The Devil's Arithmetic

Rabbi Boruch, Shmuel, and another man have a contentious discussion with the head Nazi. The Nazis want the party to get in the trucks. They tell the party they’ll resettle them closer to big cities. Hannah tells them the Nazis plan to put them in concentration camps and burn them in ovens. Gitl hushes Hannah, and Fayge accuses her of trying to summon the Angel of Death—the husband of Lilith, a female demon. Gitl yells at Fayge for yelling at Hannah—a child with an overactive imagination. Rachel thinks Hannah got the ovens from the “Hansel and Gretel” fairytale.

Fayge asks about her aunts, and Shmuel says they’re already in the process of moving. Hannah can’t believe that the party is falling for the Nazis’ lies, but Shmuel doesn’t know what else to believe, and Rabbi Boruch says they have no choice. Jewish individuals have to live elsewhere until the war ends. They can’t go home and get their things, but the Nazi colonel says they won’t need anything. Their new homes have everything, and they’ll have the chance to work.

The badchan utters a few odious sayings, and Gitl hushes Hannah before she tries to warn the party again.