In winter of 1944, with overtaxed supply lines in the Ardennes, a German medic had completely run out of plasma, bandages, and antiseptic. During one particularly bad round of mortar fire, his encampment suddenly become a bloodbath. The survivors claimed to hear, above the screams and barked commands of their Lieutenant, someone cackling with almost girlish glee.
The medic made his rounds during the fire, in almost complete darkness as he had so many times before, but never this short on supplies.
The bombardment moved to other ends of the line, most men dropped off to sleep in the still dark hours of the morning-- new year's day, 1945.
The men awoke at first light with screams. They discovered that their bandages were not typical bandages at all, but hunks and strips of human flesh. Several men had been given fresh blood transfusions, with no blood supplies available. Each treated man was almost completely covered, head-to-toe, with maroon stain of blood.
The medic was found, sitting on an ammunition tin, staring off into space. When one man approached him, tapped him on the shoulder, his tunic fell off to reveal all skin, muscle, and sinew had been stripped from his torso and his body almost completely dried of blood. In one hand was a scalpel, and in the other, a blood transfusion vial.
None of the men treated for wounds that night, in that camp, saw the end of January, 1945.
Indonesian:
Pada musim dingin tahun 1944, dengan jalur pasokan terhambat, petugas medis Jerman telah kehabisan ampul darah, perban, dan antiseptik. Saat terjadi serangan mortir yang bertubi-tubi, perkemahan mereka tiba-tiba menjadi sungai darah. Saksi mata saat itu mengatakan, mereka mendengar jeritan dan lengkingan suara Letnan mereka yang memberikan perintah serta tawa seseorang yang genit.
Anehnya petugas medis tetap berkeliling saat terjadinya tembakan di dalam kegelapan padahal pasokan medis jelas-jelas tinggal sedikit.
Serbuan tembakan dialihkan ke tempat lain, banyak orang lantas tertidur di dalam kegelapan sampai keesokan harinya, tahun baru 1945.
Seorang pria bangun di pagi hari dengan berteriak. Mereka menyadari bahwa perban yang membalut luka mereka bukan perban biasa melainkan sayatan daging manusia yang masih baru. Beberapa orang mendapatkan transfusi darah, padahal persediaan darah habis. Setiap pasien diselubungi oleh bekas-bekas darah dari kepala sampai kaki.
Petugas medis akhirnya diketemukan duduk pada kaleng amunisi, menatap ke arah langit. Ketika salah seorang mendekatinya, ia menepuk pundaknya. Jubah tentaranya jatuh dan menyingkap seluruh kulit, otot, dan uratnya telah dikelupas dari tubuhnya dan darah di tubuhnya telah mengering. Pada salah satu tangannya terdapat pisah bedah, sedangkan tangan lainnya terdapat ampul transfusi darah.
Tidak ada perawatan bagi yang terluka malam itu sampai akhir January 1945.
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