Olga’s Execution
As it had been announced, today was the day of the execution of all the
prisoners condemned to death. Among them was my Olga, so I was the first to
come. When I approached the square before the town’s prison, I saw a large
gallows-tree with a long standing-board that could move forwards quickly. About
ten people could stand on it at the same time. But since there were more than
ten prisoners to be hanged today, there were split into two groups.
The first group is brought and ordered to stand on the board, while the others
(among whom I see my Olga) are left to wait for their turn near the
gallows-tree. of course it is done on purpose so that the women could see what
is waiting for them.
For the time necessary to hang the first group of prisoners, I ask the guards to
let Olga come up to me. I kiss her lips, we stand right by the gallows-tree
watching the ten women take their places on the board. Two women dressed in
white robes, the executioner’s assistants, tie their hands behind their backs,
while the executioner forces thick black bags over their heads and fastens the
nooses around their necks. Olga trembles as she watches these preparations and I
do my best to calm her down. I say that I love and that I will never forget her.
Finally, all the preparations are over, the prisoners are tied, the nooses are
tightly fastened. The executioner takes his place and rests his hand on the
lever.
“Olga, please, don’t look at it,” I urge her. “You mustn’t see this.” She nods
and quickly turns away from the horrible view, hiding her face on my chest.
The executioner pulls the lever, and the crowd ohs as the women fall a few
inches down and hang on the ropes.
For about ten minutes I hold Olga from seeing what is to happen to her soon. The
poor women are wriggling in the nooses, shaking their legs, bracing and trying
to reach the ground. Finally, they grow calm one by one, and when the last one
of them stops moving, I let Olga go and see the gallows. She turns around and
then quickly hides her face again, crying. I hold her, while the guards lower
the bodies on the ground, untie them and remove their clothes. All the women
will be buried naked. The guards take them by their feet and wrists and carry
them to a large grave dug nearby.
The guards come up and take Olga with them. I kiss her good-bye. She comes up on
the board and stands on its very edge. The women are tied again, but then the
ceremony is a bit different – instead of putting bag over their heads, the
assistants simply tie blindfolds over their eyes. The executioner stands behind
her and puts the noose around her neck and fastens it.
Oh no, I say to myself. Let this happen quickly. I try to imagine how Olga feels
standing there on the board with the blindfold around her face.
At last the execution is announced. The sentence is being read, the assistant
reading very carefully the names of the prisoners.
“Olga Robin!” I hear this name, such a dear name to me, and in contrast to it,
like a blow:
“Sentenced to death by hanging!”
The executioner puts his hand on the lever...
At first, Olga tries to move her legs to and fro, searching for something to
stand on, but she can’t reach anything. Since she’s the last one in the line,
she’s the closest to the holders of the gallows. She embraces the stand with her
feet, but they can’t hold for long, and she keeps sliding down and trying to
embrace the stand again and again.
This time only the eyes of the victims are hidden, and I can see Olga’s face, so
red and painful. Finally, she drops her feet and they go on dangling without any
logical aim. This goes on for a minute or two, then her head slowly bows, the
mouth opens and saliva starts to flow down her chest.
A few more minutes pass, and she, together with other dead prisoners, is taken
down and undressed. Her body is being dragged to the grave and I cannot even say
goodbye to her. All I have is her clothes – clothes that still keeps the smell
of her body.
The End
Copyright by Sagittarius (2001).