My jaw fell so wide open it almost hurt. ‘What?’ I hissed. ‘You’re Jewish?’

‘There isn’t a synagogue in this town and we’ve never been part of a bigger community – but yeah, we light candles on Friday nights and we don’t eat bread at Passover.’ Daniel shrugged. ‘I’m Jewish. What’s the big deal?’

‘But – but you’re just like all the others! They don’t tease you, they don’t bully you. You’re one of the gang!’

Daniel pulled a face. ‘Why shouldn’t I be one of the gang?’ he asked. ‘It’s not a crime to be Jewish, you know.’

I actually laughed at that point. He had literally no idea. No idea that, actually, it really was a crime to be Jewish in my old life.

But maybe it was me who had no idea. No real belief that those days were over and that we really were safe in England. Daniel was right. I hadn’t done anything wrong, and I had to stop acting as though I had.

I had to start living again.

It was time to start telling myself I was safe. We’d escaped. We had nothing to fear in Britain.

So I smiled at Daniel. ‘No, you’re right,’ I said. ‘It’s not a crime at all. I’m only kidding.’

‘See, that’s more like it,’ he said. ‘Just keep smiling like that. If someone says something stupid to you, don’t let them know it’s bothered you. Brush it off. Tease them back. You’ll fit in with us in no time.’

By the time we got to school and Daniel and I sat next to each other in registration and nudged each other in assembly and sent notes to each other in class, I realized I had something I hadn’t had for years. Something I hadn’t had since Max and Elsa had left Vienna.

I had a friend.

1941

ELSA

Where we live now isn’t too bad. We were moved to a tenement block on the poor side of town. We were amongst the first to be moved here. Like the Nazi soldiers had said, it was our misfortune to have been in a house so near to their headquarters that meant we were evicted so early on.

The rest of Prague’s Jews weren’t all that far behind us. All of this year, Jewish families have been having their homes taken from them and being sent to live in these tenement blocks. Being so close to so many Jewish people is almost fun, in a strange sort of way. It’s like we’re one big family, a community of people all in it together. The best things about it are: