Johann had already spent two weeks on the farmstead and each day more prisoners arrived. According to the Soviets, this was only a temporary camp to collect prisoners and then send them onward to a real camp.
But since the Red Army was still fighting their way to Berlin, they understandably had more pressing issues than a bunch of bedraggled enemy combatants. The guards inhabited the ruins of the bombed-out buildings while the POWs had to stay out in the open, exposed to wind and weather.
A bone-numbing cold seeped into every cell in Johann’s body ever since the day he was taken captive. The frozen limbs and deep-frozen bones served as constant companion, along with the nagging hunger. Their captors provided them with a thin soup and bread once a day, but it was never enough. Especially
