Under a Sunburnt Sky by Lilly Mirren

Author:Lilly Mirren [Mirren, Lilly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781922650054
Publisher: Black Lab Press

Smuggling the Wierzbickas into the Otwock ghetto was easier than Jan had thought it would be. The guards were relaxed and didn’t follow protocol when it came to walking the fence line. The locals ignored them completely, and the Jewish Police inside the ghetto were nowhere to be seen.

Once they were in, Jan helped the family locate an abandoned apartment. The houses in the ghetto were like nothing Jan had ever seen before. They passed by wooden Świdermajer villas that looked as though they’d fallen from the pages of a fairy tale. The villas were large, with wide wooden verandahs on the bottom and top levels.

“Wow, look at that one,” said Nacha, pointing at a particularly impressive blue building with glistening glass windows on three levels and sweeping gardens.

“This is where the wealthy used to come to relax. It’s close to the sanatorium, and holiday makers would come here in the summer months to bathe and rest in the sunshine. Of course, all that was before the war and before they turned Otwock into a ghetto.”

Before long, they found a small grouping of apartments and one that was empty. They carried their suitcases up the dark stairwell and into the apartment.

Antoni and Nathan explored the adjoining rooms in the small, dank space. Nacha pulled open the curtains to let light in, but the window was stuck. Jan helped her open it and their hands touched for a single moment, sending a spark of electricity along his skin and up his arm.

He blushed and offered her a brief smile.

“I suppose you’ll leave now,” she said.

Jan thought she sounded disappointed. Likely she was sad to have to move on yet again, and into a ghetto so far from everything she knew. They’d be strangers here, would know no one. He hated to leave them, but he had to get back to Mama and his sisters.

“Mama will be waiting for me.”

“I know she’s worried.”

“Not so very much. She’s grown accustomed to it.” He laughed. “She says I don’t give her a chance to relax between attacks of anxiety and so she’s become immune to their effects.”

Nacha grinned. “I wonder if that’s what’s happened to me as well. I can’t seem to feel afraid any longer, only despondent.”

Jan studied her face—brown eyes so full of light and warmth, long brown hair pulled back into a braid with a blue scarf wrapped neatly over it. Her smile was delightful and her laughter contagious. He’d known her for as long as he could remember, but something was different now.

Antoni returned from the other room with a sneeze. “Well, there is plenty of dust, but it is safe and dry enough. Thank you, Janek.”

Jan nodded. “I will return as soon as we find a better place for you to stay.”

“Is there anywhere else?” Nathan asked.

“I don’t want to get your hopes up, but Mama is looking for an apartment where we might all perhaps live together.”

Antoni’s eyes lit up. “I told her not to bother with that. It’s too risky.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.