My Mother's Secret by J. L. Witterick

endured.
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    O N J ULY 19, 1944, we move the kitchen table and help Dr. Wolenski, Felicia, and Mikolaj out of their hiding place. They squint as they come out into the light, but they are smiling.
    We also tell Bronek and his family that it is safe to come down from the loft. They come down the ladder slowly with bodies stiff from being cramped for so long. They are hugging and crying, as are all of us by now.
    My mother taps on the ceiling three times and opens the trapdoor to shout, “The soldiers are gone!”
    Vilheim comes down from the attic with a big bump on his forehead.
    He was so excited by the news that he sat up without thinking and hit his head.
    My mother is careful to keep him hidden in the house, as he would surely be shot by the Russians.
    We don’t tell our neighbors that we have hidden Jews because there still lingers anti-Semitic sentiment.
    In our small house, it is the first time that Bronek and Dr. Wolenski meet. They can’t believe that Franciszka has hidden both their families.
    Dr. Wolenski is astonished because he knows Anelie, having delivered Walter.
    Anelie turns to Bronek with tears in her eyes and says, ”Our baby.”
    Bronek replies in a soft voice, “There’s nothing we could have done,” and holds Anelie, who is now sobbing. He tries to comfort her with, “We’ll always remember her.”
    The boys look at each other curiously, but they soon act like they have always known each other. Kids make friends so easily.
    When Bronek sees Vilheim, he is angry at first. Then he remembers the night with the German soldier who turned the other way.
    â€œI saw you sliding under the barbed wire,” Vilheim says, “but I didn’t shoot you.”

Chapter 61
    T o be safe, everyone stays withus until it is clear that Germany has lost the war. Then my mother asks Bronek for a favor. “I helped you; now it’s your turn to help someone else. Let Vilheim travel with you out of Poland. Say he is your brother. He can make his way back to Germany on his own after that.”
    How can we do this?
Help a German soldier?
But then Bronek thinks of that night and also this: a request from Franciszka—how can he refuse?
    And that is how a Jewish family, hiding a German soldier, leaves Poland.
    Vilheim leaves wearing Damian’s clothes, and I feel that, in some way, my brother would have been proud of us.
    Bronek, Anelie, Walter, and Bryda immigrate to the United States. There, they make their way to Texas, where Bronek works on a ranch, just as he did before the war.
    Dr. Wolenski, Felicia, and Mikolaj move to Palestine, where they need doctors.
    Vilheim returns to the farm, where his
oma
embraces him with tears of joy.
    She can’t believe her eyes when she sees him and thanks God for answering her prayers.
    We all find our own place in the world, but all of us are forever connected by a bond that will survive time and distance.

Chapter 62
    M y mother and I move to Switzerland, where Casmir now lives.
    In a country as untouched by the war as any could possibly be in Europe, he asks me to marry him.
    I say what he must already know: “I have always wanted to be with you.”
    He says, “But you couldn’t because your mother was hiding Jews.”
    I look at him incredulously. “You knew? How?”
    He answers, “Nobody eats that much food, Helena.”
    â€œWhy didn’t you say something then?” I ask.
    Without malice, he replies, “I thought you would tell me when you were ready.”
    â€œWe didn’t want to put your life in danger.” These words sound weak but are the truth.
    â€œI understand,” he says. “Just promise me one thing: no more secrets when we’re married.”
    I smile and say, “None, I promise.”

Chapter 63
    O n my wedding day, my mother is helpingme with my dress when she asks, “Do you know when a woman is the