Chapters 17 and 18 Summary and Analysis

17: Mother returned from buying matzo for Passover. Germans had invaded the town and were thick in the temple courtyard. Soldiers ordered Mother to take them to the "Juden Bureau," the Jewish leaders. She was forced to ride with them in the car to the Bureau. The Germans gave the Jewish leader, Mr. Hirsch, an ultimatum: twenty thousand pengos, the currency at the time, for the life of the religious leaders the Germans had trapped in the temple. Mother gave up the rest of her meager belongings as part of the ransom money.

Mother had Piri travel to Mrs. Gerber's, dressed as a peasant, to deliver some food for Passover. On the way, Piri learned that German soldiers had raped Dr. Feher's mother and daughter, and that he had shot himself to death in grief. Piri arrived at Mrs. Gerber's...