The Light in Hidden Places

Stefania pays a woman in Lwów to let her have a room for the night. The woman kicks her out at lunchtime. Stefania walks around Lwów till night until the forced laborers return to Janowska. She sees the guard, and he tells her she got Max killed. An officer’s wife went to the bathroom, and Izio thought it was Stefania. Izio confessed everything, and the guard tells Stefania how they tortured him.

Inconsolable, Stefania compares her sorrow to a dam. She cries on a pile of rocks. Some friendly people give her crackers and put her back on the train. At home, she writes a letter to the Diamants to inform them Izio is dead. She lies and says he died quickly. She gives the letter to the Jewish mailman, Mr. Dorlich, and then, missing her family, ventures to her village.

The farmhouse is empty except for her six-year-old sister, Helena, who says the Nazis took their mom and brother, Stasiu, away. Helena has been living off raspberries, and Stefania notices bruises on her cheeks. Her mom left her with the Zielinskis, as Mrs. Zielinski has been a good friend to her mom. She feeds Helena and tries not to think about Izio.