No Escape
I knew from the very moment I was accused that there would be no escape. There is no escape for anyone. Once they believe that you are a servant to the devil, you ought to just deny your love of God and let the execution begin.
I heard that when Wilhelm Dietz was being tortured, he died. Immediately, Johannes Muhler, the questioner, called out "The devil has broken his neck!" Herr Dietz never had a chance.
I hear the screams in this cell constantly. I believe that some of the accused go mad. I suppose that makes it easier. I sometimes wonder if my sanity makes this so difficult.
I wish I knew what to expect when they come for me. I wish I had attended the trials of the witches before me. I wonder now if there are any real witches. I used to think they were all witches, but I know I am not one. Perhaps
some of the others were not. Perhaps there are none.
A man dressed in black robes stops before my cell. "You’ll be tried on the eve of tomorrow," he informs me. Cold eyes stare at me. I am ready. I have already decided to tell them that I am a witch so they will execute
me and it will be over. I know I cannot withstand torture. Deep down, I know I do not want to deny my saviour, but I must.
***
The sound of the key in the cell lock frightens me. My heart begins to pound. The clink of the key and the beating of my heart are all I can think about as two men guide me along the corridor. Finally, the terror reaches my mind.
"Do you deny that you are a witch?"
They start with the hard question. I see they do not wish to waste time. It is all right, though, because I am ready. I open my mouth and my mind says no. Then comes the surprise. My mouth forms another word. "Yes."
"Do you mean that you claim to follow God?"
My mind is racing. I cannot believe what I said. "Yes."
"You have been seen with Fraulein Weiss, a confessed servant of the devil. If you follow God, why were you with her?"
I cannot stop the tears, but I keep my face stoic and my voice strong. "I do not know."
"You do not know?" Herr Muhler demands.
"No, I do not."
"You consort with the devil until you are oblivious even to the fact that you are participating with him. Confess this to us."
I become quiet and speak directly to Herr Muhler. "Please, let me speak with a priest."
He announces my request to the congregation. "A child of the devil wishes to speak with a priest?"
I lift my head to the people again. "I am not a child of the devil!"
"Then why do you wish to see a priest?"
"A priest will listen to me."
"Oh, we will listen. What have you to confess?"
"I have nothing to confess."
"But a moment ago, you wanted a priest."
I try to swallow the lump in my throat, but I cannot. I cannot reply to these twisted accusations.
"Are you ready to tell us?"
They wait. I cannot answer.
"If you still deny this…"
"I do."
"Then we must call up the witnesses."
I stand amazed in the small box as Christiana Geiserlin, a dear friend, comes before the assembly.
"Fraulein Geiserlin, this woman is a witch. Do you deny this?"
I look into her eyes as she looks into mine. I know now that she had been forced to say these things or suffer the same fate.
"I do not deny this."
"And what proof do you have that she is a witch?"
"I have seen her on the Sabbath in her orchard with others carrying on a ceremony."
"What kind of ceremony?"
"I do not know. I did not want to become involved so I turned away immediately."
After Christiana, they call Ruth Weiss. The questions begin the same, but her answers baffle me. She cannot look at me as she speaks. "I know her to be a witch because she has been to our meetings. She joined us only a short
time ago. I have seen her desecrate the sacred wafer with her own hands."
As she speaks, I cannot help but stare. I look over and notice many things. Her thumbnails are surrounded with dried blood and she holds herself up by grasping the railing around the box where she stands. Two men have to help her
to and from the witness box.
Herr Muhler turns to me. "There are more, if you wish."
I do not wipe away the tear from my cheek. "I do not wish to hear any more."
"Good. Confess."
"I was in my orchard when a goat came to me." I take a deep breath to steady my voice. "He told me I must denounce God or he would break my neck. I was frightened so I obeyed."
"Name the others with whom you have consorted."
"There are no others."
"Do not let the devil infiltrate our town." He slams his hand on a Bible. "Name the others!"
"There are none." My voice cracks.
His boot heels click on the hard wood floor as he turns away and rubs his forehead. He turns back. "I have done all I can. Take her down to the torture room."
My heart beats quickly, trying to escape through my throat. The two men who brought me here take my arms and guide me away. I cannot tell exactly what made me scream, but I wonder if it is the beginning of that blessed insanity.
The screams form words as we are almost gone from the room. "I’ll tell! I’ll tell!"
The men stop and Herr Muhler approaches me.
"Name them."
I start with a name I had been thinking abut most recently. "Wilhelm Dietz. He led many of the meetings."
He smiles. "Who else?"
"Martha Schumann and Ruth Weiss."
"Tell me someone we have not yet discovered."
I begin to cry as I look out over the congregation.
"There are none. I am last."
"Surely you have consorted with someone."
"No, I have not."
"But you have been seen with Fraulein Elsse."
I cannot accuse Veronica Elsse of being a witch. So far she has been able to stay away from any type of suspicion. Christiana Geiserlin, however, is already involved.
"Fraulein Geiserlin lied when she said she turned away. She joined us that eve, and many following." I can feel my heart break as I say the words, but they will not stop until they are satisfied and she is the only one I
could name to stop the questions.
***
They have put Ruth and me in the cell with many others who await execution. We sit on the floor next to each other in silence. Finally she speaks. "I am sorry, dear friend. I had no choice."
I look at her and see the intense pain. "It is all right, Ruth." I take her hand. "I knew there was no chance of escape."
"I tried so hard to stop the pain."
"I know."
We are both quiet a moment before she speaks again. "I made it through the thumbscrews, but when they began the leg screws, I had difficulty enduring it."
She allows me to lift her dress to her knees so I can see the wounds as she speaks. On either side of her calves there are deep holes. Hardened blood begins there and runs down to her bare feet.
"The man conducting the torture leaned close when he removed the leg screws. ‘I beg you, for God’s sake, confess something,’ he whispered to me. ‘You will not survive their torture and there is no escape.’ That was
when I told them I would confess."
"You are stronger than I," I reply.
***
Christiana was put into our cell after her trial. Ruth was gone by then. So were many others who were friends when I came in or who became friends. Similar to Ruth and me, Christiana and I came to our peace. It is easy to
understand once you have been forced to make the same impossible decisions as the one who wronged you.
I have been brought here to the center of the square where the executions take place. The stake is about ten feet tall. I step up about sic inches onto a small platform above the kindling and logs and they tie my arms behind the
post. I watch as the torch comes closer and closer. It touches the kindling below and the warmth begins. I close my eyes.
The End
1996