The rabbi didn’t waste a minute. As soon as he saw the condition that Emil’s mother was in, he left the house. He came back quickly with two other men. One of them went right over to where she was sitting. He examined her for a while and then shook his head, looking at the rabbi sadly.
“Yes, Rabbi,” he said, “It’s most unfortunate. We’ll have to take her away at once.”
“God,” said the rabbi, making a fist. “Why are You silent in the face of these wicked men? God, how long, how long?”
He dropped into a chair and ran his fingers through his hair several times, as though he wanted to tear it out by the roots.
“We’re all losing our minds, Doctor. This is the third case like this that I’ve seen today. Merciful God, what do You want from us? Why have You turned away from us?”
Although it seemed that he spoke without any feeling, tears streamed from behind his glasses and ran down his face. But the rabbi made no attempt to wipe the tears away.
The two other men stood beside Emil’s mother, their heads bowed. Emil and Karl grasped each other by the hand. Emil squeezed Karl’s hand so hard that he almost cried out in pain.
The two men helped Emil’s mother up from her footstool. She didn’t resist at all. They helped her into her coat, because all at once she started to shiver.
As she walked between the two men, her face lit up with a smile. She took in the entire room with her warm eyes. She stopped in front of Emil, but only his lips moved.
“Mama, Mama!”
Her face glowed as she stood in front of her son. She opened her mouth as though she wanted to respond to him, but she made no sound. Then her smile changed into a grimace of pain. All her tenderness vanished. Her body stretched upward, so that she seemed taller than she really was. Her face looked strained to the point of bursting, and then she let out a scream.
The wick that had been burning all night flickered for the last time and went out. The strong smell of molten wax filled the room.
As soon as the scream escaped from her, Emil’s mother seemed calmer. Her entire body trembled with cold; even her teeth were chattering. The two men led her out of the house.
The rabbi tried to get up from his chair but sank back into it. He remained seated for a few minutes, then got up and walked to the door with shaky steps.
But Emil broke away from Karl and ran toward the door, blocking the rabbi’s path.
“What will happen to me—to us?”
His voice sounded hoarse, almost like an adult’s. His face looked frightened and angry.
“What’s going to happen to us?” he screamed.
“I’m sorry, Emil, forgive me. I almost forgot about you,” he said, stroking the boy’s head. “A great tragedy has befallen us all. There are hundreds now, just like you, just like him,” he said, pointing to Karl. “Yes, hundreds. Little children, without any parents.”
He stroked the boy’s hair and face but avoided looking at him.
“I’m leaving now, but I’ll come back later. We’re looking for a home for children like you, a home where you can get something warm to eat and have a place to sleep.”
“For Karl, too?” Emil asked.
“Certainly, certainly, for him, too. We won’t abandon him, just as we pray that God won’t abandon us.”
And so the hours passed. Emil and Karl waited, their hearts pounding. They barely spoke to each other, but listened for the faintest noise—footsteps, perhaps, or a knock at the door. But there was still no sign of the rabbi.
Darkness had fallen, and Emil huddled close to Karl.
“Are you scared?” Emil asked.
“Yes,” he answered firmly. “Now I’m really scared.”
“It doesn’t look like the rabbi will come.”
“No, it doesn’t look like the rabbi will come,” Karl repeated.
“Maybe someone beat him up,” said Karl, thinking it over.
“Yes, maybe,” Emil answered.
“Come with me,” said Karl, taking him by the hand. “Come on, we have to run away from this place before it gets really dark.”
“But where will we go?”
Karl pulled him along forcefully.
At the door Karl remembered something.
“Put on your coat, it’s cold outside,” he ordered Emil, in the same tone that his mother would use.
Emil put on his coat.
“Maybe you have another coat for me?” Karl asked.
Emil rummaged through the closet and took out something. Karl tried it on, but it was so tight on him that it almost tore.
“Too bad, I’ll just have to go like this,” said Karl, opening the door.
Karl ran quickly down the steps, with Emil behind him. Once they were outside, they just stood there like two frightened puppies. Karl began to creep along the wall, pulling Emil after him.
“Let’s go back to my building. Frau Gutenglass wanted to take me in and give me a place to sleep and something to eat. She’s very nice, I’m sure she’ll take care of you, too.”
Karl walked toward the apartment house that he had fled only the day before. He walked up the few flights to what had been his home, but now he was afraid even to look at the door. Instead he went straight to his neighbor’s door and knocked on it hesitantly.
The door remained shut. Karl waited a while and then knocked again. He started to shout, “Frau Gutenglass! Frau Gutenglass!”
Karl knocked and then pushed the door, and it opened all by itself. He stood there, trembling.
Even though it was dark, Karl could see that no one was home. He went in and began to walk from one room to the next. He knew every corner of the place well. But now it all seemed strange and unfamiliar, because the apartment was empty.
There wasn’t a piece of furniture left except in the kitchen, where a large table still stood. He remembered it well, having sat there eating with Frau Gutenglass and her husband, who used to tell him lots of funny stories.
But now the emptiness of the rooms seemed so strange that he couldn’t believe his eyes. He went out to the hall and looked at the brass plate on the door.
“Yes, that’s right.” It said “JAKOB GUTENGLASS,” with the “G” rubbed off so that it looked as though it said “UTENGLASS.”
He felt embarrassed in front of Emil. He felt as though he had misled his friend, and now he had no idea what to do.
“You know,” he said to Emil, “It’s too bad the rabbi didn’t come back.
“Just yesterday Frau Gutenglass was living here,” Karl explained, “and she asked me to come in. I’m sure that she was still living here. See, the name’s on the door. And we lived across from them, over here. You can still see our name.”
But Karl still didn’t want to turn around and look at his own door.
As both of them began to walk slowly down the stairs, a door opened on the second floor.
“Karl!” Karl recognized one of his neighbors. Karl was glad to see him and started to say something.
“Shh … Karl. Here, take this.” The neighbor quickly handed him a package and shut the door.
It smelled like roasted meat. Without saying a word, Karl and Emil began to devour the food. They finished everything that was in the package—the bread, the potatoes, and the meat. They ate so fast that when they were finished they could barely catch their breath.
“That sure was tasty!” Emil stammered. Then they threw away the greasy piece of paper that was left.
Night had already fallen when they walked out of the building. Emil and Karl stood there and looked at each other. Karl waited for Emil to suggest something, but Emil had no idea of what to say. He was waiting for his friend to come up with something.
Suddenly they both ran back into the building. Karl forgot to grab hold of Emil’s hand, but there was no need to, because Emil ran right behind him.
When they were back inside, Karl asked, his heart pounding with fear, “Did you see those two men?”
“Yes,” Emil answered, panting.
“They were dressed just like the ones who took my mother away.”
Emil was too frightened to speak. He tried to several times, but he couldn’t.
When he calmed down, he explained to Karl that that’s just how the men looked—the ones who had beaten his father the other night and taken him away, covered with blood.
“We’ll have to sleep here, in the cellar,” Karl decided. “And we’ll have to stay there until morning.”
“In the cellar?” Emil asked, trembling.
“I know every corner of it,” Karl reassured him. “I even have a kitten who sleeps down there at night.”
But Emil didn’t budge.
“You have to stop being scared,” Karl insisted and forced Emil several steps toward the cellar.
It was pitch black in the cellar. Karl tapped his way along the wall and guided Emil along behind him. He told Emil to lie down.
Emil obeyed, but he began to cry.
“They could still find us here,” Karl whispered. “Be quiet, you can’t make any noise.”
Emil whimpered in the silence.
“Just pretend that this is an island, and we’re here all alone,” Karl said to comfort him. “And when it gets light, we’ll climb up the trees and eat nuts.”
All at once he gave Emil a poke and exclaimed happily, “We’re not alone. Did you hear that noise? That’s my kitten.
“Psst—Psst—Psst,” Karl called.
Soon the kitten found its way to Karl. Emil stroked its fur in the darkness, and he felt a little more at ease.
“It must be nice to be a kitten,” Emil said, thinking out loud, his eyes shut.
“Shh. Don’t talk, go to sleep. Good night, Emil!” Karl yawned, exhausted.