Summary

In Chapter 12, Mario and Giulia Sonnino and their family arrive at the Church of Santa Cecilia and begin boarding there with Eva. Other refugees also arrived, and soon the church was full. One day while she was out getting rations, a German officer stopped Eva at the streetcar station when he noticed her violin case. Clearly distraught about something, he threatened her with his pistol and demanded she play. She played a Bach piece, and when she finished the German soldier asked her to forgive him and walked away. As the streetcar approached, he threw himself in front of it, killing himself. Soon several German officers arrived and took Eva into custody at their headquarters on Via Tasso. After several hours in a cell, she was taken to the office of a man named Captain von Essen. He asked her about the incident...