Everything Is Illuminated

Grandfather finally tells his story to Alex and Jonathan. Grandfather lived in Kolki with his wife and child. Herschel, a Jewish man, was Grandfather’s best friend, and would often look after the baby when they couldn’t—he even called the baby “son.” They were his only friends, and he was a daily part of their lives. Grandfather says that they had no idea what was coming or how quickly things would change.

One day, the Nazis arrived in Kolki and forced everyone in the village to line up. They held a gun to people’s heads and forced them to identify a Jew or be shot. When they got to Grandfather, he identified Herschel to prevent them from killing him, his wife, or his child. The Nazis then put all of the Jewish people in the synagogue and burned it down. Grandfather decided after the incident that he must completely change his life, and he left Kolki behind so that his son never finds out what he did.

After having sex with Maya in the cellar while the wedding is being set up in the house above, Safran goes upstairs. They all sit down to eat, and he realizes that the Romani girl is one of the servers at the wedding.