Page 157 - Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

THE ROLL CALL IN THE MORNING WAS HELD UNDER A
brilliant sun and a sky so blue it hurt the eyes. The
woods on the other side of the barbed wire fence burst
with birdsong. Commandant Breuer himself stood at
the front of the assembly, flanked by SS guards. Before
him were six men in chains.
. Hannah recognized only Shmuel and the violin player
from the klezmer band. The other four men were
strangers to her. They had all been badly beaten and
two could not stand.
"Yitzchak . . . ," she whispered.
Beside ner Oitl was silent.
"Yitzchak . . ," she tried again.
.
"Hush."
The commandant stared around the compound as if
his mind were on other matters. Once he even looked
up at the sky. At last he turned his attention to Shmuel,
who stood chin thrust out defiantly.

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