon came out with almost all adult men from the compound.
He lined up the men, who were with their backs turned
to me. He stood in front of the line, and spoke for a
few moments. Then, one of the soldiers pulled out a box
from the car and gave it to one of the older men in the line.
The men opened the packet, and started distributing
some yellow bands to all in the line. When the last men in
the line received the yellow band, the German officer and
the soldiers who were with him, without a word, left the
area.
I was relieved, almost happy – not only did the Germans
leave our friends unharmed, but they gave them something!
I ran out of my hiding, straight into the mill yard.
I was surprised to see the look on people’s faces; they didn’t
appear pleased at all. I was approached by a group of
people I knew, who showed me the bands they had received.
The word “Yuden” was written on each. By their facial
expressions, the mixture of humiliation, embarrassment,
discomfort and anger, I realized that the “present”
wasn’t gladly received. I whispered a question, enquiring
what the word meant. No one answered. The group started
dispersing in silence. A boy I knew, Zoran, suddenly threw
the band on the ground, and started stomping it, his eyes
filling up with tears. Then, finally, he, too, went into the
mill. I stood there, still not knowing what the whole thing
was about, but realizing all too well, that something awful
had just happened. Never again did I see Zoran out of the
mill; he didn’t want to wear the band, thus, he stopped going
out of the mill. I knew that he often went hungry for
days; because in the following months when the food was
scarce, he refused even to visit his friends from Sabac.
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