We Were the Lucky Ones

Warsaw is under fire, with the Polish Army uprising against the Germans. Bombs fall, and gunshots ring out all around the building where Bella works and lives. Gathering only her most important belongings, Bella leaves through the back door and hurries to where Jakob told her to meet him in the event of the uprising.

The war has taken a turn for the Allies. Adam explained to Jakob and Bella that the Polish Home Army, supported by the Red Army, hoped to force the Germans out of Warsaw. The men wanted to join the Home Army, but Halina convinced them not to try, though she also longed for a liberated Poland: “But the Home Army, she reminded them, didn’t look favorably upon Jews, and not only that, the Poles were greatly outnumbered” (304).

Bella makes it to the river, but the bridge she needs to take to reach Jakob has been destroyed. She runs and finds another bridge. Halfway across, Bella meets a group of armed men who exhort her to join them to fight for Poland. She continues hurrying to Jakob’s door.

Bella and Jakob hide for more than a week in the basement of his building. They worry whether their other family members have found safe shelter.