“What?” Then his expression turned from surprise to anger. He hurried across the chamber toward the others. “How could you say such a thing?” he demanded of his father. He was clearly caught off guard by the idea as well.

“That child is a curse,” Bubbe spat, any pretense of civility gone now. “She’s going to get us all killed.”

Aghast, Saul turned to me. “She doesn’t mean it,” he said quietly.

But his grandmother overheard. “I certainly do mean it. I lost one grandson and I won’t lose another because you can’t keep the baby quiet. You have to be practical and do what is best for all of us. It’s not for myself I say this,” Bubbe added, her voice softening as she turned back toward Mama. “I’m an old woman and my time is nearly done. But I have my grandson to think about, and you have your daughter.” She gestured toward me.

“What am I to do?” Mama asked, her voice cracking with desperation. “Perhaps it would be more merciful...” Her hand traveled to my sister’s mouth and I knew she was thinking of the Kleins, a family in the ghetto who had been hiding in a wall during an aktion when their infant began to cry. The mother had covered the child’s mouth to muffle its cries and avoid detection. But she smothered the child for too long and it had suffocated and died.

“Mama, no!” I reached for her hand and she moved it away from my sister’s mouth. Mama had barely survived the day in the ghetto when she thought I had been taken. She would never hurt one of her children.

“Then there’s no choice but for you to go,” Bubbe persisted.

“No,” Mama said firmly, standing and facing Bubbe directly. “We’re not leaving.” We had all been here since the beginning. What right had she to tell us to leave? Mama’s spine straightened and I saw that glimmer of her strength of old. I prayed for her to reclaim all of it as she stood up to this woman.

“At least think of your other daughter,” Bubbe shot back, gesturing in my direction. “Do you want to get her killed?”

Mama did not reply for several seconds, seeming to think about what Bubbe had said. “She’s right,” Mama said to me in a low voice. “We can’t possibly keep a baby quiet down here.” My sister, who had finally gone quiet in Mama’s arms, cooed in seeming agreement.

“What other choice do we have?” I asked.

“I won’t risk your safety,” Mama said, not hearing or ignoring my question. “Not after everything we have been through.”

She looked over my shoulder at the others. “I’ll go,” she said suddenly. “I’ll take the baby out of here. But my daughter stays.”

I stared at her in disbelief. Did she really mean to leave me behind? “Mama, no!”

“We’ll leave you two to discuss it,” Pan Rosenberg said, leading his mother away by the arm. He and his family retreated to their side of the chamber, Saul watching me with sad, apologetic eyes.