The Things We Cannot Say

Alina relishes the time she spends in the woods with Tomasz. They dream of their life after the war, a “fresh beginning” (168) in America, where Tomasz will become a doctor and the two will have many children. Children, he says, “are both our hope and our future” (171). Tomasz shares with Alina the story of meeting an extraordinary pediatric surgeon in Warsaw named Saul Weiss. When he first arrived in Warsaw and the Nazis invaded the country, Tomasz immediately enlisted in the Polish army, but the Nazis quickly overwhelmed it. The captured Polish soldiers were given two options: join the Nazi army or they and their families would be executed. Tomasz had no choice. He understands he betrayed his country and that when the war is over, he will be held accountable. Because of his proficiency in German, he was put in charge of relocating Jewish families into the rapidly expanding Warsaw ghetto.

It was then when he met Dr. Weiss and his wife, Eva. What struck Tomasz was the Jewish couple’s kindness and composure. When Dr. Weiss shared with Tomasz a long-shot plan to escape the ghetto through the city’s sewer system, Tomasz agreed to accompany them. The plan worked, and the three went into hiding, heading back to Trzebinia, more than 100 miles away, using a network of resistance fighters for food and shelter.