The Sound
of Freedom
K A T H Y K A C E R
© 2017 Kathy Kacer
Cover art by Félix Girard
Cover design by Kong Njo
Edited by Barbara Berson
Designed by Kong Njo
Annick Press Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyrights hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic, or mechanical—without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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Cataloging in Publication
Kacer, Kathy, 1954-, author
The sound of freedom / Kathy Kacer.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 978-1-55451-970-5 (hardcover).–ISBN 978-1-55451-969-9 (softcover).–
ISBN 978-1-55451-972-9 (PDF).–ISBN 978-1-55451-971-2 (EPUB) I. Title.
PS8571.A33S68 2017
jC813'.54
C2017-905812-6
C2017-905813-4
Published in the U.S.A. by Annick Press (U.S.) Ltd.
Distributed in Canada by University of Toronto Press.
Distributed in the U.S.A. by Publishers Group West.
Printed in Canada
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To Maya and Elisheva –
a new generation.
And for Gabi and Jake –
with love as always.
—K.K.
“There are two possibilities for me: To win through with all my plans, or to fail.
If I win, I shall be one of the greatest men in history.
If I fail, I shall be condemned and despised.”
—Adolf Hitler1
“One has to build a fist against anti-Semitism.
A first class orchestra will be this fist.”
—Bronislaw Huberman2
Chapter
1
“Last one to the bakery has to pay,” shouted Anna,
bolting down the street.
“Wait, you didn’t warn me,” her friend Renata
yelled before dashing after her.
The two girls raced, pigtails flying, through the
streets of Krakow, on their way home from school.
Anna thought she was comfortably in the lead until she glanced over her shoulder and realized that Renata was right on her heels. At the last second, Renata sprinted ahead of her and rounded the corner, coming to a
stop in front of Mrs. Benna’s bakery shop.
“Not fair,” Anna said a moment later as she pulled
up. She was panting heavily, and even though the air was cold and the wind was biting, she could feel the sweat rolling down her back under her heavy jacket.
1
2
K A T H Y K A C E R
“What do you mean, not fair?” Renata replied. Her
cheeks were flushed from the run. “It was your idea.
And I’ll have my donut filled with chocolate, please.”
Anna raised her arms in defeat and entered the
bakery with Renata. They quickly found a table and
ordered their sweets.
Stopping at Mrs. Benna’s shop on the way home
from school was a Tuesday afternoon tradition for
the two girls. Tuesdays were when Anna’s father
gave music lessons at their house. He was a gifted
clarinetist who played in the famous Krakow
Philharmonic Orchestra and lectured at the music
academy. Many families in town lined up to send
their children to learn to play clarinet from Anna’s father, the renowned Avrum Hirsch. So on Tuesdays,
Anna had permission to stay out after school with
Renata—that is, as long as the two of them also got
some homework done.
“You have icing sugar all over your face,” Anna
said after she and Renata had polished off their treats.
“Do I?” Renata reached up to brush the sugar and
crumbs away. “It’s so good. I could eat donuts filled with chocolate all day long.”
“Agreed! Except that I’ll take mine filled with
strawberry preserves.”
At that, Renata made a face. “Nothing is better
than chocolate.”
The Sound of Freedom
3
Anna pushed her plate aside and pulled out
her notebook. Mrs. Benna never minded when the
girls came to her shop after school. “You set a good example for other young people who walk in here,”
the shopkeeper said. As long as no one was lining
up for their table, Mrs. Benna said they could stay as long as they wanted.
Anna flipped through the pages of her math
assignment and chewed on the end of her pencil. “I
don’t know how I’d get through math without you,”
she said, looking up at Renata.
“You’re just as smart as I am,” Renata replied. “Just in different subjects. I’m better with numbers, but
you’re the one who helps me with literature.”
Anna and Renata had been great friends for years,
ever since they started school, spotting each other
across the classroom and exchanging smiles. They
met each weekday morning at Anna’s corner to walk
together to school. Now, at age twelve, they were as close as sisters. Baba, Anna’s grandmother, always
said they could have been twins with their jet-black curly hair and dark eyes. But when it came to their
studies, they were as different as they could possibly be. Anna loved to read while Renata could untangle a math equation faster than anyone in the class. Anna
loved art while Renata always claimed she had ten
thumbs when it came to drawing or painting. Anna
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K A T H Y K A C E R
loved music, and even though Renata took clarinet
lessons from Anna’s father, she hated to practice.
Anna always reasoned that the differences between
them were what made them great friends—comple-
ments of each other and a perfect team. One couldn’t manage without the other to help. Today was no
exception. The girls finished off their homework in
record time.
“Will you come over to my place?” Anna asked as
they began to pack up their books. “Baba is making
her famous beef stew.”
“Sounds delicious!”
“And maybe she’ll give us a cooking lesson.”
Anna’s grandmother loved to cook.
Renata nodded. “Sure. My mother will be thrilled
that I’m learning. She can barely make a cup of tea.”
“It can’t be that bad!”
“Trust me, it is. Last week, she burnt the chicken
and served rice that was still as hard as gravel. I need all the help I can get.”
“I’m sure Baba will be happy to include you. And
then, when we’re done, you can help me find a dress
to wear to that concert that my father is playing in.”
That was another difference between the two girls.
Renata loved to dress up w
hile Anna didn’t give a
thought to fashion and “girly” things. Baba was the
The Sound of Freedom
5
one who always insisted that she wind hair ribbons
around her long pigtails, or wear fancy dresses. Anna found all of that so tiresome.
“You can borrow my scarf,” Renata said, tugging
at the bright green silk that stood out against her
shiny coal-black eyes. “It’ll be perfect with just about anything in your closet.”
Just then, the bell above the door to the bakery
shop rang and a group of boys entered. Anna recog-
nized them from school, though she didn’t have much
to do with them. They were older and a couple of
grades ahead. And they usually kept to themselves—
that is, unless they were going after the weaker kids at school. They had that nasty reputation. Lately, they seemed to be targeting Jewish kids. Another boy from their school had been chased home by one of these
Anna and Renata looked at each other nervously.
Both of them were Jewish, and they knew that it was
better to stay away from these boys.
The boys were jostling one another and talking
loudly. One pounded his fist on the counter and
demanded, “Hey, we need some service.”
Mrs. Benna approached from the other side of
the shop. Her eyes flashed and her mouth narrowed
6
K A T H Y K A C E R
into a thin line. “There will be none of that in my restaurant,” she said sternly. “If you don’t show better manners, then I want you out of here.”
The boy who had banged on the counter took
a step toward Mrs. Benna. He was just about to say
something when one of his friends grabbed him by
the arm. “Come on. Let’s find somewhere else to go.
This isn’t worth it.”
And with that, the boys turned and left. Anna ex-
haled a long, deep breath and shuddered.
“Those boys give me the creeps,” Renata said.
Anna nodded, a knot settling in the pit of her
stomach. And it wasn’t just the boys that made her
nervous. They were simply a reminder of the other
troubles that seemed to be descending on her city
of Krakow and across all of Poland. Lately, she had
heard stories of Jewish people being attacked on the streets, pushed off the sidewalk and made to walk in the gutter, or forced to pick up garbage. At first, the victims were the most observant Jewish men, those
with long beards, full-length coats, and bowler hats.
They stood out and were easily targeted. But more recently, the violence had spread to the general Jewish community—people not unlike Anna and Renata.
Her baba had said that everything changed when
Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany. She cal ed him a maniac and said he’d made everyone feel unsafe.
The Sound of Freedom
7
“My parents have been talking a lot about what’s
happening to Jewish families,” Renata was saying.
“The attacks, the name calling. They’re afraid those things are only the beginning.”
“The beginning of what?” Anna put her coat on
and grabbed her bag of books.
Renata shook her head.
“I don’t think anything worse is going to hap-
pen,” Anna continued, although what her friend
said was making her even more anxious now. And it
didn’t help that when they were thanking Mrs. Benna
and saying good-bye, the shopkeeper leaned closer
and said, “I’d stay away from those boys if I were
you. One at a time, they’re a nuisance. But a group of them …”
She didn’t finish the sentence. And Anna didn’t
want to hear any more. She linked her arm in Renata’s and pulled her out of the bakery shop. Outside, Anna flipped her thick-braided pigtails off her shoulders, pulled her knitted cap down on her head, and lifted
the collar of her coat up around her ears. She needed to steer the conversation to a better place. “My father might still be teaching when we get to my house. So
we’ll have to be really quiet until his student leaves.”
Renata remained silent.
“Are you okay?” Anna asked, turning to look at
her friend.
8
K A T H Y K A C E R
Renata still looked troubled. “Those boys …”
“Don’t be afraid of them, Renata,” Anna said,
mustering more certainty than she was feeling. The
girls were passing through the Jewish quarter of
Krakow, where the streets pulsed with activity. This was familiar territory: the old synagogue Anna and
her family attended for the high holidays on her right, restaurants that overflowed with patrons up ahead,
and the market where Baba bought fruit and vege-
tables just around the corner.
“It’s just that my parents keep listening to the news reports from other countries,” Renata continued.
“And the news isn’t good. Even Mrs. Benna warned
us to be careful.”
“She just meant those boys. And we will.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Renata replied. Then
she shook her head as if she were trying to clear any nasty thoughts away. “I hope your grandmother has
a couple of extra aprons. I like to make a mess when I cook.”
Anna laughed and the two girls continued to
wind their way home. Nothing terrible had hap-
pened, Anna thought, allowing herself to relax. And
with Baba. That was the last thought she had before
she suddenly saw them again.
Chapter
25
2
Anna yanked Renata’s arm closer and pulled her to
an abrupt stop. “Look!” She pointed ahead.
The boys from the bakery were emerging from
Mr. Kaplansky’s butcher shop, the place where Baba
shopped for their meat. The butcher was a sweet man
with a kind smile who had always had a candy for
Anna when she accompanied her grandmother to
his store. The boys were laughing and shoving one
another. “You stay right there, old man,” one of them called over his shoulder. “We’re just going to do a
little redecorating out here.”
The anxiety Anna had felt earlier suddenly swelled
once more. Something told her that they couldn’t get in the middle of whatever was happening up ahead.
Perhaps if they didn’t move, they wouldn’t be seen.
She gripped Renata’s arm more tightly.
9
10
K A T H Y K A C E R
One of the boys carried a small tin in one hand.
In the other hand, he held a paintbrush. Had he been holding those things when they were in Mrs. Benna’s
store? Anna couldn’t remember. While the boy’s
friends stood and watched, he dipped the brush in
the tin and began to paint on the large window
in front of Mr. Kaplansky’s store. He painted big,
black strokes—up, down, and across, while his friends egged him on. A moment later, he stood back. There
on the store window was a giant Star of David. “Don’t stop!” another boy demanded. “Finish it off!”
Anna and Renata remained glued to their spot.
Behind her collar, A
nna’s face had grown hot.
Suddenly, she spied Mr. Kaplansky staring at the boys from his doorway. His eyes were dark and angry. One
of the boys spotted him and shouted, “Hey, we told
you to stay inside.” The butcher quickly ducked back into his shop.
Anna glanced around. Why doesn’t someone do
something? she wondered desperately. The street had become strangely quiet, and those few people who
were out hurried by, burying their faces into their
jackets and scarves.
Just then, Anna spotted Constable Zabek, the
police chief, approaching from around the corner.
His daughter Sabina also attended Anna’s school.
Finally! Anna breathed a sigh of relief. Help had
The Sound of Freedom
11
arrived. Constable Zabek was a portly man, and the
front of his uniform was pulled tight across his round belly, the buttons threatening to pop. The police chief strolled over to Mr. Kaplansky’s store and took a long look at the scene in front of him. But instead of doing anything, instead of shouting at the boys to stop, or driving them off, or even arresting them, the police chief simply stood next to Mr. Kaplansky’s shop with his hands clasped behind his back. He had a small
smile on his face and watched everything that was
happening with a detached kind of curiosity, as if he were watching a crowd of children in the playground.
The boys continued to jeer. “Finish it. Finish it.
FINISH IT!” Each chant grew louder than the one be-
fore. And as they repeated this refrain, the boy with the paint can dipped his brush once more and then
painted a slow, thick X through the Star of David.
His message was clear. Jews were not wanted here.
Constable Zabek looked over at Anna and Renata,
who were still frozen. He pulled himself to his fullest height. “You’re not here to look at the view,” he
bellowed. “Move on!”
That was all it took. Anna and Renata grabbed
hands, and together they ran. It was only when they
reached the corner, close to their houses, that Renata pulled free and faced Anna.
“I’m going home,” she said.
12
K A T H Y K A C E R
“But I thought you were coming over.”
“Not now. I can’t. I need to go home. I’m sorry,
Anna.”
And with that, Renata took off in the opposite
direction. Anna felt another chill surround her as
she turned and headed for home.