"Consider it done, Adam. Anything else I can do for you today? If there is, don't hesitate to ask, because I doubt I will ever like you as much as I do today."

"One thing, Shmuel: Keep my name out of your column."

His jaw dropped. "Why, for Heaven's sake? Do you have any notion of how much business this story can drive your way?"

"I don't want it, Shmuel."

"Yes, I got that, thank you very much. What I want to know is why."

"I've been a hero once and didn't like it. I don't wish to repeat the experience."

"Why do I get the feeling that's not it? At least not solely that?"

"Because you enjoy fame and can't picture anyone else not feeling the same."

He wagged a finger. "Nice try, Adam. But what is really behind this request of yours?"

I smiled a lopsided smile. "There's nothing more, Shmuel. You're being overly suspicious, that's all."

"Aha," he said again, clearly unconvinced. Then he shrugged and said, "If that's what you want, then I'll do it. But you're making a mistake. A big mistake."

"Thank you, Shmuel."

He grunted, not bothering to hide how sour he was about my holding back information he desired.

After a moment in which neither of us spoke, I said, "About Esther Grunewald…"

"What about her?"

"How will you write her up?"

"In the best possible light, of course. I'll describe her selflessness in taking and saving another woman's child. I'll write about the gruesome manner of her death. Apart from a few coldhearted creatures, I doubt anyone who reads my column will finish it with dry eyes."

"You're not going to write about her involvement with a British officer?"

He pursed his lips and shook his head. "In my opinion, she's a hero, Adam, but most people won't see her that way. What they'll see is a woman who went to bed with an enemy officer, regardless of why she did it and how many Jews benefited from her actions. Do I need to tell you what words they'll use to describe her?"

"No," I said bitterly. So Mira had been right.

"I don't think she deserves that," said Birnbaum.

"What she deserves is to be celebrated as a hero."

"And one day, a few years from now, perhaps, she will be. Look, Adam, we're a young country. We need our heroes to be pure, just like a young child sees his parents. We can't process gray, only black and white. When we grow up, when we mature, then we will be able to appreciate Esther Grunewald and the hard and unseemly sacrifices she had to make."

"I understand," I said.

"I wish it were different," said Birnbaum.

35

The next night, after all the customers had gone, Greta locked the door to the café and came to sit with me at my table.