“We’re at war,” she said. “Hitler’s armies invaded the Netherlands early this morning, dropping bombs and soldiers from the sky with parachutes. Our army is fighting back, and we’ve opened the dikes to stop them with a flood. But we don’t have news from all the battlefronts yet, and no one really knows for certain how the battles are going.”

A sharp pain twisted through Miriam’s stomach at the news. Abba groaned and ran his hand over his face. “Where can we go now?” he said, speaking in German. “Where is there a place where we’ll be safe? That monster and his goons have found us again.” Miriam hugged him tightly and felt his body trembling. “Your mother should have come with us. She should have gotten out while she had a chance,” he said. “At least we would die together. Now I don’t think we will ever see her again.”

“Don’t say that, Abba. We have to hang on to hope —”

“How? We will be trapped again with no way out. Once the Nazis take over, how long do you think it will be before they do the same things to us here that they did in Germany?”

Switching to Dutch, Miriam said, “Mrs. Spielman, my father is afraid the Nazis are going to take over like they did in Germany. Is he right?”

“According to the news, our soldiers are putting up a very brave fight.” But Miriam saw the fear in the older woman’s eyes and was concerned for her.

“What about your sons in Amsterdam? Will you try to go to be with them?”

“I don’t think I can. It’s not safe for any of us to go outdoors until the fighting stops.”

Abba crouched in front of Mrs. Spielman’s chair, facing her, speaking in broken Dutch. “Do you know how Nazis do to Jews? Do you hear what happens to us in Germany? Why we leave our home?”

“Ja. Everyone knows how they persecute Jews.”

“If the Nazis win this country, they will do the same. You and me and Miriam, we must get out.”

“Where would we go?” She was clearly frightened as she looked from Abba to Miriam, twisting her knotted hands.

Abba stood again. “Maybe to Belgium. Maybe they will let us cross to France or Spain —”

“They invaded Belgium, too,” Mrs. Spielman said.

Abba stared at her, swaying as if dumbstruck by the news. “Then . . . then there is no way out,” he mumbled in German. “We are surrounded. Germany on one side, Belgium on the other . . .”

“We could cross the channel to England,” Miriam said. “Surely the British will change their immigration laws and give us refuge there. Maybe the Americans or Canadians will finally let us come to their countries.”