We Were the Lucky Ones

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017

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Part 1, Chapters 12-14Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapter 12 Summary: “Genek and Herta, Lvov, Soviet-Occupied Poland - June 28, 1940”

Genek and Herta awaken to a knock on the door in the middle of the night. A voice yells to them in Russian, announcing the secret police. Genek goes to answer the door, telling himself that he has done nothing and has nothing to fear. The soldiers barge in and begin to search the apartment. When Genek demands to know what right they have to intrude, an officer retorts that they have a warrant. Genek hears the soldiers ransacking the other rooms.

The officer tells Genek that he is wanted for interrogation, and Herta insists on coming with him. Genek and Herta have three minutes to dress. Herta begins to pack a suitcase since they have no idea when they will return. Genek packs one as well, and they decide to bring their winter clothes and some food. Herta notices that her pocketbook, with most of their money, is missing from the bedroom, stolen by one of the soldiers.

Genek and Herta are taken to a room to be questioned by an officer, who holds a questionnaire form that Genek filled out when he signed the lease on their apartment in Lvov. The officer asks why they have not returned to Radom, and although Genek answers that he found a job in Lvov, this is not the whole truth: “In all honesty, he is reluctant to return home. His mother’s letters painted an awful picture of Radom” (88). The officer emphatically asks if Genek understands that he is now on Soviet soil.

Genek realizes why the Soviets have arrested him: On the questionnaire, there was a box that was to be checked if the respondent accepted Soviet citizenship. Genek had left the box blank, thinking he could not call himself anything other than Polish. It is clear to him that the box had purposefully been on the questionnaire to weed out potential troublemakers among the Poles.

The officer forcefully tells Genek that there is no Poland anymore, and two soldiers take Genek and Herta out to the train station. The soldiers herd them onto a crowded cattle car full of people. The forced passengers suffer in the heat and stench for 25 days as the train rolls towards an unknown destination. When the train occasionally stops, the soldiers enforce the removal of the dead bodies from the car. Emotion overcomes Herta when a baby dies in its mother’s arms.

Fed almost nothing, crawling with lice, and feeling powerless, Genek is filled with guilt that he and Herta are in this situation because he pridefully refused to check the box on the form. Genek has never been a pious man, but he prays for this nightmare journey to end, for his family’s safety.

Part 1, Chapter 13 Summary: “Addy, Vichy, France - December 1940”

Addy is waiting outside a hotel in Vichy, looking for the Brazilian ambassador to France. Addy heard that this man has been secretly issuing Jews visas to Brazil. Addy sees this as his only opportunity to make it out of France. Several other countries have already denied him visas.

It has been 13 months since Addy last heard from his mother. It is hard for Addy to contemplate leaving Europe without knowing that his parents and siblings are safe, but he feels that once he has established a safe, permanent address, he can focus on finding his family. Addy thinks about how he can appeal to the ambassador to give him a visa. He wears a suit rather than his uniform because he does not want them to ask when he demobilized.

When France fell to the German Army, Addy feared that he would be arrested and deported like Jews all over the country. Addy forged demobilization papers for himself, which have worked for him so far, but he does not want to press his luck with the Brazilian ambassador. Addy calls out to the ambassador as he emerges from the hotel, trying not to appear desperate.

Part 1, Chapter 14 Summary: “Halina, The Bug River, Between German- and Soviet-Occupied Poland - January 1941”

Halina and her cousin Franka are wading through the Bug River, which separates the German and Soviet-occupied regions of Poland. They are trying to get to a point from which they can hitch a ride to Lvov.

Adam wrote to Halina, trying to convince her that she should come to Lvov. Life in the Old Quarter was difficult, and it was obvious that the German soldiers were turning a section into a ghetto for the city’s Jews, as had happened in other Polish cities. Still, Halina could not leave her parents. Finally, Adam arranged for Halina to meet a colleague in Radom, who told her that Adam joined the Underground and was known as their best counterfeiter. Halina then decided to join Adam in Lvov.

Franka insisted on accompanying Halina. Their parents worried, with Genek and Selim missing from Lvov, but Halina promised to return to Radom with money and new ID cards for them all: “Once Halina had made up her mind to go, Sol and Nechuma acquiesced, knowing there wasn’t any point in trying to sway her otherwise” (102).

The Bug River water is freezing cold, making the crossing difficult. Halina and Franka alternate carrying their basket, which contains a little food and 50 zloty sewed into the lining. Halina sees lights up on the far riverbank, which she fears are Soviet soldiers. Franka slips and falls into the water, losing the basket. Halina dives into the water and desperately tries to reach the basket as the current carries her. She manages to catch it, but the freezing water soaks her.

As they walk over to the road, Soviet soldiers stop them. They examine the empty basket but do not find the hidden zloty. Halina and Franka say they are going to Lvov to join family. The soldiers allow them to come to their camp to spend the night, and they walk for an hour in the cold. The soldiers are young and look miserable as well. Halina thinks that she and Franka can charm the young men into letting them travel on to Lvov. Franka flirts with a young soldier, who agrees after a few days to help them get to a train station. Halina is relieved to be on her way to Adam.

Part 1, Chapters 12-14 Analysis

In these chapters, the Kurc family experiences more major changes, and the theme of survival comes to the fore. Genek and Herta, who are taken from their apartment in Lvov and arrested by the Soviet Red Army, experience the worsts of these changes. Genek never anticipated that the simple act of leaving a box unchecked on a questionnaire would result in their arrest: “By refusing citizenship, he’d labeled himself a resister, someone who could be dangerous” (89). This is another example of the family being unable to recognize, until it is too late, that the freedoms and rights they took for granted are lost. Genek and Herta suffer a horrifying journey in a packed cattle car under conditions that foreshadow the experiences of Jews sent to concentration camps later during the Holocaust.

Addy, having heard about the experiences of Jews in France and in other parts of Europe, has taken the initiative to try and save himself by emigrating to Brazil. He has qualms about leaving Europe without knowing that his family is safe, but he feels that he has no choice. Addy shows himself to have the foresight that Genek sadly lacked:

To quiet his conscience, Addy reminds himself that if he’s able to secure a visa—and thanks to it, a more permanent address—he can put all of his energy into tracking down the family once he’s settled somewhere safe (97).

Halina also tries to improve her family’s situation by acting rather than doing nothing and just watching their circumstances deteriorate. She decides to risk traveling to Lvov to join Adam so that she can bring back cash and fake IDs to help her family in Radom. She cannot just sit by and wait for them to become trapped in the imminent Jewish ghetto. Halina uses her natural charm, sensing that she and Franka can appeal to the young Soviet soldiers, in order to persuade them to continue on their way to Lvov: “They’ll keep their guard up, of course, but she will get what she wants—she always has; it’s what she’s best at” (108). Halina draws from the natural appeal and power of her womanhood to survive.