Hiding Edith by Kathy Kacer Read Free Book Online Page B

“We all know that France has become as dangerous as the rest of Europe for Jews. We are protected here by the people of this town. This is not the case outside of Moissac.”
    Eve’s father shook his head, and the three left the house. Shatta walked toward her office, hunched and exhausted. It unnerved Edith to see Shatta — always so strong and confident in front of the children — look defeated.
    Edith needed to talk to someone, but she was not sure that Sarah would be able to make sense of this. Noise from the bookbindery shop at the back of the main floor gave Edith an idea. Eric would be the perfect person to talk to. He was smart and realistic.
    “Hello.” Eric smiled as Edith approached.
    “Hi, Eric.” Edith looked down at the pile of papers, scissors, and thick thread in front of him. “What’s all this?”
    “You see that man over there?” Eric pointed toward an older man at the other end of the room, surrounded by young people.“He’s one of the best bookbinders in France, and he comes to teach us. I’ve been training with him for a few months now, and I’m getting pretty good.”
    “Show me,” Edith said. It would be a good distraction from her confusion about Eve.
    “First, you have to fold a large sheet to look like this.” Eric picked up a pile of papers from his workbench. “Then, the sections are sewn into the cover, one at a time. You sew the whole book with a single thread, so you have to make sure it’s long enough.” He wove a thick needle in and out of a pile of pages, pulling tightly with each even stitch. “If we’re lucky we get leather for the covers, but this thick cardboard works pretty well. Here’s the first book I made here.”
    Eric reached under the table and proudly pulled out a small rectangular album. It had a deep brown cover with black paper pages. Edith bent to look at the perfectly spaced stitches that he had sewn. The book was filled with photographs, many of Moissac and its children. “I took the pictures and developed them myself,” added Eric proudly.
    Edith flipped through the pages. “Who’s this?” she asked, pointing to a photo of a young couple with three small children.
    “My parents. My brother and sister. And that’s me,” he said, indicating the youngest child. The picture was taken in Poland. That’s where I was born. But I grew up in Germany. We escaped in 1939.”
    “Do you know where they are now?”
    Eric shrugged. “All over. My sister was sent to England, my brother to China. My parents managed to send a couple of lettersthrough the Red Cross, but they were only allowed twenty-five words, so I didn’t learn very much.”
    Edith stared at the picture. “Eric, if your parents arrived here and wanted to take you away with them, would you go?”
    He frowned. “I’ve been away from my family for so long that I can’t really picture us together. Besides, I’m old enough to look after myself.”
    “But if they did come,” insisted Edith, “would you leave Moissac? Eve’s parents came for her today. They say that Eve is safe with them. Shatta says she’s safer here. What do you think?”
    Eric paused thoughtfully. “I trust Shatta,” he said at last. “This house has been here for four years, and so far everyone has stayed safe. You can’t say the same for the Jews elsewhere.” With that, he turned back to his work.
    A few days later, after supper, Edith was helping to tidy the dining room. After the other girls had left, she hesitantly approached Shatta. “Have you heard from Eve?” Edith asked. By now, everyone knew that Eve had left with her parents.
    Shatta shook her head. “The news is not good,” she said, her voice catching. “Our sources tell me that Eve and her family have been arrested and sent to a concentration camp. All we can do now is pray that they survive.”

CHAPTER 11
July 8, 1943 A Special Day
    Edith thought about Eve for weeks after that, playing the scene of Eve’s departure over in her mind