Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 31 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.

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Suesse Paprika estklassig

Max Hanter Geselschaft

Gueltigheitsdatum auf der Dose

(Translation from German: High-quality sweet paprika, Max Hanter spices, last date for use stamped on the cover)

“It’s a new package,” their father said as he took the package of spices out of his van. He pointed to the shiny orange-green label. “Check it well.”

“Definitely recommended,” Bernard added, as his sisters loaded bags with products on a wheelbarrow.

“Stop giving out orders as if you were a real officer in the Wehrmacht,” his sister Helena snapped. “As it is, I’m going out of my mind at this point. We’ve got tons of pairs of hands working for us on the other side of the house, but we still have to schlep this monthly shopping order as if we were slaves. At least they bring the firewood, and Father agrees that they can come in to clean too.”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 30 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. 

Tuesday 2.11.93

I would like to sincerely request that you enable Elka Kush to make up the hours she has missed from work due to feeling unwell, so that she can get her regular monthly salary.

With respect,

Dr. Annie Katzburg

The doctor raised her head from the pen and paper and looked at Sara Liba. “In the normal world, before the rise of the Reich,” she spat out in an angry whisper, “there were workers’ rights. Rights! Basic ones! Someone who was sick had sick days, and was paid by his employer for those days!”

“I heard about it,” Sara Liba said. “My father, Hashem yinkom damo, had a shoe store, so those rules probably didn’t apply to him. But for people who worked for someone else, I’m sure it was significant.”

“Very, very significant.” The doctor shook her head. “I imagine that there were conditions, and you couldn’t announce that you were sick every day and get paid as if you worked normally. But it was a basic law that favored the workers. And here? People are choking themselves not to miss even one hour of work. It’s dreadful.”

Babbe sighed and took the sheet of paper. “They choke themselves?” she asked quietly. Was Elky choking? There had been something strange in her eyes when they’d spoken about the party and the work she would be missing. Was it possible that they were simply starving for bread at home? But why? He worked, she worked…why shouldn’t the money be enough for them to buy food?

“Choking, definitely. Should I give you an example? If Bilhah, the preschool teacher, would have been able to rest a bit more over the years, she wouldn’t be in the state that she’s in today.”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 29 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.

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In exchange for this document, products and merchandise will be supplied for a value of up to 5 Reichsmarks.
Supply of the merchandise is conditioned on the original document being complete, and affirmed by a stamp from the lager management and the signature of an authorized person.

The letters were not prominent or etched onto a highly valuable piece of paper, but Elky passed her finger over them as if she could actually feel them. She slipped the last paper in the pile into the new bag her mother-in-law had given her and stood up. Now where would be the right place for this to go?

Until now, the vouchers she’d gotten from Naomi were squirrelled away in a cabinet under the Shabbos towel. But it made much more sense to store them in a good handbag with a solid clasp, like the one she’d received just right now. Maybe she’d put the handbag with the vouchers in it at the bottom of her linen chest.

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 28 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.

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Dearest Elky!

Embroidered with the loving hand and heart of a shvigger, in honor of your promotion at the office!

Mama (Mottel’s Mother)

Elky rubbed a finger over the small leather bag and the buttons that closed it, and raised shining eyes to Chaya Kush. “Thank you!” she said. “It’s so beautiful!”

“I’m happy you like it,” Mottel’s mother replied with a smile. “I saw a few of the younger women with such handbags in the last two weeks, so I thought it could be a good gift for you.”

“Yes, Katarina has been giving handbags as payment for embroidery and sewing work that she likes. They must have bought stock somewhere, so she can distribute them.”

“Do you like that style better?” her mother-in-law asked, somewhat hesitantly.

“No, this is much more special. It’s wider and more comfortable on the shoulder, and your stitching…” She studied the tiny, perfect, maroon stitching, and the satin flower affixed to the strap. “It’s gorgeous. Thanks so much again! It really makes me happy!”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 27 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. 

Amoxicillin – Dosage Instructions:

Speak with a doctor or healthcare professional regarding dosages. The normal dose is three times a day, one tablet with each meal, for ten days. Do not take medication without explicit instructions from a doctor; the damage may be worse than the benefits. This is a warning!

“But there are only eight pills here,” Naomi said to her grandmother as they stood in a dark corner in the yard of the infirmary, her hand shaking as she proffered the little carton. “Based on what the package says, Zuska needs thirty!”

“Not her, she’s a little girl,” Babbe replied, studying the tiny letters written in German. “It’s amazing to see this disgusting writing dripping with compassion and concern for our health… Anyway, we’ll give her one pill a day. It will be enough for eight days.”

“The nes of the pach shemen…” Naomi murmured, but there was no smile.

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 26 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.

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A handwritten question in the margins of the Nugot Heyet (Fortified Place), the local monthly journal that was sent to the sick people in the infirmary:

Aryeh, please answer me on the other side of the page: Would you give 60 marks (our wedding gift from Wangel) to save one of my students?

Answer on the opposite margin of the page:

What’s the question.

Naomi’s feet were hurting from running around so much, and something inside her was completely drained from all the deliberations: the feeling of being torn, the actual decision, and coming to terms with it. But none of this was reflected in her eyes when she arrived at the office, out of breath, and leveled her gaze at Elky forty minutes before the end of the workday. “Our decision is yes,” she told her simply.

“That’s what you decided? Excellent.” Elky blinked rapidly and began to rummage in her drawer. “Just sign here that you got all of your monthly wages.” She took out the regular form. “It also wouldn’t hurt to write a few words of thanks to Wangel for the wedding gift… Here it is, because you probably don’t want to lie.”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 25 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.

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On a piece of paper, written with an unsharpened pencil:

Tram Ticket:

Passenger – Dror Elkovitz

Driver – Chaim Landau

Location – Yerushalayim

To – The Bais Hamikdash

Price – 2 silver shekels

“It’s too expensive, Chaim,” Naomi said seriously as she glanced at the large clock on the wall, and then turned back to the creased little note. Elky was already at work; she’d only be able to catch her for a few minutes during her lunch break.

“Expensive?”

“Yes. A silver shekel is worth much more than the marks we have here.”

“The flower-seller wrote it,” replied five-year-old Moishele, not quite grasping what she was saying.

“Who, Gittel?”

“Yes,” the boy said. He dashed over to the row of chairs that he had carefully arranged and shouted, “Tram! Tram! Who wants to come?”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 24 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.

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List in the back inside cover of Zeide Nachum’s siddur:

1945

March 23 – Digging pits

March 28 – Erev Pesach, we are walking

April 17 – 23 Nissan, Matthausen camp

April 19 – The Wehrmacht comes and chooses people

April 20 – Train ride to Austria

April 22 – Walking through the forest

Naomi put the siddur back in its place on the high shelf. “Have you ever shown this to Binyamin, Zeide?”

“I don’t remember. Why?”

“Because in recent months he’s been looking for information, answers to some questions he’s had about how this place was established and how it all started, how it was managed, what happened to my father before he passed away…”

“Lots of subjects. Is there something that connects them all, do you think?”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 23 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.

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Dear Naomi,

Please warm up for Zeide the steamed squash that is in the pot in the cooler cabinet. Both of you should eat; don’t leave anything for me, because I’ll only be back tomorrow, and it will be spoiled by then. Prepare something hot to drink and air out the room very well.

You take care of mine, I’m taking care of yours—and Hashem will take care of all of us…

With love, Babbe

Naomi set the table in her grandparents’ one-room apartment. “I think it’s been years since we’ve eaten supper together,” she said to her grandfather, taking out the small aluminum forks from the cutlery box.

He mustered up a small smile. “So now there’s an opportunity.”

“I guess so,” she replied as she sat down, playing with the strap of Babbe’s apron that was hanging on the hook behind her, swaying in the strong evening wind. “Babbe asked me to air out the room. But when it gets too cold for you, Zeide, tell me and I’ll close the window.”

“Alright.”

Naomi let go of the apron strap. “Tell me, Zeide, has it ever happened before that Babbe worked in the infirmary through the night? Because I don’t remember such a thing. Is this the first time?”

“It’s true, it’s hardly ever happened. When we were younger, there was no infirmary. People who needed a doctor called Dr. Baruch Grodotzky, zichrono l’vrachah, and he came to their houses or they came to his house. He only opened the infirmary after about ten years. His wife was the nurse there. For years, Wangel brought him all kinds of medical books, and that’s how he learned. He also taught the medical knowledge to his daughter, Katzburg.”

“And in recent years?”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 22 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.

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Patient Report – Aryeh Klein

Temperature – 40.8 degrees Celsius

Blood Pressure – 80/45

Respiratory Distress – Mild

Test Results – Bronchial Breathing

Diagnosis – Flu, Pneumonia

“You’re not going in.” Babbe sounded a bit muffled due to the white fabric covering she wore on her face. She stood at the doorway, with her hands resting on the doorposts to the infirmary hut. “There, another reason to be happy that your husband is also my grandson. I’m taking care of him as best as possible, Naomi’le. It’s not a place for you. Go home.”

“I brought him soup, Babbe.”

“I also did, it’s fine.”

“And he ate it?”

“He will eat it, b’ezras Hashem. I’ll make sure of it.”

“But he’s been like this for four days already!”

“I hope that very soon, b’ezras Hashem, he’ll feel better.”

“But Babbe, what is this disease that he has?”

“Dr. Katzburg says it’s very severe flu that sometimes also attacks the lungs and causes infection. That’s likely what the Elkovitz baby has also.”

“Oy.” Naomi’s voice trembled.

“It’s really going around. We have had twenty-three flu patients in the past two weeks. Seven of those patients contracted pneumonia too. I think that’s what happened to Aryeh.”

“Is Aryeh…is he breathing okay?”