Indecent

Content Warning: This section discusses antisemitism, the Holocaust, and anti-gay bias.

In 1939, Lemml returns to Poland. In America, an audience in the Catskills watches the Bagelman sisters perform “Bei Mir Bist Du Sheyn.” In Poland, Nakhmen practices speaking French, hoping to get a visa from the French ambassador. On Krakowa Street, actresses Halina and Chana perform “Bei Mir Bist Du Sheyn.” At the French Embassy, Nakhmen’s attempts are unsuccessful. 

Lemml has formed a new troupe to perform The God of Vengeance. Members of the troupe—Vera, Otto, Halina, and Chana—write to Sholem and Madje that they are still putting on the play despite the worsening political situation in Poland. They describe the deportation of Jewish people from Germany into ghettos in Poland. Nakhmen continues to attempt to speak to an ambassador, using Sholem’s name to get a meeting. Authorities in Poland ghettoize the Balut district where Lemml and the troupe live. They still perform the play where they can, though plays are forbidden for six days a week. Chana and Halina miss the smell and feel of grass. Nakhmen learns some Spanish and Chinese, still hoping for a visa, but to no avail. Nakhmen writes to Sholem, asking if he can help him.