“If Golding’s father was a Nazi, and if he took on Yitzchak’s name, first off, he would have to have known that Yitzchak Golding was dead. Secondly, to take on his name…Yitzchak Golding would have to have made an impression in his mind. Because remember the camp was leveled by ’43 and the war wasn’t over until ’45. Millions of Jews died after Treblinka was long gone. Golding had to have been on the impersonator’s mind for at least two years. So you know what that says to me?”

“What?”

“That the dead Yitzchak Golding was a force to be reckoned with. I’m thinking that maybe he was involved in some kind of revolt and had made a name as a local hero. Like in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.”

“But the Jews in the uprising died defending the Ghetto, not in Treblinka.”

“So maybe he was involved in one of the camp’s uprisings. There were several of them, you know.”

“I’m aware of that. I didn’t see the name Golding in any of the accounts.”

“Thousands were involved and died anonymously. He could have been one of the forgotten masses.”

“Not so forgotten,” Rina said. “Someone has his name even if he isn’t a relative.”

“Curiouser and curiouser.” Georgia glanced at her watch, not because she was in a hurry but because she was tense. “What I tell you stays between us, all right?”

“I hear you.”

“I know this man—Oscar Adler. He’s around ninety…from Czechoslovakia. But he was transported to Warsaw, then to Treblinka at the very end of the camp’s existence. When the Nazis tried to burn the camp down—this was right before the Russian invasion—a rarified few souls escaped and hid out in the woods of Poland. Even of those who escaped, most of them were returned to the Nazis by the Polish police. This man is a real survivor in every sense of the word. He’s very coherent and very alert. But there’s a problem.”

She let the words hang in the air—either for dramatic effect or it was hard for her to vocalize them.

“He won’t talk about his experiences, Rina. I’ve begged and begged him to record his story for posterity. I’ve used every tactic known to mankind…he remains mute.”

Not unlike Golding’s father. “Where do you know him from?”