Ans was leaving church afterwards when she heard a distant rumbling sound. The people milling around outside the church stopped to listen. “What is that?” someone asked. The roar of powerful engines swelled and grew, along with a rhythmic cadence that Ans recognized as marching footsteps. The Nazis had arrived in Leiden.

Ans left the church square, following the sound toward the city’s center. The ground shook as Nazi tanks rolled down Breestraat, their treads rumbling on the cobblestones. They were followed by hundreds of Nazi soldiers, marching in step.

Tears streamed down Ans’s face. She couldn’t move, frozen in shock at the sight of the enemy who had invaded her peaceful nation, bombing innocent men, women, and children, forcing a surrender. It was one thing to hear about it on the radio, another to see the horrifying reality in front of her as soldiers fastened bloodred banners with black swastikas to Leiden’s buildings. A deep rage filled her at the injustice.

She couldn’t let Eloise see this. Ans turned and sprinted toward the town house, thanking God that they lived on the opposite side of the ancient city moat from the Nazis.

CHAPTER 18

Miriam hadn’t slept well since the Netherlands surrendered. On the surface, Leiden seemed to be returning to normal, yet enemy troops now occupied the city, and the menacing Nazi presence hovered over it. She avoided the city center whenever she shopped, unable to bear the sight of swastikas or hear soldiers speaking her native tongue in Leiden’s beautiful streets. This was supposed to be her place of refuge. She and Abba had endured so much, given up so much to reach this place of safety, and overnight that safety had vanished.

Abba had returned to work at the university but went regularly to the synagogue to pray and talk with the other men. Miriam would hear his quiet rustlings in the apartment after she went to bed and knew he was awake for much of the night. “Please, Abba, you need to get some sleep,” she had pleaded one night.

“I must find a way to save us,” he had replied. It seemed impossible. There was no place to go. Along with Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium, the Nazis had also invaded France. No one had been able to stop them as they continued to push the Allied forces back.