“Then now isn’t a good time. I’m helping Hans pack his bag.”

I turned to look at Georg. He had recently started shaving—probably a little before he needed to. The razor had inflamed the hint of acne along his jawline. He had Jürgen’s coloring and my intellect. He was handsome and proud, his boots shiny, his tie knotted perfectly—all on his own.

But his skin was red, flushed with irritation and probably more than a little embarrassment.

He was a boy. He was just a boy.

“I’ve just talked to Georg. They can’t be deploying children,” I said. I could feel the blood thundering around my body—the pulse sounding in my ears and under my skin.

“The Führer has said that we must defend the Reich to the last,” she said impatiently. “These boys have been training for battle for years.”

“You’re going to let Hans go?”

“I’m worried, of course, but I’m also proud. Hans and Georg are warriors today! It’s not for us to decide if they go. They have orders. They simply must obey them,” she said. Then she dropped her voice and scolded me. “Sofie, you should have learned your lesson last time. We are to be loyal to the Reich, above all else.”

I hung up then without a farewell. My ears were ringing—with shock, with terror, with disbelief. I turned back to Georg.

“You can’t go,” I blurted. “You need to stay with me.”

“I can’t refuse orders, Mama. That’s treason!”

“But you can ignore them, Georg, and you must. We’re losing the war,” I said, and I reached for him just as he reached down to scoop up his bag. He shook me off, his expression hardening.

“Losing the war? Don’t tell me the enemy has fooled you with their propaganda! The Führer says we just need to stay the course. Fight house-to-house, he said. That’s how we will be victorious—”

“You have to think for yourself now,” I interrupted him urgently. “It’s only a matter of time before the rest of Germany falls, and when that happens we will be liberated. It is almost over.”

Georg stilled. His gaze sharpened on my face.

“I knew it.”

“Knew what?”

His lip curled in disgust, and he shook his head.

“You’re disloyal to the Reich and they arrested you because someone found out. You and Papa are probably only alive because his rockets are turning the tide of the war.”

A torrent of words waited, boiling in my gut. The time was coming when I would be able to say them.

You were a puppet in the hands of evil men from your childhood, but there is a good person inside of you, and I’m going to help him grow strong again.