This was a trip that Simone had been wanting to make for years. Simone happens to be a bit of World War II buff. She read a few history books, Winston Churchill's memoirs, watched a few movies, visited D Day memorials, listened intently to veteran stories... That sort of thing. So the idea of visiting a city left as it was after the retreating army passed through it, shooting all the residents and burning their remains attracted Simone.
Everything had been destroyed, burned, damaged. Houses, cars, household implements... There had been so many bodies of women, men and children of all ages that most of them could not be identified. Most were buried in a communal grave. The place, though packed with tourists, had a hushed, reverent feeling that enveloped it.
Save that little B, not aware of the meaning of this place, began to sing "Twinkle, twinkle, little star!" in a rather loud voice.
People shot frowns at Simone but little B would not be deterred. Simone's invocations to "hush" fell on deaf ears.
"Show some respect," snarled a woman, pulling harshly on the hand of a very quiet 8 year old girl. "Shut him up, will you?"
Simone squatted and said, "Little B, we have to be quiet here."
He halted his song for a moment, considered this and obviously decided that Simone's admonition could be disregarded because he went right into the "ABC" song.
"Little B," Simone persisted. She closed her eyes for a second, trying to hide from what she was going to say. "Mommies and Daddies and Grandmas and Grandpas and brothers and sisters died here. Little boys and girls in kindergarden were killed here. Soldiers came and shot them with guns."
Little B stopped singing altogether now. His eyes glanced up as he considered his mother's words and his smile faltered. Finally he sighed. "But not my Mommy or Daddy or Grandma or Grandpa or brothers or sisters," he decided, his sweet smile returning. "So that's fine." He smiled and resumed singing but this time, it was a quiet hum. Simone took his hand and they finished their visit in (relative) silence.
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