“I understand. My family is the same.” He sat down on the barracks steps and motioned for Miriam to join him. She hesitated, then sat beside him, her violin on her lap. He seemed nice. And she needed a friend.

“Anyway, in the story in the book of Daniel, all the warnings of a coming disaster were there, plain as day, written on the wall by a ghostly hand. But the people couldn’t interpret them. And my family couldn’t accept the fact that we weren’t wanted in Germany. That we were hated, even. We had no future there. The persecution will only get worse and worse, until . . . well, who knows what will happen to us. So I escaped by myself. Once I’m settled in Jerusalem, maybe I can convince the rest of my family to join me.”

“My cousin Saul plans to leave for Palestine as soon as he’s well again. He was beaten by a gang of Hitler Youth and left for dead. He says nothing he might face in Jerusalem could be any worse than what the Nazis did to him. He isn’t going to wait for his immigration papers but plans to sneak into Palestine somehow.”

“Maybe I should do that.” Avi scooped up a handful of pebbles and absently tossed them as they talked.

“So how do people stay occupied all day while they wait for a visa or someplace to go —besides reading the Torah?”

“They’ve given us some garden space to grow our own food. And we can volunteer to plant trees for the government. As you can see, there aren’t very many around here.”

Miriam looked down at her hands, holding her violin. “I don’t think either of those choices are for me.”

“I’ve also offered to teach mathematics in the school they’re setting up. I think they’d be grateful if you taught music classes.”

“I would be happy to. Anything to keep busy so I can stop thinking about . . .” She faltered, desperate to erase the picture of her family and a way of life that had vanished. “To stop thinking of other things,” she finished.

“I know. It’s hard not to dwell on the past, isn’t it? And all that we’ve lost?” Miriam nodded as tears stung her eyes. Avi gave an apologetic smile as he stood. “I’ll go away now so you can practice. It was nice talking with you, Miriam.”

She realized after he left that the fist in her chest had relaxed while she’d spoken with him. She could breathe again.