In this Chapter Irene is luckily able to get Miriam into the vila safely. Irene knows that Miriam will become healthy again in the warmth. After a few days of letting Miriam stay in the basement Irene decides to go out to the town. There she witnesses two couples and their young children being hanged to death for helping the Jews. Even though she knows that death is the punishment for helping a Jew she is still astonished about what happened. She walks home in such a daze that she forgets to lock the kitchen door. This is when her world comes crashing apart. The major walks in the door and sees two of her Jewish friends, Fanka and Clara. He is furious and shocked. Irene begs for mercy and the major says he has to think about what to do. For the next few days Irene and her friends prepare for the worst. Irene tells all the other Jews to run and hide if she doesn't come back in the basement within three days. Finally one night the major storms in and says he will keep her secret as long as she will become his girlfriend. Irene is shocked but knows she has to save her friends, so she agrees. Although her friends were now safe she still felt ashamed that she had agreed to being his girlfriend. She lied to her friends in the basement by telling them they were safe because the major had only saw two of them, not all and that the major thought the war would be over soon also. A few days later Irene still feels guilty about becoming a girlfriend to such an awful person. She decides to visit Father Joseph to confess. Unfortunately Father Joseph says he can not give her absolution. She storms out of the Church refusing to sacrifice the lives of her Jewish friends even if it means going to hell. When Irene gets home later that night she is surprised when the major says that Fanka and Clara can come up from the basement and sit with them. As Fanka and Clara come upstairs they joke saying that they have now seen everything happen in their lifetimes.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
September 2016
Categories |