Roz, who was excited at the prospect of a new start, looked up from the visa. ‘You’d think they’d be glad to see the back of us,’ she said. ‘They want us gone, and that’s what we’re doing.’ She furrowed her brow. ‘It must be costing them a lot of money to look after all these people they’re arresting – you’d think they’d make it easier for people to leave.’

The dark look her mother and father exchanged didn’t go unnoticed. ‘What?’ Roz asked innocently, but her father shook his head.

‘Eat your supper, then off to bed, only don’t forget, you’re not to get changed into your nightie. Put on your bed clothes, just in case we have to leave in a hurry.’

By bed clothes her father meant day clothes which they now wore to bed. Roz used her bread to mop up the gravy from her plate. ‘I’m sure they’d understand if we showed them the visa. Like I said, we’re—’

Inge cut her daughter short. ‘They don’t care, Roz, they’re cruel, heartless, vicious …’ She held a hand to her forehead. ‘You can’t reason with someone who’s so full of hate, they’re too blind to see.’

Roz’s cheeks flushed; her mother rarely raised her voice.

Samuel placed a hand gently over his wife’s, then reached across and placed his other hand over Roz’s. ‘A few more days and we’ll be gone, and this will all be behind us.’ He glanced at Roz’s plate which she had wiped clean. ‘Off to bed, bubala.’

Roz kissed her parents goodnight and headed across the hallway to her bedroom where she quickly washed, then changed from one pinafore dress into another. Bowing her head, she prayed for a peaceful night and for someone to stop the Nazis and their evil ways. Yawning, she climbed between the sheets, never for a moment thinking that she would be woken just a few hours later.

Now, with the soldiers banging their fists even harder against the front door, she gave a final look around their stylish townhouse apartment, wondering what would become of the possessions which were too big for them to take. Her father announced that the coast was clear and she found herself being manoeuvred to one side so that he might lock the door behind them, muttering that this would help to hinder the soldiers’ progress.