12 November, 1939 - Poland
Sofia lay on a scrawny mattress that had been abandoned in a storage closet, staring at the wall with unseeing eyes as light from the setting sun filtered in from a window above. Outside the barricaded warehouse she heard soldiers barking gruff commands, their boots crunching on packed snow. Through the thin wall, she heard the incessant wails of a woman brought in last night. She wished she could tell her not to waste her strength crying, but she was too weak. She had to conserve her energy.
No child should ever be forced to suffer in a prison, Sofia thought, her heart aching for the children, who were too young to understand the horrors they witnessed, but not too young to feel distress.
Since their capture five weeks ago, Jacob had been determined to escape
