The Night War

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and religious discrimination.

Twelve-year-old Miriam “Miri” Schrieber climbs onto the rooftop of the sixth-floor apartment where she lives with her mother, “Mama.” Miri hears sirens and is fearful; Mama assures her that it is a fire engine. Miri remembers when Monsieur Rosenbaum, a neighbor and close family friend, was beaten in the street and taken by Nazi officers. She also recalls Kristallnacht, the event that prompted Miri and her mother to leave their home in Berlin, Germany.

Nora, the Rosenbaums’ two-year-old daughter, visits Miri’s family with her mother, Madame Rosenbaum. Miri helps Nora learn French, as Mama and Madame Rosenbaum don’t speak much French. Mama has saved a piece of dried lemon for Nora, who is sickly.

Miri is sent to pick up groceries for the two families with their ration books. She is afraid of the soldiers. She picks up her identity card from their concierge. She breathes calmly to manage her anxiety and pictures a beautiful imagined world of unafraid people all speaking Yiddish.

Miri wishes “Gut Shabbos” to Anna (13), a school friend, as she waits in the bakery line. Miri is relieved that they still have bread, but the baker will only sell her three, not five, loaves.