The next question: Who will we marry? I tell her about Max and Leo. Greta says that she will marry Leo and I will marry Max. And then she throws her head back and laughs, like she does at least twenty times a day.

And my favourite question: How long will we be friends? We both agree on this one. For always.

That’s how I know that Greta is officially one of my best friends. I’ve decided. I’m going to tell her tomorrow. She’ll be so pleased. I imagine her meeting Leo and Max. I hope that one day that might actually happen.

That will be the best day ever.

MAX

Everything was different from the very first day of their new lives in Munich.

Max watched from the window of the big black car as they travelled through the streets. Vienna was grand and beautiful, but Munich had a different feel. Vienna might have palaces and opera houses and a river running through it, but Munich felt more serious, somehow. The kind of place where important work would get done.

Mr Fischer tapped on the window and instructed the driver to stop.

He got out of the car and came round the side to open the door for his wife. ‘We’re home,’ he said with a flourish as the three of them stepped out in front of a huge grey building with a row of pillars stretching along the length of it.

Max’s jaw dropped open. ‘This is our new house?’ he asked.

His father burst out laughing. A rare occurrence and Max was pleased to have made him laugh. ‘Not the whole building,’ he said. ‘We have an apartment.’ He pointed up to the top of the building. ‘But I think you will like it. It is the penthouse. We have a balcony with views across Munich.’

Max’s mother clapped her hands. ‘I shall feel like royalty,’ she said, her voice high-pitched with excitement.

‘My darling, that is exactly what we are now,’ her husband replied. ‘We are Hitler’s royalty. This is how you are rewarded for rising above the others and giving your life to the regime as I have done these past years. This is what I have earned for us.’

Max thought for a moment of all the times in Vienna when his mother had stood up to his father, told him to go gently on Max or challenged him on his views. It seemed that a fine apartment in Munich and a promise of the best things in life were enough to make her put all of that behind her and welcome the new start – just like Max welcomed it.

Max’s father clicked his fingers, snapping him out of his thoughts. ‘Max. Come and help with the luggage.’