They Went Left

Back at the cabin, Zofia looks through Abek’s satchel. She finds nothing incriminating. Under his mattress, she finds the embroidered piece of material that had been inside Abek’s jacket. Zofia reflects that Abek’s clothes and possessions would have been taken from him as soon as he arrived at the camp.

Josef arrives with tea, wanting to know if she is alright. Josef infers that something has happened that Zofia is not ready to talk about. They lie together, and Josef holds Zofia, whose mind is whirling. She remembers a series of events from the past, including the events before her father’s death, when her father was punched efficiently in the windpipe; this is one of the signature moves of the German Army’s hand-to-hand fighting style. Zofia remembers Josef doing this to Rudolf on the first day in the camp and works out that he was in the German Army.

Zofia moves away from him, furious and sickened, and insists that he admit that he was a Nazi soldier. She retches into the basin. He admits that he was forced to enlist at 18 but that he deserted and slept in empty barns and cellars for the rest of the war.