Part 2, Chapters 12-16 Summary

The five chapters comprising this section briefly summarize the continued arrival of Nazi officials, each one more cruel and violent and intensely committed to an aggressive "solution" to the Jewish problem. In Chapter 12, Brandel decides to move his wife and two sons into the orphanage at Mila 19, which is the street address, so that he may be closer to the operations of the Bathyrans. His older son, Wolf, has met Rachel Bronski, and a romance has developed. Rachel's father, Paul, walks a tightrope as Chapter 13 develops, and the Nazis tighten restrictions and rationing. On one hand, he must cooperate with the Nazis. On the other hand, his wife insists on their faithful practice of Judaism, including the preparation of their son Stephan for his bar mitzvah.

Chapter 14 brings Sieghold Stutze as the new SS commander in Warsaw. His first...