Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 94 of a new online serial novel, Nine A.M., by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

An excerpt from the contract signed between the representatives of the residents of Samson Lager and unofficial representatives of the Austrian government:

…All those who have left the camp, of every age, commit to maintaining absolute silence regarding their lives as experienced since the end of the war, or from their birth, until they left the camp grounds.

In addition, each individual who was at the camp for more than a year, but less than ten years, will be compensated with fifty thousand U.S. dollars. Every individual who was in the camp for more than ten years will receive five hundred thousand U.S. dollars.

Being that on the day of the departure from the camp, two civilians were killed, and there was no prosecution in a legal court for this crime, a complaint was received by the Salzburg police. According to what is agreed above, the case will be closed, and the suspects in this matter will not be prosecuted. As noted, this is on condition that the silence regarding Samson Lager is maintained.

Aside for this, those who left the camp will be given Austrian citizenship, which will go into effect without a waiting period.

Anyone who transgresses the secrecy agreement before the expiration date of this contract will be liable, based on his signature of the contract, for heavy fines, as stipulated henceforth…

“They clearly said it’s going to be a lawsuit for huge sums of money,” Rechel said as she and her friend Ruchelle swept the floor of the preschool after the day’s sessions had ended. The preschool was one of the few elements functioning in a way that was reminiscent of their previous lives, after a number of parents had reached out to Naomi and asked her to continue occupying their children in the mornings here in the guesthouse as well.

The conference hall that had been allocated for the preschool to use was spacious and beautiful. Both the children and their parents had been stunned by the elegant furnishings, and they warmly thanked Mrs. Domb, the proprietor of the place.

“So of course we’ll be quiet, somehow,” Shifra Cohen-Sighet said.

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 93 of a new online serial novel, Nine A.M., by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

Initial Report – Death Investigation

Hour: 5:07 a.m.

Location: Marker E-65

Fatalities: 1. Female – Katarina Wangel

                  2. Female – Teresa Wangel

Cause of Death: Rollover of prisoner vehicle

Submitted for further investigation

Joachim Klug, Police Investigator, Main Precinct, Salzburg

Police ribbons encircled the manor house, barring entry. But no one from the camp was even looking in that direction anyway. In shul, they had long finished davening Shacharis, and were almost done packing the sefarim. Reb Mottel Kush took the sefer Torah under his responsibility. In the preschool, the children were taking their crafts off the walls, and Naomi and Rivku were scanning the room for a final time. The adults made sure to feed the animals and milk the sheep before they would be handed over to the authorities, and in the cemetery, people gathered to bid farewell and to say Kaddish one last time before they left.

They also went into the factory and divided the valuable equipment and the furs that remained there amongst each other. From the bakery came the aroma of the bread they would take with them for the way, and in the public kitchen, the women were scrubbing the cooking utensils and packing them quickly. Maybe they would need these large utensils to cook in the place where they were going.

Only Sol Sherer was still dragging his feet around the camp’s paths, and not responding to anyone aside for “yes” or “no” answers.

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 92 of a new online serial novel, Nine A.M., by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

A stained piece of paper on the floor of the car, written in shaky, uneven letters:

We had a backup plan to leave Austria.

We didn’t believe it would ever happen.

Their fear was supposed to be much stronger.

Bernard’s newspaper did a big part of the work. And he did all these experiments to figure out how best to influence and control the Jews: We invited them to our parties, allowed them to make weddings in our manor house…all with that goal in mind.

Leo also helped us a lot with controlling the Jews, without him even knowing it.

And I thought that Sol would be a good replacement.

But now it’s all over.

They discovered the tru—

“Looks like this is where his strength ran out.” The police commissioner pointed to the last line and handed the paper over to Hans. “So, does it still look staged to you?”

“No,” his deputy said, glancing out the window of the stately room at the car standing outside. “Not at all. So I understand that he’s dead. Where are the others?”

Dick Zuerstach, the mayor of Salzburg, shook his head. “Another male, about age thirty, was killed. Based on our impressions, he is Bernard Wangel, Josef’s son. We also found two women locked into one of the huts here.”

Locked? Crazy people! Why hadn’t they left when they realized that everything was unraveling? They had too much self-confidence, those Wangels. But he wasn’t going to fall with them, as Katarina had warned him in that final fax. No. He was smarter than them.