April 1939. Warsaw, Poland. To the casual observer, the houses on Podwale Street look very much alike. Yet at 16 Podwale, nothing is as it seems. Within, the walls hold many secrets that could destroy the lives of its inhabitants as they witness the city’s ever-mounting tide of Nazism. Wealthy recluse Elwira Malinowska is more an observer than participant in life. In her seclusion at 16 Podwale, she watches the world pass her by. Then Raz Zielinsky comes to work as a housemaid for her father, and Elwira’s life is suddenly divisible by two -- the time before Raz and the time after. Years pass, and the women become lovers. They depend on each other. Elwira is Raz’s protector, and Raz is Elwira’s conduit to the outside world, where people speak of nothing but the continual threat of war with Germany. Elwira, a steadfast Catholic, believes Pope Pius XII will intervene to save Poland from the rumblings of a maniac and an imminent invasion. But when the Pope fails to mediate peace and the political situation worsens, Elwira and Raz plan their escape to freedom.

The View from 16 Podwale Street

Raz had hoped the beauty of the old city would calm her friend and make the journey, Wira’s first since her father’s funeral, more pleasurable. But from the moment they’d stepped onto the sidewalk, Wira tightened her grip on Raz’s arm and the pressure hadn’t let up. 


Near Tlomackie Synagogue, Elwira spotted a figure moving toward them, a man in a uniform and brown cap. She pushed herself against Raz, nearly bumping into a group of nurses in white and blue capes as they rushed into a hospital. When the man came closer, she relaxed her grip. “A chimney sweep,” she said. “Such a sad little broom.”


“What did you think it was?” Raz asked. “A gun?”


By the time they crossed Ujazdowskie Avenue, Elwira pointed to the trees in the small park at the corner of Matejki Street. “It’s the greenness, Raz. Everywhere. I can’t believe this is spring. I’ve missed so many. Look at that old woman wheeling a baby carriage. She resembles my grandmother.”


Chapter 11