Behind the Bedroom Wall by Laura E. Williams

How can it be so terrible just to be talking to a Jew? Eva asked, shaking her head, her short, dirty blond hair swinging against her cheeks. Herr Haase must have been seen talking to a Jew. I heard Hans tell Papa they’re supposed to shoot first and ask questions later. Who’d want to hide a stinking Jew? Besides, he’d be dead already if he’d been hiding a Jew, Rita said. Korinna shifted her bulky book bag from one frozen hand to the other. Why are they beating poor Herr Haase? What’s he done wrong? 003 I think it’s just awful, Eva whispered, her voice quivering slightly. Isn’t Hans handsome? Rita asked proudly, as her tall, blond brother viciously kicked Herr Haase again. Three girls stood on the opposite side of the road, watching, their blue and white Jungmädel uniforms hidden under their heavy woolen coats. He nudged Herr Haase with his boot so that the prisoner faltered again before he finally struggled to his feet. On the icy snow where his head had rested, a patch of red stained the whiteness.įaster! the first officer commanded. Herr Haase slowly rose to his knees, one arm clamped to his side where he had been kicked. Get up or I’ll shoot you now just to get it over with, he threatened. Get up, Jew-lover! said a second officer, his dark leather boots glinting in the fading evening light.

Her two children clutched her skirt, watching their father with wide, tear-filled eyes. Herr Haase, wearing no jacket or shoes against the February cold, slipped on a patch of ice and fell.įrau Haase stood in the open doorway of her house. Jew-lover! spat the tall, blond Gestapo officer, pushing Herr Haase toward the car.

Behind the Bedroom Wall by Laura E. Williams