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Nacha eased through the door, shut and locked it behind her.She hung her coat, hands trembling on the coatrack, and then ran to the window to peep through the curtains.The men didn’t waste any time.They set about digging holes in the middle of the courtyard.
“Babcia!”called Nacha, her voice hoarse with fear.
Babcia came halfway from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron, a frown on her face.“Where have you been?You’re supposed to be helping.What do you think—I should do it on my own?Maybe you can sit at the table and I can serve you as well.”
“Babcia, look!”she insisted.
Babcia shook her head as she shuffled to the window.“Girls these days.You don’t know what life was like for us… What is this?”Babcia’s face fell.“What are they up to?”
The front door slammed shut and Tata came into the room, puffing hard.“It’s a wall.”He slumped into a chair at the kitchen table, resting his head in his hands.It seemed as if he would never catch his breath.Nathan stepped inside after him.He, too, was breathing hard.
“They’re building a wall around the ghetto,” said Nathan.
Babcia’s hand flew to cover her mouth.“Through our backyard?”
Tata nodded, letting his hands drop to rest on the table.
A lump formed in Nacha’s throat as she turned away from the pained look on her father’s face to stare again at the workmen in the courtyard.She’d been so happy only a few minutes earlier.And now, everything had changed.She hadn’t really believed it could happen.Surely the Germans couldn’t keep her and her family inside a ghetto, away from the world.But now she saw it could be done.If they were willing to build a wall around a city full of people, she supposed they could do anything at all.
“They’re sealing us off today,” continued Tata, confirming her worst fears.“Over three hundred thousand people.”
“How will we all fit?”asked Babcia.“What will we eat?”
Papa stepped slowly down the stairs, his reading glasses hung on a string around his neck.
“Did you see?”asked Babcia.
He sighed.“I did.”
“What will happen now?”asked Nacha to no one in particular.
“I don’t know,” replied Tata, coming to her and taking her hand in his to squeeze it.She leaned against his chest, and his arms encircled her.“But we must do as we’re told.We don’t want to anger them.Who knows what they might do?And surely this can’t last forever.They want us to stay here—we’ll do it.We’ll keep out of sight.We won’t cause any trouble.We will stay home and keep to ourselves.Where is Berek?”
“They went to see the Cykiert family.Jan and Waltrina wanted to say their goodbyes.”Tata’s lips pulled into a tight line.“I hope they got out in time.”
Gunshots filled the quiet, followed by screaming in the distance.Nacha ran to the front door and opened it a crack.She peered outside, her heart beating out a staccato rhythm.A woman ran by along the street, pulling a small child by the hand after her.A group of five men sprinted past the woman.There were more gunshots.At the end of the street, flames licked at the second story of an apartment building.Black smoke billowed into the sky overhead.The scent of scorched earth and gunpowder filled the air.
When a neighbour shuffled by, blood streaming from a wound on the side of her head, Nacha pulled the door shut with a bang.She clapped a hand over her mouth and ran past Babcia and Tata, through the kitchen.Ignoring their shouted questions, she ran up the staircase.She threw herself down on her bed, pushed her head under the pillow, and bit down on her fist to quiet the groaning sobs that bubbled up her throat.
