Perchance To

Yosef stood in the courtyard as he had so many times before, but this time was very different than those other times. This house of worship had always welcomed him in the past as he made his weekly migration from his home to its hallowed halls and back again. Gone however were the warmth and comfort they had provided and in their place squalor, oppression, and ruin. The synagogue had been desecrated during the occupation and it was a reflection of the depravity of the oppressors that they had twisted so holy a place into a house of misery.
The sky had been overcast for most of the morning as Yosef stood out in the synagogue courtyard and everything had a gray pallor over it: the trees, the buildings, the grass and even the people milling about. The gates of the courtyard had been locked and armed guards had been stationed both there and at a security checkpoint a little farther away. The gates and cast iron fence that surrounded the courtyard had been augmented by large, looping coils of razor wire and an additional barrier has been constructed just outside the gates, all to keep those people in the synagogue where they were.
The large wooden doors swung open, making a clattering sound that was eerily magnified by the sullen silence of those in the yard. A few people very near the doors were startled and jumped while those further away either just turned and looked, or ignored the sound with an almost catatonic cynicism. Two guards emerged and descended the concrete steps while another man who was dressed in a long jacket stood under the awning. It began to drizzle lightly as the man in the long jacket looked over those meandering around. Yosef kept his head down while he watched the man in the long jacket as he pointed around the yard and barked orders at the guards in a language he didn't understand. The guards walked from one person to another until they found the person that their superior had indicated and roughly herded that person to the stairs of the synagogue. Three people had been selected when the man at the top of the stairs pointed at him. Yosef froze out of fear, and when the soldier spoke to him, he ignored it. He ignored the first insistent shove too as he stood there dumbfounded, but when the soldier started yelling and prodding him with the muzzle of a semi-automatic rifle, it was enough to bring Yosef out of his stupor, and he walked over too and ascended a few of the steps.
With Yosef on the steps were two other men and a woman. The woman had been a neighbor who lived a block or so away from Yosef's home and he recognized her from one of the many walks he had taken before the war started. One of the men also seemed familiar, though Yosef couldn't quite place him. The second man was a total stranger whose eyes showed he wasn't reacting well to his incarceration. He was chanting or singing or praying under his breath and rocking back and forth in a way that spoke only of fear. It wasn't very long before one more woman, and elderly one, joined them on the stairs. Five must have been the quota for this morning because the man in the long jacket turned back into the building without another word, and the two guards ushered the quintet into the darkness. Yosef had spent two days waiting in the courtyard before he had been picked. Every few hours it seemed that another prisoner was being processed through the security checkpoint to join their fellows in the yard, and twice now the number of those milling around had been culled. Seven so far had made that fateful journey up the stairs, and so far none had returned.