“Last month, when you gave me your soap, you said you’d ask me to return the favor when you needed something, so I agreed to the deal. When you came for repayment, you demanded three bread rations and left me no choice but to comply. Three bread rations for a tiny piece of soap? You swindled me, but I won’t let you do the same to my friend.”

The accusation made me press harder into the wall. He was mistaken, I was certain of it. I waited, anticipating the clarification that Hania would surely give. Instead she flashed a smug smile.

“You call it swindling, I call it a fair deal.”

“When you offered to translate my letter, I thought you were helping me out of kindness,” the second man said, his German heavy with a Czech accent. “How was I to know you’d want repayment?”

“Were you stupid enough to think I’d do something for nothing?” Hania asked with a laugh so harsh it sent a sudden chill through me. “The minute you accept something from someone, you’re indebted to that person. If you didn’t know that, now you do, and you can thank me for teaching you a valuable lesson.”

The Jewish man pinned her against the building, and, as I took a breath to scream so I could distract him, I caught sight of the look on Hania’s face. A hint of a smile danced around her lips, as if daring him to do more. The look stole the air from my lungs and kept me rooted to my hiding place while the man tightened his grip on her shoulders.

“You think you’re so clever, don’t you?” he said. “Well, I’ve been watching you, and I know how you keep your SS men close.” He waited, perhaps expecting her to blanch during his dramatic pause, but instead she raised her eyebrows.

“Jealous?”

“I wouldn’t be caught dead with the likes of you, and from now on, no one else will, either. You’re nothing but a devious nafka.” Given the way he snapped the Yiddish word that I hadn’t learned, I could guess what he’d called her. “The commanding officers will be delighted to hear a Jew is contaminating their guards,” he went on. “How does that sound for repayment?”

Both men stood tall, but their confidence withered beneath Hania’s unrelenting stare.

“I have far more power than you realize, and I have eyes and ears all over this camp,” she said. “If you don’t keep your mouths shut, my SS connections will hunt you down and ensure your silence. They won’t be hard to convince, because I know exactly how to persuade them.” She flashed a suggestive, dangerous smile before continuing in Czech and Yiddish, perhaps relaying additional threats.