We hug briefly and then she leaves. The Judenrat man leaves shortly after her and I go to our room.

Mutti is already in there starting to tidy and pack up our things. I grab the bags from beside the grubby mattress that the four of us have shared since we came to live here.

Amongst the fear and panic and sudden rush of activity, one thought brings me a twisted kind of comfort: we own so little now that at least it won’t take long to pack.

MAX

‘One, two, three, go!’ Max slammed his hand down on his knee, fingers spread in a ‘V’ shape.

‘I win! I got the scissors!’ He pointed at the other boy’s hand, his palm flat on its side. ‘You lose, Erich.’

The boys were at the park for a Hitler Youth afternoon. Erich was one of Max’s Hitler Youth friends. He wasn’t his best friend. To be honest, Max wasn’t sure which of them he would call his best friend. Probably none of them. He didn’t need a best friend anyway. He served Hitler. That was all he needed.

The other boys would be here soon for a rally and training but they had arrived early and decided to play their favourite game while they waited: Soldiers.

‘Best of three!’ Erich said. He put both palms together, in a mock begging action. ‘Please! I always lose. It’s not fair!’

Max laughed. ‘You always lose because I am better than you,’ he teased.

Erich stuck his elbow out to nudge him in the side, but Max swerved out of his way. ‘See. You can’t get me. I’m better than you at everything.’

Erich jumped up. ‘We’ll see about that,’ he said.

Max was on his toes in a second. ‘Come on, then,’ he said. ‘If you can catch me before I get to the end of the field, you get to choose who’s who. If you can’t, I do. Fair?’

Erich shrugged. ‘Fair,’ he said.

‘Okay. Go!’ Max ran as fast as he could across the field. Erich was right behind him, maybe an arm’s length away. As Max fought to stay ahead of his friend, something about it felt familiar. Running like this, playing chase in the park. How many times had he done this with Leo? Too many to count.

The thought of it flashed a pain across his chest. He sped up even more, so that he could outrun the memory.

Max reached the end of the field two seconds before Erich. ‘Loser!’ he said, laughing as the two boys panted and fell to the ground.

‘Okay. Fair enough,’ Erich said. ‘You win. You get to choose.’

Max didn’t have to think about his decision. ‘I’ll be the Nazi soldier.’

‘Of course you will,’ Erich said dejectedly.