Chapter 48 Section 48

Nicola's contagious laughter quickly dispelled the melancholy that permeated the house, replacing it with a more relaxed and cheerful atmosphere.But after a few hours, our entertainment dried up and we began to crave the outdoors. Although we listened to Henrik's words and closed the curtains, it was hard for us not to notice that the sun was shining outside, the autumn air was crisp, and the clouds had almost disappeared. It made people want to play under the clear sky.I tried my best to refuse Nikolai's request to play in the street, and we soon fell into boredom, so I suggested that everyone should play a game of cleaning the house, and the children agreed.

In fact, Henrik's house is already very tidy, but you might as well leave the broom and feather duster to the children and let them play, at least let them have something to do until the master comes back. Facts have proved that my approach is wise. The two little guys spent most of the afternoon happily, and I joined them, happily doing the monotonous housework that I once avoided. I was swabbing down a once elegant but now dated cabinet when I came across something by accident. I accidentally knocked a stack of papers on the floor and scattered them all over the place, so I had to pick them up one by one.At the time, I had no intention or interest in prying at the contents of the paper, I just wanted to put them back in their place.

So I took a cursory glance at the order in which they were stacked, and realized that this was Henrik's delivery schedule.Although my Polish writing skills are worse than my spoken English, I quickly recognized that the list listed various Nazi labor camps, not only in Poland, but all over Europe, some of which were marked Henri gram name. A thought flashed in the back of my mind: the labor camp my mother was sent to might be listed in these lists.I don't remember the name, but my mother did mention it to me once, the day before we left Mejdiya.I didn't care at all at the time, the name didn't mean anything to me yet.But now... I hurriedly scanned through those directories, but the first time I didn't gain anything, so I slowed down, checked again from the beginning, and read the pronunciation of each name, hoping to wake up my memory.

The list seemed endless, but as I read it, I finally realized the true scope of the Nazi power. The labor camps on the list covered all countries from Poland to Austria, including Germany itself.Treblinka, Gros-Rosen, Sobibor, Belcek, Dachau, Palzik, Bergen?Belsen, Mauthausen, Buchenwald, Majdanek, Chelmno, etc., etc., etc. Yet the names were all equally foreign to me, and just when I was starting to lose hope, suddenly, it was there.So suddenly, but without a doubt, the name jumped out of all the unfamiliar words, and I knew that this was the labor camp where my mother was sent.This discovery cheered me up all of a sudden, and when I saw that Henrik was the delivery driver for this line, my heart was so excited that it seemed to jump out of my chest!

I rushed out of the room and called for Ilo and Nikolai, wanting to share this discovery with them, but when I reached the door, I stopped myself, thinking that even if Mama was there, Haim and Golda couldn't still alive.I can't let Yilo hold out hope. "What's the matter, Anka? What's the matter?" Iloh and Nicholas immediately ran over when they heard my excited cry. "No, boys, I'm sorry. I thought I found something, but I was wrong. Go back and play." "We're not playing, Anka," said Nikolay angrily, "we're working hard! Do you think Henrik will be happy when he comes back? If he sees how hard we're working? "

I smiled and promised, "Sure, little guy." Yiluo looked at me suspiciously, obviously not being fooled by my temporary change of words, but she said nothing.I realized that this wasn't the first time I had this thought, and I wondered just how well this child understands the world.