“I don’t want to be on opposites sides of this war. Don’t you have any compassion at all for the Jewish people?”

“Yes, of course I do, but —”

“You’re supposed to catch criminals, Erik. These are innocent people!”

“The Jews will all be together in the resettlement camps. It can’t be as bad there as everyone imagines.”

“What if it’s worse?”

Erik was silent for a moment. Then his gaze met hers. “I love you, Ans. I want both of us to survive. I want a future with you. The Americans are in this war now, and that gives us hope. In the meantime, promise me you won’t defy the Nazis or hide any Jews. It’s either our lives or theirs.”

“Do you believe in God?” she asked.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“We both answer to a higher authority. For now, you answer to the Nazis, but my higher authority is God. He’s the One I must obey. If God asks me to disobey the Nazis, I have to obey Him. Just like you have to obey the authorities over you.”

“That makes no sense. What kind of a God would ask you to risk your life for someone else?”

A Bible verse suddenly sprang to Ans’s mind: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Ans understood those words now. She understood what Jesus did for her. During all the years she’d spent sitting in church and hearing Papa read Scripture every night, the Bible had merely been nice words and inspiring stories that didn’t apply to her life. Now they were real. God’s love for her was real. And the love she felt for her friends was just a small taste of God’s love. Yes, Ans would risk her life for them. She remembered another verse she’d memorized in Sunday school: “What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

“Erik, the God who would ask me to risk my life is the same God who gave His own life for us. Because He loves us.”

Ans could tell from his expression that he had no idea what she was talking about. They had laughed and kissed and talked and dreamed of the future together, yet Ans had never shared her faith with him. Lord, forgive me.

“I have to finish getting ready or I’ll be late,” Erik said. “Ans, please —”

“Stop! Don’t ask me to promise anything until you give me a chance to explain what my faith means to me. Let me tell you why I can’t make any promises.”

She turned and left without saying goodbye. Without kissing him.

CHAPTER 29