Meanwhile, he managed to ignore the aftertaste of the deception imposed upon him and listened, en route to Howard’s home, to the plans his hosts had made for him and Jeremy to meet some young people.

‘We have a very active centre here,’ Howard told them.

‘Magda and Rudy – they’re my stepsister and stepbrother – go there,’ said Ben.

‘There’s no need to tell them who Magda and Rudy are, they know,’ Howard said with a smile.

‘Do they also know I have other brothers and sisters, Daddy?’

‘Since you now have so many, Ben, there must be times when you yourself have to count them on your fingers!’ Howard lightly exaggerated.

‘I’m not that bad at arithmetic.’

Christina now had a baby son in addition to the twins. And Karin had recently given birth to a girl whose red hair pinpointed her as a descendant of Abraham Sandberg.

‘I’d like to go with Magda and Rudy to the centre sometimes, but my mother prefers me not to,’ said Ben.

Reminding A.P. of his own childhood, and how thankful he was that that part of his life was over. This kid, though, was still living through it. ‘Don’t let that get you down,’ he said, ruffling Ben’s shock of dark curls.

‘Please don’t do that,’ said Ben, ‘it’s what my mother is always doing and I don’t like it.’

Because it was she who did it? A.P. conjectured. Though I’ve never felt subjected to a religious conflict, always felt certain about that part of me, there was a time when Mum wouldn’t let Dad take me with him up north and I resented my mother so much I couldn’t bear her to touch me. Dad eventually won that battle though, and I’ve ended up feeling sorry for Mum because she didn’t have the sense to see what she was doing.

He glanced at Ben, seated beside Howard in the front of the car. Looking back you saw things differently and were able to find compassion. While you were little and it was happening to you, though… ‘Like you, I’m only half Jewish,’ he told Ben, ‘and I too found that in some respects difficult.’

The little boy turned to look at him. ‘How do you find it now you’re a grown-up?’

‘If you like, you and I can have a chat about it while I’m in Munich.’

‘Could we have one today? I’m only at my dad’s house on Sundays, but I could come on my way home from school tomorrow if that would suit you better—’

‘Don’t worry, Ben,’ said Howard, ‘the chat will be fitted in.’