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know where he had gone or why. But Leila continued to speak German to the children, as she had been doing for years, and they became more and more fluent in her native language.
    And then, events in Germany took a new and terrifying turn. It was a particularly cold and blustery evening in March 1938 when Hana and Karl returned home from the cinema. As they entered the house, they were still in an animated discussion about the American film actress, Jeanette MacDonald. Their cheeks were flushed from the damp wind that had blown through the streets, whipping leaves and debris up into their faces. Hana unwound her woolen scarf and cap and shook her curly red hair free. Lord and Dolinka were there to greet their masters, barking and jumping up and down enthusiastically. But when Karl and Hana walked into the salon, the stone faces of their parents instantly quieted them and their pets. At first, no one spoke. The only noise in the room was the sound of people cheering from the radio behind the heads of their parents. And the voice that shrieked loudest of all was unmistakably that of Adolf Hitler.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” Karl began. The looks on the faces of his parents alarmed him.
    â€œShh!” his father barked, further disquieting Karl.
    This was not the first time he had heard Hitler’s voice on the radio. On each previous occasion, the members of the household would stop whatever they were doing, nearly hypnotized by this man’s fanatical pronouncements, each one ending predictably with an anti-Semitic tirade.
    â€œThey’ve taken over Austria.” When his mother finally spoke, there was both rage and alarm in her shaky voice. “The Nazis marched into Vienna today. No one stopped them,” she added bitterly.
    â€œListen to the crowd cheering,” her husband added. “No one stopped them because they welcomed it. That maniac is being treated like a hero in Vienna.”
    Hitler’s voice rose from the radio as he declared, “I have in the course of my political struggle won much love from my people, but when I crossed the former frontier, there met me such a stream of love as I have never experienced. Not as tyrants have we come, but as liberators.” 1 And sure enough, the voices of the masses shouted in return, “Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!”
    â€œI knew this would happen,” Marie stated somberly. She had the same stricken look she had worn the day the house had been vandalized.
    In the weeks to come, she continued to hold fast to her belief that it was only a matter of time before Czech Jews would be targeted by Hitler. The details of the Anschluss were particularly shocking and depressing for Victor, who continued to insist that the family was still safe while declaring his contempt for the international events. But eventually even he had to acknowledge that the situation was deteriorating. Under pressure from his wife, Victor also began to buy up foreign currency to safeguard the family’s funds.
    George Popper’s family came for dinner several weeks later, but food took second place to the animated conversation between George’s parents and Karl’s.
    â€œI’ve been telling Victor for months now that we should ready ourselves in case we need to leave here,” Marie declared. “The occupation of Austria is just the beginning of Hitler’s crusade. But my husband doesn’t see things my way.”
    â€œDon’t be silly,” said Mr. Popper gently. “We aren’t in danger here. Great Britain will always guarantee our independence and integrity against any forceful aggression from outside.” George’s father sounded exactly like his own, Karl thought. Zigmund Popper was a gregarious man who believed in his family’s assimilation into the country as much as Victor did.
    â€œThat’s what I keep telling Marie, but she doesn’t seem to want to believe me,” Victor said. “She seems bent