We Were the Lucky Ones

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017

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Part 2, Chapters 48-49 and 51Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 2, Chapter 48 Summary: “Jakob and Bella, Warsaw, German-Occupied Poland - August 1, 1944”

Warsaw is under fire, with the Polish Army uprising against the Germans. Bombs fall, and gunshots ring out all around the building where Bella works and lives. Gathering only her most important belongings, Bella leaves through the back door and hurries to where Jakob told her to meet him in the event of the uprising.

The war has taken a turn for the Allies. Adam explained to Jakob and Bella that the Polish Home Army, supported by the Red Army, hoped to force the Germans out of Warsaw. The men wanted to join the Home Army, but Halina convinced them not to try, though she also longed for a liberated Poland: “But the Home Army, she reminded them, didn’t look favorably upon Jews, and not only that, the Poles were greatly outnumbered” (304).

Bella makes it to the river, but the bridge she needs to take to reach Jakob has been destroyed. She runs and finds another bridge. Halfway across, Bella meets a group of armed men who exhort her to join them to fight for Poland. She continues hurrying to Jakob’s door.

Bella and Jakob hide for more than a week in the basement of his building. They worry whether their other family members have found safe shelter. In the basement with them is a family with a toddler and a dairy cow. They all take turns going upstairs to boil milk for the baby. On a day that it is Bella’s turn to go upstairs, she looks out the window for the first time in days and is amazed to see the destruction outside. She hears Luftwaffe planes directly overhead, and bombs begin dropping not far away.

Jakob calls to her to come back down to the basement. A bomb strikes the building directly, and Bella is knocked off her feet. Bella is stunned but unhurt. Jakob hurries upstairs to her and carries her back down to the basement.

Part 2, Chapter 49 Summary: “Mila, Outside Warsaw, German-Occupied Poland - Late September 1944”

It has been almost eight weeks since the bombing of Warsaw began. Mila wanted to try and get to Felicia, but she knew it was impossible. There were German soldiers stationed on the outskirts of Warsaw, and bombings occurred constantly. Mila hid with Halina and Adam in their building’s crawlspace. A member of the Underground brought food and news once a week:

None of it was promising—the Poles were outnumbered, and greatly out-armored; 10,000 residents, apparently, had been executed in Wola, 7,000 in Old Town; tens of thousands more were transported to death camps; even the sick weren’t spared—nearly all of the patients at Wolski Hospital had been murdered (309).

The promised reinforcements from the Red Army never appear. Mila is heartsick with worry, and her separation from Felicia exacerbates her fears. She has no way of knowing if the convent is safe, and the constant bombing continues to bring destruction.

Part 2, Chapter 51 Summary: “Mila, Outside Warsaw, German-Occupied Poland - October 1944”

Mila is finally on her way to the convent to look for Felicia. Adam has helped her find a car with gasoline. The roads are bombed out and landmarks are gone, so Mila has trouble finding the place. She discovers with horror that the convent is demolished: “At the sight of a miniature desk chair lying upside down, she crumples to her knees” (316).

As Mila hysterically castigates herself for leaving Felicia, a man come up and tells her that the convent had a basement. His name is Tymoteusz, and his daughter is trapped in the basement as well. Together, they remove rubble in hopes of finding the door to the stairwell. After hours of digging, Tymoteusz hears a knock under the ground. They feverishly work to clear the stairwell.

After dark, they finally reach the bunker door, but there has been no sound under the ground since the initial knocking. Mila holds Tymoteusz’s flashlight, and they step down the stairs. Everything is covered in dust. Mila hears the voice of the Mother Superior, calling that they are there. Mila wants to run to the figures lying on the floor but is afraid that Felicia is not among them or that she is one of the covered, motionless bodies. Tymoteusz finds his daughter, and Mila whispers to the Mother Superior that she is sorry they could not get to them sooner.

Suddenly, Mila hears Felicia call out to her. Mila finds Felicia feverish, with blisters covering her face. Mila scoops her up and reassures her that she will be all right. Tymoteusz tells Mila that she must take Felica to a doctor he knows in Warsaw.

Part 2, Chapters 48-49 and 51 Analysis

In these chapters, the theme of survival comes to the fore as the war’s physical destruction comes to the Kurcs living in Warsaw. The Polish Home Army launches an uprising to drive out their German occupiers, and Jakob and Adam want to join the fight. However, Halina convinces them to stay: “Please, she said, the Underground needs you. There is more than one way to stand up to the enemy” (304). They are all unprepared for the furious bombing that occurs. Jakob and Bella take shelter in the basement of his building, but Bella is caught above ground when the building takes a direct hit: “But she’s too late. She’s barely made it to the door when the window explodes. The kitchen goes black with soot and Bella can feel herself being thrown off her feet” (306). Although she is unhurt, this scene demonstrates the dire situation they are all in.

The bombing of Warsaw separates Mila from Felicia: “When the first one dropped, Mila had considered borrowing a car to retrieve Felicia at the convent in Włocławek, but she knew she would never get there” (309). This separation and the strain of not knowing if Felicia is safe consumes Mila and is more damaging to her than the physical threat of the bombings: “And with each passing day—she’s counted fifty-two since she’s been in hiding—she grows more frantic” (310). When she is finally able to drive out to the convent, Mila thinks her worst fears have come to life when she finds the convent destroyed: “Her throat is raw, her cheeks tear-stained, the voice in her head relentless: Look what you’ve done! You should have never left her here!” (317). Mila has been through so much emotional turmoil that it takes her mind a moment to register when Felicia calls out to her from the basement bunker. Mila can finally hold her daughter, who is obviously very ill, and tell her that she will be all right: “She recites the words over and over again, rocking her feverish daughter in her arms like an infant” (320). Mila says the words like an incantation, willing them to be true, hoping that she can make her daughter safe once more.