Page 15 - Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

NO ONE EVEN NOTICED HANNAH'S ENTRANCE INTO THE
living room. They were all in a tight semi-circle around
Grandpa Will. He was sitting in the big overstuffed chair
in front of the TV set, waving his fist and screaming at
the screen. Across the screen marched old photos of
Nazi concentration camp victims, corpses stacked like
cordwood, and dead-eyed survivors. As the horrible
pictures flashed by, a dark voice announced the roll of
camps: "Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Chelmno, Da-
chau . . ."
"Give them this!" Grandpa Will shouted at the TV,
holding up his left arm to the set. The sleeve of his shirt
was rolled up above the elbow. The photograph of a
Nazi colonel, standing sharply at attention, flashed by.
"I'll give them this!"
Aunt Eva was shaking her head as Uncle Sam snapped
off the TV set. Then she murmured, "Please forgive
him, please. It was the war." Her voice was as soft as
a prayer.

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