“I warned him not to,” Uncle David said. “It’s too dangerous.”

“He’ll be all right,” Uncle Nathan replied. “He knows how to take care of himself.”

“Where would we go if we were to leave?” Mother asked. She was still beautiful and delicate, as lovely as the music she’d once performed. It was the first time she’d shown any hint of listening to Abba’s arguments.

“I told you, to the Netherlands. They are allowing Jewish refugees to flee across their border. Some people I knew from the university have already gone there.”

“How would we move all of our belongings to the Netherlands?” Mother asked. “It’s impossible.”

“When we go, we must leave everything behind,” Abba replied. “Our lives are more valuable than any of our possessions.”

“How would you get there?” Uncle Nathan asked.

“I’m told there are guides who will take us across the border in places that aren’t guarded,” Abba said. “I’ll walk if I have to.”

“And you think the Dutch people are going to accept Jews any better than our fellow Germans do here in Cologne?”

“There has been a synagogue in Amsterdam since the seventeenth century,” Abba replied. “The Dutch don’t hate us. They don’t have propaganda posters plastered on every wall, demonizing us, or signs in their shops saying no Jews allowed.”

“How would you make a living?” Mother asked.

“They have some very fine universities. Jews aren’t forbidden to teach there. I’ve already been making inquiries —”

“I’m getting worried! I wish Saul would come home.” Aunt Louisa had risen from the table and was pacing between the foyer and the dining room, lifting the curtain from time to time to gaze into the darkened street.

“Now that it’s after curfew,” Uncle David said, “Saul might have decided to stay where he is rather than get caught outside in the streets.”

Miriam’s concern for her cousin grew by the minute. They had all heard horror stories about Jews being assaulted and beaten for no reason. Jewish men who’d had their beards set on fire, women molested. But she also understood her cousin’s restlessness, his longing for freedom in spite of the danger. She wouldn’t say it out loud, but the prospect of living the rest of her life in this joyless house was unimaginable. Abba’s arguments had begun to sway her.