Uprising

After Lidia finishes packing, she comes downstairs, and Mama tells her that Papa went into town quickly before they will leave. She tells Lidia that she owes Grandfather an apology for playing the piano so loudly earlier. Grandfather insists that he loved it, so Lidia plays again.

Lidia thinks of her family and how she had an older sister, Krystyna, but she died at the age of two. She wishes that Mama “loved [her] even half as much as she did Krystyna” because “no love [is] miserable” (9).

When she finishes playing, Grandfather cries and tells her that he hopes to hear her play many more times. Lidia wonders if Grandfather is afraid that he will die before they visit again or that something will happen to her.

Everyone goes outside just as Papa comes back. Mama sees him giving the keys to his automobile to Grandfather’s Jewish friend, Mr. Adelstein, in exchange for a wagon and horses. Mama tries to stop him, but Papa insists that they will be safer in a wagon since they won’t have to take the roadways and their automobile would make them a target.

As they say goodbye to Grandfather, he makes Lidia promise to “do whatever [she] can to stay alive” if the Germans reach Warsaw (11). Lidia promises that she will, determined to fight back. However, as they leave, Ryszard warns her that she needs to be careful.

As the family drives through the countryside, Lidia sees the damage that the German bombs have done. She wonders aloud what they will do if their home is destroyed. In response, Mama says that they should not have moved to Warsaw. Lidia thinks of how her mother blames her, as they went to Warsaw so that she could study music, where Chopin did.

They are relieved to find that their home is still standing. Papa gathers essentials to survive, and they all go to the cellar. Shortly thereafter, the bombing starts again. They stay in the cellar throughout the next day and night in the dark, hearing the constant bombing above.

On their third day in the basement, Papa goes above to get more supplies. Mama and Lidia see that part of their house has been destroyed.

Papa returns from the market with meager groceries, telling the others about how bad the situation has already become for food and supplies. The four of them go into the house for one hour to collect whatever they can.

Lidia gets things from her room, taking a dress and coat that is too big because they are warmer and winter boots instead of nice shoes to be more practical. When she goes down into the kitchen, she finds Mama upset over their broken dishes.

Lidia realizes that she does not care about most of her belongings—her main concern is the piano, which was in the part of the house that was destroyed. She finds it mostly untouched and sits down to play, but then Papa yells at her. He insists that things have “changed” and that they don’t want anyone to know they are there, even their neighbors, because they no longer know who to trust.

When they head back into the basement, Lidia sees what her father has collected. On top is his uniform from the Great War.

That night, Mama and Papa argue about Papa joining the war. The next morning, Lidia finds him dressed in his uniform. Ryszard tries to join him, but Papa insists that he needs to take care of the family.

When Mama and Papa go upstairs, Ryszard tells Lidia that their parents are being dishonest about the war. He hears them listening to the radio each night and has learned that Germany is destroying Poland’s transportation systems and factories, moving closer to Warsaw.

Over the next few days, Lidia and her family learn through radio broadcasts that the Germans are approaching the Warsaw border. Many prominent members of the city are fleeing. Ryszard and Lidia go into the house to find more food, and Ryszard instructs her to grab valuable things that they could sell. She gets a pearl necklace and Papa’s gold cufflinks and decides that the only valuable thing she owns is her piano.

She goes to her piano and sits on the bench. She wants to play it but knows that doing so would be a “mistake.” Instead, she runs her hands along the fallboard, vowing to stop making mistakes so that she can play again “one day.”

On Sunday morning, their maid, Ruth “Doda” Goldstein, knocks on the cellar door. Mama hesitates, but Lidia and Ryszard open the door. She is with her mother, Bubbe, and explains that she has nowhere to go. Because they are Jewish, they left Germany a year earlier, coming to Poland for safety.

Doda asks to stay with them, but Mama tells them that they are low on supplies as it is. She also expresses her fear that Poland will enforce German laws regarding Jews, putting them all in danger by sheltering Doda and her mother. However, Lidia insists that she allow Doda to stay, and Mama finally relents.

A week later, on September 17, the bombing finally stops long enough for Ryszard to go look for food. When he returns, he tells them that things are finished for Poland: The Russians have invaded from the east, Warsaw is surrounded, and their air force is destroyed. Lidia thinks of Papa, who went east to fight.

The group spends the next several days in the basement, listening closely to the radio for information. On September 27, the mayor broadcasts a message over the radio that German soldiers have officially invaded Poland. They play the Polish national anthem, but Mama shuts off the radio, telling them that there has been too much bad news. Instead, she decides to leave with Ryszard to try to sell some of their belongings for food.

After they are gone, Lidia sneaks out, hoping to help find food. The devastation of the city shocks her; it truly looks like a “war zone.” She fails to find food or anyone who answers her pleas for help.

The next morning, Ryszard finds a newspaper announcing a treaty that Russia and Germany signed to divide Poland. They finally decide that it’s safe to return to their homes, but Lidia realizes that “the fight [i]s only just beginning” (44).