Once We Were Brothers

In 2004 Liam interrogates the doorman at Ben’s building about the burglary. Because there is no forced entry, Liam infers that the burglars were let inside by Stefan Dubrovik, the maintenance worker on duty at the time of the robbery. An undocumented Croatian immigrant, Stefan admits that two men threatened to call the Immigration and Naturalization Service unless he let them into Ben’s apartment.

In October 1939 the Gestapo, the Nazi’s fearsome secret police force, arrives in Zamosc. An officer named Dr. Hans Frank enters the Solomons’ home and forces Abraham to join the Judenrat, a council that will serve as a liaison between the Germans and Zamosc’s Jewish population. Before leaving, Dr. Frank leers at Beka, who is 17.

Little by little, Jews’ rights are restricted. They are forced to wear armbands with yellow Stars of David in public. They are banned from using vehicles or leaving Zamosc unless assigned to a work detail by the Germans.

One night Ilse and Stanislaw arrive to give Otto his papers as a German citizen and to offer him a Nazi administrative appointment in Zamosc. Otto emphatically refuses, but Abraham advises him to consider their offer. Abraham reasons that with Otto in a position of authority, he may be able to help the Solomons in the future.