Parallel Journeys

As the Nazis continue to massacre Jews and deport them to death camps in Eastern Europe, Helen and Siegfried receive an order to go to Amsterdam train station on July 15, 1942, at 1:30 a.m., for “resettlement to the East.” They get a doctor to remove Siegfried’s healthy appendix, and the Nazis delay their resettlement for two weeks.

Helen goes to the Jewish Council and gets a job to stave off deportation. She cooks at a place for around 40 older Jewish people. After a few months, the space shuts down. Helen realizes the Jewish Council lies. Jews aren’t going east for work. The older people can’t work; many can barely walk.

The Nazis created the Jewish Councils (Judenrat) to manage the Jews and implement Nazi orders. The Councils made lists of people to deport to ghettos and death camps. The Nazi agency responsible for collecting the Jews and sending them east is the Gestapo, the secret police). The SS (Schutzstaffel or protection squads) oversees the Gestapo, and the SS leader is Heinrich Himmler.

Every night, Helen hears boots on the street. They go into the houses and presumably come out with fresh victims.