Once We Were Brothers by Ronald H. Balson

what I brought you: food for thought,” he said.
    Catherine smiled. “And here are my thoughts: you’re a bad influence.”
    They walked together to the conference room where Ben set the bag on a side table. Catherine examined the selections. “Mmm. I love maple frosted.” She put the doughnut on a napkin and took her seat at the end of the table. She took a bite, picked up her pen and signaled for Ben to begin.
    Zamość, Poland 1939
    “That first day of September 1939, the Germans attacked Poland from the North, West and South, destroying everything that lay in front of them. Their tanks and bombs did not reach Zamość that day, but news of the invasion did, arriving through radio broadcasts. Everyone took to the streets. Even though it was the Sabbath, newspaper boys were on the street hawking extra editions. All that night there were meetings among the community leaders. My father didn’t come home until morning and that was to take us to the synagogue.”
    “May I ask a question?” Catherine said. “Friday you told me that Ilse revealed the existence of Case White, which I understand was a top secret document.”
    “True. And you want to know why my father didn’t immediately inform the Polish government?”
    “Exactly.”
    “He did.”
    “Oh? They didn’t listen to him?”
    “In the days before the invasion, rumors were as common as butterflies and just as diverse. Hitler was cleverly giving speeches about peace-loving Germany and protecting borders. Our politicians wanted, needed to believe in peace. Father gave Ilse’s information to our local senator, who sent it on to Warsaw, but nothing came of it.”
    “Your father apparently believed it. Why did your family stay in Zamość?”
    “That’s a good question. Why did any of us stay? Obviously, if we had known the future, we’d have left. But, as it was, our destiny was uncertain and abandoning one’s roots without anywhere to go is a leap into the abyss. As I mentioned to you at the restaurant, no rational person could have conceived of the unbounded evil, of the genocide and the slaughter.
    “For Poland, even at the eleventh hour, there was reason to hope. We knew that Britain and France had warned Germany not to threaten Polish independence. England had sworn to use all of its power to defend Poland in the event of a German attack. I guess we all believed the world would not permit Germany to annihilate a peaceful country.”
    The conference room phone buzzed and Catherine excused herself to take a phone call. Solomon refilled his tea and stood by the window, gazing into the grey October sky.
    “It was sixty-five years ago, Hannah,” he said softly to the window. “So many years ago. Remember? It was a gloomy, cloudy day just like this one. The world was coming apart, but we had each other, and we had plans to escape.”
    “I’m sorry,” Catherine said from behind. “Did you say something?”
    Ben shook his head and took his seat at the table.
    “That was a call about this morning’s court appearance,” Catherine said. “It’s been continued. So let’s make an effort to finish your story by the end of the day.”
    Ben nodded. “After Sabbath morning services on September 2nd, the men assembled at the town hall to be given defense assignments. Otto and I built embankments with sand bags. Some built bomb shelters, some laid traps in the forest. In retrospect, we were foolishly naïve to think we could even put a speed bump in the way of the German advance, but our mood was optimistic, full of youthful exuberance, and we worked throughout the day and well into the night.
    “Hannah and the other girls brought us sandwiches, and told us how proud they were of their Polish soldiers. Otto and I sweated in the September sun, side by side, cursing the Germans and everything they stood for, swearing upon our souls to defend our motherland.”
    “The same Otto who would later…” started Catherine.
    “The same. Elliot Rosenzweig.