I smile at my best friend. ‘I know it because I feel the same way,’ I reply. It’s true. I’ve never had a friend like her. Leo and Max were the best friends I could ever have wanted back in Vienna. But they’re not here, they’re not sharing this life, these squashed homes, these badges of humiliation on their clothes. And those things are part of the glue that joins me to Greta. She is like my twin and I honestly can’t imagine life without her.

Just as I am about to tell her this, she holds up a finger and says, ‘Aside from Felix, of course. He comes first.’

I can’t help smiling. Trust Greta to make me laugh when I’m about to get all sentimental on her. It’s one of her top skills. ‘Of course!’ I reply with mock seriousness. ‘No one can beat Felix!’

Just then, a rap on the front door jolts us both. Mutti and Vati are in the kitchen with one of the other families. Otto is in the lounge with one of the boys.

Vati calls us all together. ‘Come,’ he says. ‘They need to speak to us all.’

The man from the Jewish Council waits while all four families squeeze into the lounge.

Once we’re all gathered, he clears his throat and looks at the floor as he speaks. ‘You are leaving tomorrow,’ he says. ‘The tenement block is being emptied.’

We all stare at him for a moment. Vati is first to break the silence. ‘Leaving to go where?’ he asks.

‘It’s a good place,’ the man says. ‘You will all stay together. All the families. It’s a safe place. They have assured us of this.’

He looks up at us and I notice his eyes are glistening. I wonder for a second if he sleeps well at night, or if he lies awake troubled by his job. A messenger for the Nazis. But that is all he is, just a messenger. He doesn’t make the rules, and he will no doubt be discarded like the rest of us when he’s served his purpose.

‘I’m sorry,’ he says. ‘I do not know any more than that.’

Vati pats him on the arm. ‘Hey, it’s all right. It’s not your fault.’

The man nods gratefully. ‘You can each bring one suitcase,’ he goes on. ‘They will be here early.’

The other fathers step forward to talk further with the man. The mothers gather the children together. I feel like a baby bird, small and helpless, unable to look after myself, to eat, to fly.

Greta touches my arm. ‘Elsa, I need to get back to my parents.’ Her eyes have lost their sparkle and her face is grey.

‘Of course. I – I’ll see you in the morning.’