Lilac Girls

Chapter 8 finds Kasia, now an active participant of the Polish underground, in 1940 and 1941. Due to her previous training in the Girl Guides, Kasia has first aid training and is a useful addition to the underground. Kasia and six other girls save Polish books from being destroyed, deliver important documents, and decode materials. They do everything in their power to sabotage the Nazis. The Nazis begin conducting manhunts, searching for Polish rebels. Pietrik becomes the group commander of their underground unit, although he refuses to give Kasia more important assignments. She begs for an assignment, and Pietrik relents. He tells her to go to Mr. Z’s pharmacy the next day and to accept an important package under the guise of buying aspirin.

The next day, Herta spots her mother coming out of the Deutsche Haus, the restaurant where SS men ate. Herta confronts her mother and begins accusing her of being unfaithful to Ade. Halina tries to calm her daughter and explain to her that by sketching the SS officers and getting close to Lennart, she prevented them from shooting Ade. Halina hurries away, promising to bring Kasia her lunch at the theater. Kasia carries on with her mission and manages to get into the ghetto and eventually, also the pharmacy. There, she sees Mr. Zaufanym, whom she went to church with. In the basement of the pharmacy, Kasia sees a young Jewish woman named Hannah. Kasia spends more time than she has teaching Hannah how to talk, act, and dress like a Catholic girl. Kasia heads straight to her job at the cinema after. She notices, however, that an SS man from before has begun to follow her. Zuzanna, Pietrik, and Luisa are there when Kasia arrives. The chapter ends with Kasia’s Matka heading towards her.

In Chapter 9 of Kelly’s Lilac Girls, the narrative follows Herta as she readies for her first day as a camp doctor at Ravensbrück in 1940. Fritz, her former university cohort mate, picks her up from the train station. Herta thinks that Fritz still looks handsome, if a bit tired. They flirt and Herta considers growing her hair long again. She hopes that by becoming an accomplished doctor that she might keep his attention. They arrive at the camp, with its tall stone walls and the caged aviary by the side of the road. Herta meets Commander Koegel and he attempts to fire her. He is concerned that she will be the only woman doctor at the camp: “This is a work camp, Doctor. No fancy beauty salons, no coffee klatches. How will men feel about you eating in the officers’ canteen?” (104). Herta manages to convince Koegel that she lives simply and will be a good fit for the reeducation camp.

Herta meets Fritz in the canteen with his other friends, including Martin Hellinger, a dentist, Adolf Winkelmann, and Rolf Rosenthal, a gynecologist. Fritz explains to Herta that they murder prisoners who are unable or unwilling to work. Herta is uncomfortable with the idea of submitting women to lethal injections. Fritz convinces Herta that a quick death is a mercy compared to being worked to death. They lie to the prisoners and tell them that they are receiving a vaccine for typhus. Fritz helps Herta inject her first patient, killing an older woman. Herta protests after the woman dies and insists that she will be leave in the morning.

Chapter 10 of Lilac Girls follows Caroline Ferriday through the years 1939 to 1940 and picks up right after her previous appearance in Chapter 7. Caroline goes to answer the door to find her ex, David Stockwell. David is drunk and desperately wants her attention. He tries to kiss her and get her to come with him. David attempts to convince Caroline to get back together with him. He does not sway Caroline; she is still hurt by David proposing to Sally at the Badminton Club Caroline’s father had helped the Stockwells get into. Paul leads a surprised David back downstairs.

Caroline spends the rest of the holiday season with Paul; they listen to jazz in Harlem and she watches his play over seven times. Hitler invades Denmark and Norway in the Spring and things at the consulate are more tense than ever. Paul and Caroline meet on the roof after work and he tells her that he’s leaving for Paris. Paul insists that he is returning to Paris because it is the right thing to do, not because he is still in love with Rena. Paul asks Caroline to join him in Paris once everything calms down; he tells her that Rena will likely encourage it and be there with her beaux. Paul kisses her and leaves.

In May, Caroline receives a postcard from a French orphanage thanking her for her donations. She considers adopting one of the children and raising them at her family home in Connecticut. Caroline also receives a letter from Paul. He has made it safely to France. Paul hopes to be in a new play in Paris and Rena has had to close her shop. After reading the letter, Roger comes into the office to announce that Hitler has just attacked France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Belgium. France surrenders to the Germans on June 22, 1940, and Pia, Caroline, and Roger are uncertain about the fate of the consulate. Paul manages to call Caroline at the consulate, but they are disconnected before he can tell her what he wants to say.

Chapter 11 begins right where Kasia’s previous chapter ends. SS men enter the ticket booth and Pietrik attempts to convince them that it has all been a misunderstanding. Halina sees this and tries to get the SS men to release the children. Instead of letting them go, the SS men capture Halina as well. The SS men bring them to the Lublin Castle, where they separated men from women. Halina manages to sneak a letter to Lennart Fleischer, the man whom she used to sketch. Halina, Zuzanna, Luiza, and Kasia are shoved into a train car; Kasia recognizes many of the other women in there. Kasia has a panic attack and Zuzanna calms her down. They eventually reach Fürstenberg-Mecklenburg, Germany. They see a church and are comforted that they will be around “God-fearing people” (130). Halina tries to comfort them all, saying: “As long as we work hard, we will be fine” (130).

Due to the increasingly tense situation abroad, Caroline continues to work overtime at the consulate. Caroline is unable to help the French citizens who flood the consulate much besides “provide chocolate bars and a shoulder to cry on” (131). Priscilla and Electra Huff, two of Caroline’s high-society friends, barge in on her office and attempt to adopt French children. Caroline insists, however, that two parents are needed to adopt. Caroline is convinced that Priscilla and her mother are simply looking to acquire a shiny new toy to boost their social reputation. Caroline tells them about the City of Benares passenger ship and the children aboard who perished as a result of a German submarine; all child evacuation programs have thus ceased. They leave and Roger enters to tell Caroline that she has been granted a higher security clearance.

Caroline is in charge of tracking and studying the people entering the many transit and labor camps that have been set up. Caroline borrows atlases and pours over the many classified documents. She soon learns about concentration camps and begins making a map of them with red pushpins. As the months passed, Caroline and her mother worked to sew together clothing for the French orphans from fabric scraps. Caroline keeps her father’s clothing and has them tailored to fit her. Her mother thinks that they should be getting rid of his clothing. They realize that they can use Caroline’s former Broadway costumes and soon they begin taking them apart for fabric. Caroline brings them in and places them on Pia’s desk the next morning. Weeks later, Roger enters Caroline’s office bearing bad news.