Once

Felix worries whether his parents will recognize him “after three years and eight months” (11). He is much taller and wears glasses now. He remembers that his mother promised not to forget him. He thinks she meant “they wouldn’t forget to come and get me once they’d fixed up their bookshop troubles” (11). He still has his yellow notebook he had when they left him at the orphanage: He thinks that will make him easily identifiable. Felix filled it with fictional stories about them.

A car makes its way up the hill to the orphanage. Felix thinks it is his parents arriving at last. Felix is “numb with disappointment” when he sees the new arrivals are not his parents, but “a bunch of men in suits with armbands” (12). Dodie worries about Jankiel, a newcomer to the orphanage, who has hidden in the toilet. Felix says the men are probably just Catholic officials. Felix feigns nonchalance; he is actually worried about the men.

Dodie says Jankiel is hiding from the “torture squad,” Telek, Adok, and Borys, who bully newcomers (13). They are about to shove Jankiel’s head in the toilet when Felix and Dodie arrive. Felix lies and tells them Jankiel’s parents were crushed to death and he must pray for them every day at seven. The clock strikes seven. The torture squad leaves. Jankiel thanks them. Felix wonders if Jankiel is Jewish. Looking out at the courtyard, Felix sees that Mother Minka is upset. The men with armbands are burning books in a big bonfire. 

Felix realizes the men are burning crates of books from the orphanage’s library. He thinks the men must be “professional librarians in professional librarian armbands” who are burning the extra books after reorganizing the library (15). Felix waits in Mother Minka’s office. One of the “librarians” enters and shouts at Felix in a foreign language. Mother Minka enters and orders Felix to go back upstairs; she calls him Felek. She grabs him by the wrist and escorts him herself. Mother Minka drags Felix to the kitchen. He is confused by her behavior. She tells them the men are Nazis. She does not know how they knew she had Jewish books, but they do not know Felix is Jewish.

Felix mentions the carrot, and Mother Minka looks at him pityingly. His parents did not put the carrot in the soup; sister Elwira did because she felt sorry for Felix. Felix realizes his parents are not coming. Felix thinks his parents are in danger because they sell books. He wants to tell them what is happening and to hide their books. Felix explains to Dodie why he must leave. He tells him he is Jewish. He gives Dodie the carrot. He goes back to the dormitory and packs. He leaves his favorite books on Dodie’s bed; this is a signal that he will be back to visit. He writes a farewell note to Mother Minka. Jankiel tries to stop him. He says it is too dangerous, but Mother Minka made him swear that he would not say what the Nazis are doing to the outside world. Felix leaves anyway. 

Felix makes his way through the forest, “feeling very grateful to God, Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and Adolf Hitler” (19). He still feels sad about leaving Dodie. His concern for his parents makes him push on. Nobody pursues him. Felix crouches in a pigpen outside a village; he thinks it is Father Ludwik’s village. He is reluctant to get any closer to the village in case the orphanage has sent word that Felix is missing. He knows his home village is somewhere downriver. The pig cheers him up. He almost considers eating from its trough.

He knocks on the door of a solitary house with “one of those carved metal Jewish things that religious Jewish families in our town have on their houses” (20). He knocks, but there is no answer: The house is abandoned. Inside, it looks like the owners left in a hurry. He hears gunshots in the distance and thinks the owners must be out hunting. Felix eats and drinks some food and water in the house. He finds clothes and cuts the sleeves to make them fit. He leaves the owners a note of explanation and apology. He decides that the “hunters” must be by the river, so he heads toward the sounds of the gunshots.

Listening for the direction of the gunshots reminds Felix of a story that he wrote. He finally discovers the right direction and follows the road until he comes upon a “farm animal truck packed with people” (22). He decides they must be going on a holiday. The truck does not stop for him, and one of the soldiers riding on it fires at him. Felix is stunned but decides it was an accident. When he finally reaches the river, the gunfire has become louder. Felix thinks that they must be shooting rabbits. The river runs “so red it looks almost like blood” (23). He decides it must be a trick of the light.

Felix makes it to his village. It is largely deserted, and there are no food shops. He almost doubts his memory, until he comes upon his parents’ bookshop. Looking in through the window, he sees “All the books in the shop are gone” (24). When he explores the flat above the shop, he is confused to see it occupied by the family of Wiktor Radzyn, one of his old schoolmates. Wiktor chases him out, shouting “Clear off, Jew! […] This is our house now” (25).

A crowd chases Felix out of town. He hides in his secret place, a “hollow sentry space in the ruined castle wall” outside of town (25). He had planned to store his parents’ books there. From an arrow slit in the wall, he sees the townsfolk leaving the area. He does not understand why they chased him and why the Radzyns now live in his house. He figures his parents must have sold the house and that their American visas must have come through. He thinks they must be returning to the orphanage to retrieve him.

Felix runs into a little boy and girl who are playing Jews and Nazis. They tell him all the Jewish people in the village have been taken away. Felix begins to feel panic creeping in. Later that night, he goes to his old teacher’s house, Mr. Rosenthal’s, and waits outside. He wants to disprove what the little kids told him. As he calls for Mr. Rosenthal, a man, Mr. Kopek, grabs him from behind. Kopek asks what he is doing in town and confirms that all of the Jewish people have been taken to the city by the Nazis. He gives Felix some bread and water and leaves. Felix thinks his parents were taken because of their books. He tries and fails to think of a story to justify it.