FOR WHOM THE LAST BULLET BLASTS

Sometimes love transcends the set boundaries of society and enters into a cosmos where
only two hearts beat, each in sync with the other...... anticipating for the moment they'll be
reunited once again ── even amidst a war.

The worldwide Great Depression, the worst economic recession in industrialized world
history that began in 1929, led to political unrest in Germany. Millions of Germans found
themselves jobless. There were frequent clashes between unemployed workers and the military.

Laura, an exquisite, delicate, sophisticated young lady and an only daughter of Jewish
entrepreneurs, had a peaceful and prosperous childhood as her parents were considered rich amid
the economic chaos. It seems that her world is safe and secure. Then, when Paul von
Hindenburg, President of the German Republic, died and Adolf Hitler took over his duties, her
world began to fall apart.

Hitler's policies were based on a strange mixture of ideas. For Nazis, Germans were the
best of Aryans or the Super Race, while other nations, specifically Jews and Slavs, were inferior.
Jewish people, who made up about one percent of the entire German population, were blamed
for the country's defeat in World War 1. Nazis power began a planned campaign of anti-
Semitism or Anti-Jewish measures. The Hitler-led government encouraged other Germans to
boycott Jewish businesses and services. This strict movement empowers the German Military to
confiscate Laura's family possessions, the keys to their well-appointed home, their family
business, along with their other belongings, uprooted them, and put them into hundreds of
thousands of debts. The Infamous Nuremberg Law took citizenship from Jews that force her
family to abandon their wealthy and comfortable living.

Their freedom ended abruptly and seems they are utterly cut off from the rest of the
world. Laura is golden-hearted and always compassionate and merciful. Her heart always melts
every time she watched people being dragged away and executed in the streets. When the Nazis
forced them to leave their home, they live in a cramped apartment with just literally nothing to
survive. As Germany's power grew, the Anti-Jewish campaign cause more serious movements as
more Jewish citizens were being arrested and imprisoned in concentration camps to be later
executed. The regime eliminated all Jews from German economic life and forced them to live in
ghettoes── urban sections restricted to Jews, including Laura.

They have included in the first batch of Jews relocated to a ghetto in Piotrków, a city in
central Poland. All the other Jews were there, but no manifestation of strength or unity emerged
from the situation. Life in the ghetto was unreal. People’s main preoccupation concerned the next
transport is their turn to die. When the liquidation of the ghetto began, the Nazis moved Laura
and her surviving family into a Buchenwald concentration camp back in Germany. When Laura's
parents tried to smuggle food into the camp, the Nazis execute them. Laura was forced to burn
the bodies, and the situation slowly turned her hardened to her suffering. The agony grew deep
inside her but still merciful to others' misery.

After a year in the camp, Laura became part of the last transport from Buchenwald to
Bergen-Belsen camp. She arrived at Bergen-Belsen in a cattle car filled with women, who upon
arrival were led into a wooden barracks with holes for windows notwithstanding freezing
temperatures. Despite all the nightmares she underwent during the war, her innate compassion
still flowing through her blood. Long fascinated serving in the medical profession, Laura went
looking for the camp infirmary. She furtively ran from barracks to barracks, inquiring about the
whereabouts of the hospital. She eventually spotted it, walked inside, and proclaimed that she
wanted to lend a hand. In that case, she was assigned to work as a camp nurse.

It was in the concentration camp that she met Florante, a young, valiant, and dauntless
German Soldier whose life has been shattered by the parents' execution during the outbreak of
the First World War. Florante is a newly deployed soldier in the concentration camp. Germany's
defeat in the war and the death of his parents greatly disappointed Florante that he joined the
German Army to serve revenge on rival countries. When Hitler ordered compulsory military
service training for German youths, he post-haste and voluntarily joined the army. These
experiences transform Florante into what he is now, a fearless soldier ready to fight for his
stance. He is submissive to his higher rank officers when it comes to policies and regulations in
the camp.

Florante's compatriot Adolfo is also included in the deployment of the troops in the camp.
Adolfo is a son of a German high-ranking official during the war. He is competitive, thirsty, and
as hungry as lion for achievements due to the pressure he is receiving from his family, especially
from his father. Adolfo is recognized as the most intelligent and brave soldier during the
mandatory training. He will do everything to remain on top, but one time in their training,
Florante outsmarts him. This situation made him envious and furious with Florante.

The first sight that greeted Florante must have seemed out of hell. Over thousands of
naked cadavers lay about the camp unburied, the victims of starvation and illness. Other bodies
lay alongside the corpses, dying. Florante later discovered some of the camp’s inmates had been
reduced to cannibalism. However, soon afterward Florante saw a different scene. He met Laura
when she was asked to show him around the camp hospital. Although Laura was emaciated and
bedraggled as Florante is a soldier, for Florante it was love-struck. It seems the flowers nodded
as he knew immediately he would marry her.

A few days later after meeting Laura, Florante managed to arrange a secret dinner and
invited the nurse to the back of the camp hospital. Florante ordered another hospital personnel to
informed Laura that they need to meet that night. When the news reached Laura, she was in
shock, and panic enveloped her as she thought that the German soldier will punish her for
something that she does not have any idea. Despite having fear and hesitations, Laura came over
to the meeting place set by the officer. To her surprise, she saw a table encased in white textiles
from broken parachutes, and there are flowers on the top of it. The lavish setting she faced when
she entered perplexed her.

Florante immediately confesses his affection towards Laura. For him, Laura is an angel in
disguise. Laura felt the same way to Florante. However, the young lady has doubts. The
notorious Nuremberg Laws also forbade the intermarriage between Jews and Gentiles (non-
Jews). Laura deems that these policies will be a hindrance to their love and will cause other
serious dilemmas. Laura admitted that she was terrified of committing and even suggest that
Florante deserved better and must find another girl who is of the same nationality as him, and
prettier than her. But Florante insisted that he will win Laura's heart even it will take a forever,
and risk his job and life.

Florante always arranges a dinner in the back of the camp hospital secretly. Florante and
Laura always sneak from their duties just to have some little conversation with one another. The
situation lasted for six months until Florante received a memorandum from his authorities.
Germany, Italy, and Japan signed an anti-communist treaty, and their collaboration eventually
developed into a full-fledged military alliance. These three countries and their allies became
known as the Axis Powers. In that perspective, Florante is one of the soldiers involved in the
troop that will be sent to Hitler's invasion in Poland. Afraid that Florante will not come back
from the bloody war, eventually, she decided to set their relationship to another level. Despite the
grim setting and circumstances, the destiny serves its purpose. Florante and Laura met and fell in
love.
German forces swept down on hapless Poland. Days later, Great Britain and France
declared war against the Axis Powers. Germany used its Blitzkrieg strategy during the war. After
the German Forces successfully invaded Norway, Denmark, Belgium, and the Netherlands that
cut the French Army to surrender, the troops, including Florante, stayed in France to prepare for
their battle with Great Britain. Florante became inspired and more courageous. Laura's response
was a big deal to him.

In his moments of solitude, he was flagging by the intense longing for Laura. He wanted
to see her. Laura's smiles were warm and inviting like a long-awaited summer breeze that will
induce his happiness amid the chaotic battles between nations. To relieve his melancholy, he
managed to write letters, which was not particularly unusual during a war in which letters were
often the only way to communicate. Their correspondence is exceptional in that nearly all of the
letters survived. Letters to soldiers were often destroyed because soldiers had no way of
preserving the hundreds of letters they received. Florante, however, carefully saved nearly every
letter Laura wrote to him during the war. Even when the soldier was in combat, he stored her
love's letters in his gas mask and mailed them back to her after he read them. They use pen
─names to keep their relationship anonymously from the attention of the German officials. They
endured this situation for several months. But in a single snap, their almost perfect love story
turned upside down.

Florante and Laura were briefly elated, but their high spirits were quashed when Adolfo
found out about their clandestine love. One Saturday night, all the soldiers are busy preparing for
the upcoming war when a mail courier arrives in the military barracks where Florante and
Adolfo stay. Surprisingly, Florante is not there, and the only person at the base is Adolfo. He
receives the letter even it is named after Florante. Still jealous and enraged at his co-soldier, he
opened and read it without any permission from Florante. The message is from Laura. She wants
Florante to go back to Bergen-Belsen as she is subjected to the terrifying holocaust. She needs
Florante to save her from her imminent death. She needs Florante at her side.

Adolfo takes this moment as an act of possible revenge on Florante. He knew for a long
time that Florante is hiding something, but now he had concrete evidence to destroy Florante's
life. Without any hesitations, he planned to back to Bergen-Belsen to lure Laura. In this case,
Florante's heart will be devastated. Just a week of travel back to the camp, Adolfo narrates a
made-up story to Laura that Florante is imprisoned as the high-ranking officials already ascertain
their illegal relationship. Because Adolfo is a son of a German Lieutenant General, he tells Laura
that he can utilize his connection to save her from the holocaust and release her love from the
prison in just one condition ── she needs to get married to Adolfo.