From the Ashes of War by Diane Moody

Author:Diane Moody [Moody, Diane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: OBT Bookz
Published: 2018-12-09T05:00:00+00:00

28

They left the bakery at Helga’s insistence, who wisely suggested they get some fresh air and perhaps give Jacob time to calm down. It took every ounce of restraint for Anya to walk away from the man she now knew was her father.

Father …

He’s alive? He’s alive!

I saw him with my own eyes!

A numbing state of shock crippled her thoughts. How could she let him out of her sight again? Even as the four of them left the quaint bakery, she couldn’t stop staring at him through the window. He, as though nothing had happened, simply went back to work, disappearing through the swinging doors.

Back in Nathan’s truck, she stared through the dirty windshield, trying to make sense of it as they waited for Helga.

“What if the boy takes off with him?” she mumbled, surprised to hear herself speak aloud.

“I had the same thought,” Nathan said as he slid onto the driver’s seat.

“That’s probably why Helga’s still in there talking to the woman,” Lars said.

Seconds later, Helga squeezed onto the front seat with them.

“What did she say?” Lars asked.

“When she sent the boy off on a chore so that we could talk, I told her it was true, that the man they called Papa was your father, Anya. That you’d been told he was killed at a concentration camp. I gave her your name and ours, and how to reach us if the little guy tries to steal away with your father.”

Anya turned to face her. “What did she say?”

“She was most kind and understanding. When I asked what she knew of the boy and the one they call Papa, she said the two of them showed up several months ago after arriving at the displaced persons camp here in town. Jacob told her he had met her nephew Günther at Bergen-Belsen. He said Günther talked about them all the time‍—‌his aunt and uncle and their bakery here in Amersfoort. How he had once spent a summer here with them and learned to make pies and cakes and a dozen different kinds of bread. He would describe them to Jacob in detail, especially at night when they went to bed hungry. At least, this is what Jacob told her when he showed up that day with your father.

“And then one morning, Jacob said Günther went to the latrine and never came back.”

“What happened to him?” Nathan asked.

“Carolien said he didn’t tell her, but became quite agitated talking about it so she didn’t press him.”

Anya sighed heavily. “I still don’t understand what any of that has to do with my father.”

“It explains why Jacob came here when the camps were liberated,” Helga answered. “I would guess he didn’t know where else to go, aside from the bakery in Amersfoort his friend Günther had talked about. As for how he connected with your father, or why he thinks Huub is his father, she didn’t know.”

“Nathan, where are we going?” Anya asked, weary of the whole conversation.

“To the displaced persons camp. I talked

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