Soldiers with guns and bayonets stood guard as the trio climbed out. Dogs barked nearby, scaring Frits. He began to shout, adding to the commotion. Miriam wept for her friends. She wondered if she would ever see them again. An hour passed. Miriam stood while she waited, her backside aching from the hard truck bed.

At last, she heard guards shouting and children crying. The flap opened and the soldiers herded a line of people into the truck —elderly people, children, men and women, all carrying suitcases. Miriam sat down again, knowing she wouldn’t be able to stand once the truck began to move. She watched as each person boarded, knowing without being told that they were Jewish, hoping that one of them wouldn’t be Avi, thanking God that none of the crying children was Elisheva. As difficult as it had been to let her daughter go, she had done the right thing. The guards pushed people into the truck until there was no more room. Then they pushed more people in. Families sat on their suitcases and on each other’s laps.

“Do you know where this truck is going?” an old man seated beside Miriam asked.

“Westerbork, the Dutch prison camp. I heard the Nazis talking about it after they found us hiding.”

“They found us, too,” he said. He looked weary and defeated, as if he’d lost the will to fight. Papa had looked the same as he’d said goodbye to Miriam.

The truck traveled all night, arriving at Westerbork just after dawn. Miriam’s legs ached from being stuffed beneath her for so long. The camp had become huge since Miriam had left with Abba. She’d been filled with hope for a new life in Leiden, filled with wonder and love for Avi. The surrounding heathland that Miriam had stared at for so many months looked the same, but the sprawling camp was a true prison now, with tall barbed-wire fences and seven watchtowers guarded by soldiers with machine guns. Rows and rows of new barracks spread across the grounds.

Miriam stayed close to Klara and Tina as guards marched them forward and forced them to stand in a large, open area in the middle of the camp. They stood waiting for a very long time, not daring to sit down. Miriam’s stomach rumbled with hunger and nerves. They had run out of food three days ago in the attic of Meijers House and hadn’t eaten since. But worse than her hunger was her thirst.