Adam and Thomas

Chapter 21

The rain didn’t stop, and shooting sliced into the night and shook the nest. As soon as the rain let up, they went down to see whether the cow and calf were grazing in the meadow. They weren’t. But Mina had left two slices of bread and some cheese. This time they were wrapped in cardboard.

They climbed back into the nest, had their meal, and were happy. Miro was also excited and hopped from Adam’s feet to Thomas’s.

“Thomas, would you please write a little letter to Mina?”

“What should I write?” Thomas asked. “I can’t write ‘Dear Mina.’ No one may know that she has friends. I’ll simply write: ‘Thanks from A. and T.’”

“Maybe you should write, ‘Blessings and thanks from A. and T.,’” said Adam.

“I’ve never used the word ‘blessings,’” said Thomas.

“It’s a beautiful word,” said Adam.

“But not understandable. I’m not used to writing words that I don’t understand. I propose writing, ‘Thanks with all our hearts, from A. and T.’”

“Why are you so precise, Thomas?”

“What can I do? That’s the way I was raised.”

The nights were cold and not quiet. Sometimes it seemed to them that the teacher, Mr. Braverman, was still lying on the grass and groaning with pain. Every once in a while the steps of a man fleeing were heard as he looked for cover in the forest.

How can we help people? Adam asked himself. We have to help people.

Suddenly before his eyes he saw his mother, working in the communal kitchen in the ghetto, serving soup to thin, weak people. When they asked whether there was another crust of bread, she would narrow her shoulders and say, “I have none. Not a crumb is left.” At night she would return from the communal kitchen exhausted and fall onto her bed. Thomas’s parents believed in studying. They taught the Jewish children who had been suspended from school and made sure they did their homework. They said, “They can starve us, but they can’t take our humanity away from us.”

Thomas’s father not only taught the Jewish children who had been suspended from school. He also organized courses in history, literature, and even a class in drawing for adults. From time to time he raised his voice and said, “Barbarity won’t deter us.” Not everyone agreed with him. Some people made fun of him and called him strange names, but that didn’t stop him. Day and night he organized and taught, until he was seized for forced labor.