The Kommandant's Girl
Page 34
“Enough,” I say, and my words echo in the clearing of trees where we have paused. There will be time to try to make sense of it all later. For now we have to keep going. I force Lukasz, who has dropped to the dirt, to stand up and start walking again.
Shaking thoughts of the Kommandant, I think instead of the others we left behind. My father. He is still alive, or was a few hours ago. I picture the burning light in his eyes through the hole in the ghetto wall. Perhaps he will somehow survive whatever lies ahead.
Marta is alive, too, I remind myself. I remember her sitting on the bridge, clasping the gun, gravely wounded but unafraid. She saved my life. I wish that our last words before that night had not been spoken in anger, that she had not thought ill of me for sleeping with the Kommandant. Most of all I wish our friendship had not been tainted by her feelings for my husband. My mind flashes back to the moment she appeared on the bridge, gun in hand. She could have killed me and had Jacob for herself, I realize, but she had not. Our friendship meant more to her than her feelings for him.
Perhaps by some miracle Marta managed to escape from the bridge before the Nazis arrived, despite her wounds. Maybe she and my father will survive the war, I mused, and we will somehow be reunited: me, Jacob, my father, Marta and Lukasz.
I drop my hand to my stomach, thinking of my unborn child, who will also be a part of this eclectic family of survivors. As I look around the deserted forest, a wave of despair washes over me: how can I bring a child into a world such as this? Even if I find Jacob and we manage to escape, we will have nothing to give our child, not even a home. A cool breeze blows by me then and I look up through the tree branches, which are just beginning to bud, at the early morning sky. It will be fine, a voice whispers. The child will be strong. I know in that moment that the child will be a boy and that we will name him Alek.
An hour later, we reach the far edge of the forest, where the trees abruptly give way to the sloping, cleared fields of Czernichow. I pause, loosening my grip on Lukasz’s hand and scanning the panorama below us. Off to the right, not a kilometer away, I spot the blue roof of the Kowalczyk farm. Squinting, I can just make out a tiny hut behind it. I imagine Jacob standing on the porch, his face breaking into a wide smile when he sees us coming. Then I laugh aloud. I have spent so much time daydreaming, imagined our reunion for so long, that it has become second nature. Now there is nothing stopping me, yet I am still standing here thinking about it instead of going to him. I take a deep breath and step forward.
Away from the shelter of the trees, the sun shines warmly now, more spring than winter at last. Birds circle over the fields before us, calling out merrily to one another. “Come, kochana,” I beckon to Lukasz, tugging on his arm gently. Jacob is waiting. Together, the child and I descend from the forest, his small, strong legs quickening their pace to match my own. Though a long, difficult journey surely lies ahead, the first part of it, at least, is over. We have left Krysia’s as we had come, with only the clothes on our backs. But this time, we are going together, finding our way without anyone else to guide us.
Discussion Guide Questions
THE KOMMANDANT’S GIRL
What do you think about Emma’s choices in the book? Were they believable, given the circumstances she faced? What were her other options?
Do you think the ends that Emma was seeking justified the means, i.e., her choices and actions?
Despite being only nineteen years old, Emma seemed wise beyond her years. Did her character change throughout the story? How?
What was the most difficult challenge faced by Emma? Do you think you would be capable of making such decisions if you were in her shoes?
What role does Krysia play in the story? Lukasz? How do you think they affected Emma, and how might her situation have turned out without them in her life?
Do you agree with Emma’s decision to keep the paternity of her unborn child a secret from her husband? Why or why not?
Emma kept secrets from both of the men in her life—the Kommandant and Jacob. Do you think real intimacy is possible in such circumstances?
In a perfect world, what do you think Emma genuinely wanted to happen between her and Georg, and between her and Jacob?
How do you think Marta felt about Emma? Do you think her feelings for Jacob compromised her mission with the resistance? Do you believe that there was more to her relationship with Jacob than she let on to Emma?
At the end of the book, Emma and Lukasz were escaping to freedom. In your mind, how do their lives turn out? Where do you think Emma winds up one month after the end of the book? One year? Five years?
Pam Jenoff is careful to portray the Kommandant as a sympathetic character, despite his allegiance with the Nazi party. Did you like his character? Were you able to look beyond his political ties and feel sympathy for him? Why or why not?
ISBN: 978-1-55254-917-9
THE KOMMANDANT’S GIRL
Copyright © 2007 by Pam Jenoff.
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, MIRA Books, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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