“He’s in the same rest home as my uncle. You know me: I’ve got a big mouth, and old folk are the talkiest people in the world when you give them a chance. He let it slip one day that he survived Treblinka—kind of accidentally on purpose. You could have picked me off the floor. I was shocked beyond belief. I started thinking about how much good he could do for the Center. But when I mentioned it, he froze like an icicle. He turned red with fury and hypertension and told me under no uncertain terms was I allowed to mention his experience to anyone. I thought that was terribly unfair, but I was not about to give the man a coronary. So I’ve kept my promise, and as much as I’d like to bombard him with questions, I’ve kept my mouth shut. So far.”

It was unfair, but who was Rina to judge someone who had gone through that monstrous ordeal? She said, “It’s a shame. I’m sure there are people out there who don’t know what happened to their loved ones.”

“Not in this case. Treblinka wiped out entire families—all generations. Now, once in a blue moon, I’ll mention a name to Oscar. If he knows the name, he’ll tell me yes or no. But so far, he hasn’t known any names. That’s because by the time he got to Warsaw, the Nazis were killing the Jews at such a fast rate, he never got a chance to know anyone for more than a week at a time. He only survived because he hid out until the bitter end.”

“I guess at ninety he feels that he earned the right not to talk.” Rina thought for a moment. “Is there anything he especially likes to eat? How about some homemade soup?”

Georgia rocked her hand back and forth. “Soup may be good.”

“How about if I make him some homemade chicken soup? Or better yet if I make him some old-fashioned cabbage soup with boiled flanken?”

“How about both?”

“Easy enough. I’ll make two pots. And I’ll even include matzoh balls and kreplach with the chicken soup. Noncontingent upon his talking about his awful experience. He gets the soup no matter what.”

“You may have something there.” Georgia shrugged. “But don’t be disappointed if he refuses to talk to you.”

“Once he tastes my soup, he won’t say no.”

Georgia stared at Rina. “I’ll tell him you’re pretty. In addition to soup, Oscar’s a sucker for a pretty face.”

26