Once I was certain he’d gone, I examined the envelope. It had no markings, meaning the letter had retraced its predecessor’s steps along the resistance line until reaching me. I opened it, and golden light from the late afternoon sun fell across a single sheet of folded paper.

Heil Hitler!

I received your letter, in which you mentioned having information regarding my transfer. I’ve been eager to address that matter with you, and as your letter states, you have an additional concern which would be better revealed in person. After considering your request to have a discussion to resolve both, I’ve decided I can make use of you one last time. The Führer’s birthday will be the perfect day for a meeting, don’t you agree?

You’ll know where to find me, Prisoner 16671.

Hauptsturmführer Karl Fritzsch

SS-Totenkopfverbände

Lagerführer of Auschwitz

Thank God for Mateusz. Despite being transferred to the front lines, Fritzsch hadn’t fallen in battle. The Führer’s birthday was tomorrow, and I knew where he wanted to meet.

My plan was unfolding exactly as I’d hoped, after all.

The door opened, and I folded the paper as Franz stepped out. “Are you coming inside?” he asked.

“Yes, I was reading a letter from Mateusz.” I indicated the envelope. “Franz, would you do me a favor?”

He nodded, and I took a deep breath, not because I was hesitant, but because this moment had felt beyond my reach, and now it was here. As I clutched the letter, a surge of energy pulsed through me, more powerful than anything I’d felt in so long. I’d waited for this meeting since I was fourteen. At last I would atone for what I had brought upon my family, even if I never granted myself complete forgiveness. Even if it meant returning to that place my mind had never permitted me to escape.

“Tomorrow, I need you to take me to Auschwitz.”

Chapter 34

Auschwitz, 20 April 1945

MARIA, ARE YOU sure about this?” Franz asked for what must have been the hundredth time.

We were driving along the same roads I’d walked, roads once covered in snow, blood, and mud and littered with dead bodies. The snow had long since melted and the bodies had long since been removed, but, as I watched the roadside pass by, they were all I saw.

It wasn’t yet dawn. At my insistence, Franz and I had left to drive to Auschwitz before anyone else awoke. We were almost there.

“Are you sure you want to go back? And are you certain you want to be alone? I don’t mind staying.”

“I told you, since we’re leaving for Warsaw today, I want to see it once more to give myself closure. It’ll be difficult to visit, so I didn’t want Hania and Irena to feel obligated to come. That’s why I didn’t tell them.”