Stars and Crosses

An excerpt from a novel written by Curtis Urness It was a very cold morning in my grandfather’s tailor shop. Winter comes early in Poland, so September was already cold. We had the coal stove stoked, and I sat near it, listening to the sound of my mother’s and aunt’s sewing machines. We had the radio on to listen to the war news. Grandfather came in and turned it off. He did that for my sake — his idea was that children shouldn’t hear such horrible things. – Then all the church bells began to ring. The boy scouts on the hill near the village must have spotted the planes first, because we didn’t hear the plane engines until after we heard the bells. My aunt Ida rose from her machine and grabbed me by the hand. “Marta,” she called to my mother, “we have to go to Arendt’s cellar!” Aunt Ida jerked me from my chair and ran, pulling me toward the door. That’s when the whole house shook. Ida and I fell to the floor. Dust and debris rained on us. The room filled with smoke.

This excerpt comes from the named source. Read the original for the full reporting.