We Were the Lucky Ones

Seven weeks earlier, Halina went home to Radom with some money, though there was nothing left in the ghetto’s black market. When Halina returned to Lvov, Nechuma sent some of her grandmother’s silver with Halina, hoping she might use it to get the family out of Radom. Everything changed when Hitler broke Germany’s pact with the Soviet Union and the SS came into Lvov, massacring thousands. Sol sent a truck to Lvov and urged Halina, Bella, and Franka to return to Radom. The others all left, but Halina stayed behind because she could not leave without Adam, who disappeared while she was in hiding.

Adam’s friend Wolf comes to Halina to tell her that Adam is in a work camp just outside the city center. Determined despite the danger, Halina walks to the camp where she believes Adam is held prisoner. She plans to secure his release, although she acknowledges the challenges of doing so. Halina decides to try and bribe a camp guard with the silver her mother gave her. At the camp gate, Halina hands the guard her forged ID and tells him that her husband has mistakenly been imprisoned. The guard questions her, and Halina shows him a piece of the silverware, saying that surely a Jew would not have anything so fine.