save our people,” I explained.
“We don’t question God’s reasons,” Mama said. “Just be grateful that your brother is still with us.”
Shmuli shrugged his shoulders and kept on peering at me furtively. But I noticed that he no longer pulled away from my embrace.
“Have a seat, my son, and stay a while. Your father won’t be home for several hours.” Her expression clouded. “I don’t know what to do with him. He won’t listen to anything I say about you.”
“I can’t stay, Mama. I wish I could spend more time with you and Shmuli, but I still have to warn our friends. Please tell Papa that Ammeister Schwarber and the master tradesmen are no longer in charge. Kaspar and his cronies are running the city.”
“This means grief and hard times for us!” she cried.
“You’re right. That’s why Papa must make sure that all our friends and neighbors know. I’ll speak to Rabbi Weltner myself. He must also know that the Ammeister has been stripped of his powers and was thrown into prison.”
“Heaven help us! Peter Schwarber was the one who protected us. Although he charged a high price for his guardianship, he still kept us safe.”
“You must leave our city as soon as possible,” I urged. “There’s no longer a place for Jews like us in Strasbourg.”
“But where can we go? We’ve lived here for more generations than I can remember. What will happen to us?” She wiped her tears with the back of her hand and nodded to Shmuli, who was building a castle with wooden blocks in a corner of the room. “To him?”
I shrugged my shoulders helplessly. “I wish I could tell you, Mama. All I know is that the sooner our people leave Strasbourg, the safer it’ll be for them.”
—
The streets were already filled with frantic people as I made my way home. The news of the Great Pestilence was spreading quickly through our city. The roads were clogged with carts pulled by mules or their owners. They were filled to overflowing with the personal belongings of those trying to escape from Strasbourg. In some, children perched on wooden benches in the back. I walked along beside them.
Poor wretches! I said to myself. Where can they go? The plague will follow them everywhere. Nowhere is safe.
At the edge of town, the carts joined a longer procession heading down a dirt road. Sons and daughters supported aged parents. Fathers carried young children on their shoulders, while their older siblings ran around at the edge of the crowd. In one cart lay a pregnant woman, her hands clutching her swollenbelly. A life will enter this world as others depart it, I thought.
A little girl, abandoned by her parents, stood in the middle of the road, weeping. “Mama, Papa,” she wailed, “where are you?” Everyone simply walked around her.
Knights and their squires were leading horses burdened with armor and weaponry. Ladies in litters reclined with kerchiefs pressed to their noses as their attendants bumped them along. A holy man was crossing himself every few steps. The crowd was strangely quiet. No one turned around to look back at Strasbourg, their home. Everyone trudged on and on.
I retraced my steps to Wilhelm’s workshop. When I drew close, I stopped at the back of a large crowd. Excited townspeople had surrounded a peddler and were eagerly buying his wares.
“What’s he selling?” I asked the man next to me.
“Amulets made of dried toads.”
“My amulets will protect you against the Great Pestilence,” the peddler said. “I guarantee it.”
“I’ll buy one,” said my neighbor, handing over his coins.
“I want one too!” announced a toothless old woman behind me.
Soon, the grinning peddler had filled up the money pouch hanging from his neck.
I passed on. A few steps away, a pilgrim was selling amulets made from the ground-up bones of a saint. I didn’t even bother to stop.
When I reached Wilhelm’s shop, I realized that I had forgotten to take my key with me. I knocked on the door and it
“We don’t question God’s reasons,” Mama said. “Just be grateful that your brother is still with us.”
Shmuli shrugged his shoulders and kept on peering at me furtively. But I noticed that he no longer pulled away from my embrace.
“Have a seat, my son, and stay a while. Your father won’t be home for several hours.” Her expression clouded. “I don’t know what to do with him. He won’t listen to anything I say about you.”
“I can’t stay, Mama. I wish I could spend more time with you and Shmuli, but I still have to warn our friends. Please tell Papa that Ammeister Schwarber and the master tradesmen are no longer in charge. Kaspar and his cronies are running the city.”
“This means grief and hard times for us!” she cried.
“You’re right. That’s why Papa must make sure that all our friends and neighbors know. I’ll speak to Rabbi Weltner myself. He must also know that the Ammeister has been stripped of his powers and was thrown into prison.”
“Heaven help us! Peter Schwarber was the one who protected us. Although he charged a high price for his guardianship, he still kept us safe.”
“You must leave our city as soon as possible,” I urged. “There’s no longer a place for Jews like us in Strasbourg.”
“But where can we go? We’ve lived here for more generations than I can remember. What will happen to us?” She wiped her tears with the back of her hand and nodded to Shmuli, who was building a castle with wooden blocks in a corner of the room. “To him?”
I shrugged my shoulders helplessly. “I wish I could tell you, Mama. All I know is that the sooner our people leave Strasbourg, the safer it’ll be for them.”
—
The streets were already filled with frantic people as I made my way home. The news of the Great Pestilence was spreading quickly through our city. The roads were clogged with carts pulled by mules or their owners. They were filled to overflowing with the personal belongings of those trying to escape from Strasbourg. In some, children perched on wooden benches in the back. I walked along beside them.
Poor wretches! I said to myself. Where can they go? The plague will follow them everywhere. Nowhere is safe.
At the edge of town, the carts joined a longer procession heading down a dirt road. Sons and daughters supported aged parents. Fathers carried young children on their shoulders, while their older siblings ran around at the edge of the crowd. In one cart lay a pregnant woman, her hands clutching her swollenbelly. A life will enter this world as others depart it, I thought.
A little girl, abandoned by her parents, stood in the middle of the road, weeping. “Mama, Papa,” she wailed, “where are you?” Everyone simply walked around her.
Knights and their squires were leading horses burdened with armor and weaponry. Ladies in litters reclined with kerchiefs pressed to their noses as their attendants bumped them along. A holy man was crossing himself every few steps. The crowd was strangely quiet. No one turned around to look back at Strasbourg, their home. Everyone trudged on and on.
I retraced my steps to Wilhelm’s workshop. When I drew close, I stopped at the back of a large crowd. Excited townspeople had surrounded a peddler and were eagerly buying his wares.
“What’s he selling?” I asked the man next to me.
“Amulets made of dried toads.”
“My amulets will protect you against the Great Pestilence,” the peddler said. “I guarantee it.”
“I’ll buy one,” said my neighbor, handing over his coins.
“I want one too!” announced a toothless old woman behind me.
Soon, the grinning peddler had filled up the money pouch hanging from his neck.
I passed on. A few steps away, a pilgrim was selling amulets made from the ground-up bones of a saint. I didn’t even bother to stop.
When I reached Wilhelm’s shop, I realized that I had forgotten to take my key with me. I knocked on the door and it
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