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

“You will feel better, Raz, if you can tell me what happened.”


“I went to the address he gave us,” Raz began. “It was a large building of small flats.”


Elwira nodded, encouraged her to continue. She was afraid she might break her lover’s train of thought if she spoke, pressured her for too much too quickly.


“I found number seventeen. I knocked on the door several times, but there was no answer. I tried again and was about to leave when a woman came out of a neighboring flat. She said she heard me but I might as well stop because no one lived there.”


“Yes. My first thought was they’d already gone. Left Warsaw. He said they’d made arrangements some time ago.” 


“Yes,” Elwira said, “I thought so as well.”


Raz looked at her, puzzled. “When did you think that?”


“When I called him, or tried to call him earlier this morning. Hadn’t I mentioned this?”


Chapter 18