It takes me a moment to process the implications of this. But then it hits me like a punch to the stomach, and the shock is so intense that I can’t even breathe. But there’s no time for me to linger in my panic, because Emilia is still talking and Zofia is still translating. I have to immediately refocus my attention on the conversation at hand.

“After Alina and Saul had left, Tomasz came to Emilia’s home early in the morning and he woke her family up. She says he was very distressed and in a desperate hurry. He gave Emilia a message for Alina, then he told her adoptive parents to flee immediately. After that, he ran to turn himself in.”

“Why would he do that?” I whisper. Zofia and Emilia talk for a moment, then Zofia turns to me again.

“Tomasz knew so much about the Jews in hiding in the area. He knew the Nazis would be determined to find him, and inevitably, that would mean checkpoints on the roads.” Zofia’s eyes flick from Emilia’s face to mine. “Emilia says he was quite frantic—he’d tried desperately to think of an alternative, but the only way to be sure the Nazis wouldn’t search Alina’s truck as it left the district was to end the manhunt...and there was only one way he could do that...” I bite my lip, glancing hesitantly at Babcia. She is sobbing, and my mother is hovering helplessly beside her. Emilia continues in a hoarse whisper, and Zofia translates, “Emilia says now that it is an honor to finally deliver her brother’s message...that he’d be waiting for Alina on the other side because, even in death, he would keep his promise that they would be reunited.”

I look at the MacBook screen. My grandmother’s jaw hangs loose, and she lets out a moan of sheer grief that makes me sick to my stomach.

“Alice,” Mom says flatly, and the screen shifts to her very pissed-off face. “What the Hell is going on?”

I know Mom can’t hear Zofia. Emilia’s impassioned declarations are loud; Zofia’s voice is soft and close to my ear.

I’m going to have to tell her. I’m going to have to tell her.

“Mom,” I say unevenly. “Please, just give me a moment.”

“But she’s so upset—”

Emilia lets loose with a string of frustrated Polish, and Agnieszka says urgently, “Ah—perhaps your mother could put the camera back onto your grandmother?”

“Mom! Please,” I beg, and I can’t help it—I start to cry. “This is important,” I choke, through my tears. “Please, Mom. Please.”

Mom gives a growl, then the lens refocuses on Babcia’s face.

“One more minute, then if someone doesn’t tell me what’s going on, I’m ending this,” I hear Mom warn.

Emilia is momentarily silent now, giving her friend a chance to process what she’s heard. Babcia’s grief and heartbreak are written all over her face, but as I stare at her, those emotions shift just a little, until finally, she looks something like relieved. Emilia speaks again, and this time, her words fall more slowly—finally, Zofia can keep up.

“She asked Alina if she was okay...” Babcia nods, then waves her right hand, indicating for Emilia to continue. “She’s telling your grandmother that after the occupation ended, Tomasz was honored as Righteous Among the Nations—that’s the medal we saw on his gravestone.”

Babcia is smiling sadly now, nodding—her pride is evident. That’s all important and beautiful, but I can’t even focus on her just yet.

“But Emilia definitely said it was Saul who left Poland with Alina, not Tomasz. Is she absolutely sure?” I whisper to Zofia, then a sob bursts from my lips. “Because...the thing is...that means, I will have to tell my mom...”

Emilia looks at me, and she puts her hand on my arm again. She whispers some words to Zofia, who tells me carefully, “Yes, Emilia is quite sure that Tomasz was executed. Mateusz paid a guard to retrieve his body so they could bury him before they left for the city. It was Emilia’s idea to take him to the hill—she says she used to catch him with Alina there kissing all of the time, and she knew that was the place where Tomasz was happiest. They marked the grave with rocks, and she returned in the seventies with the headstone once she had the money to do so.”

“But why did she never reply to the letters?” I blurt to Agnieszka. “My babcia tried so hard to reach her. She wrote for years and years. Why didn’t Emilia respond?”

There’s a moment of quiet conversation, then Emilia turns to the camera, and her gaze is stricken.

“We think your babcia sent the letters to the house in Trzebinia,” Agnieszka tells me softly. “But even once the war ended, the communists had possession of the house so Mama never did move back there. We didn’t even get the clinic back until the seventies after I qualified. So Mama never received the letters, but she wants you to know that she tried so hard to find your babcia. Tomasz had told her that Alina would be waiting in England somewhere, likely using the name Hanna. So once she was old enough to travel, that’s where my mama went...”

“She was looking in the wrong country,” I whisper.

“Besides,” Zofia remarks sadly. “Even though she knew to look for Hanna, she could never have known to look for Mrs. Slaski.”

* * *

I leave everyone else in the living room and walk into one of Emilia’s bedrooms. I text Mom to call me when Babcia is settled, and after ten or fifteen minutes, the FaceTime comes to my phone. Mom takes the news of her parentage with the dry-eyed stoicism I’d expect from her, despite the fact that I’m sobbing as I explain.

“I’m worried about you,” she says, peering into the camera. “Christ, look at you. You’re a mess, Alice.”

I laugh weakly and wipe at my eyes.

“It’s been a very long day,” I say, then I ask, “Is Babcia okay?”

“She’s exhausted. I’ve left her to nap, but she looks so happy. I don’t know how else to explain the change in her except to say that your grandmother seems at peace. That’s a pretty remarkable thing to gift an old woman. I hope you’re proud of yourself and I’m sorry I wasn’t more supportive—I guess you could see she needed you to take this trip even when I couldn’t.”

“Thanks, Mom,” I murmur, and I’m grateful for the concession—but I know my mother, and I know it’s at least in part a deflection. “But...you do seem to be taking this pretty well, Mom.”

Mom sighs, then tilts her face to stare up at the roof for a moment. Then she drops her gaze back to the iPad and she says to me, “Dad was dad, Alice, and he was a great man. Whether he was really Saul or Tomasz...I was his daughter and I never doubted that for a second of his life. I don’t know why they never told me, and maybe later, once it sinks in, I’ll be upset or angry but...for now...? I’m just sad for Babcia, that she was never able to tell us about what happened back there...that she waited her whole life for closure.” Her voice breaks, and she pauses carefully before she adds, “Will you give Emilia a message for me?”