Part 2, Chapter 3 Summary

The trial Michael attends is in another town. The court is composed of three professional judges and six selected citizens. There are five defendants being tried simultaneously for the same suite of alleged war crimes. As Michael sits in the observation gallery, he is stunned to hear Hanna Schmitz called as a defendant. As she stands and confirms her identity, he recognizes her, even though he cannot see her face.

Hanna confirms her identity, states she was born in 1922 near Hermannstadt, Rumania, and moved to Berlin when she was a teenager. In Berlin, she worked at the Siemens factory. Her employment continued at the Siemens factory, until she was offered a promotion to foreman. Instead of taking the promotion, she left Siemens in 1943 and, at age 21, voluntarily joined the SS and served as a prison guard at Auschwitz. In early 1944, she...