You left your family once to study in Germany. Now realizing how precious they are to you, leaving them a second time is an option you will not consider. You are going to stay with them in Cracow, no matter what happens.
As the Germans take tighter control over the ghetto, conditions worsen. Business activity is suspended in the summer of 1942. Food rations are cut in half. The Germans round up many of the residents and as many children as they can catch in a violent Aktion, herding them into a large square near the railroad station. There, they tell them that, because of the shortage of food, they are being resettled in the countryside on farms where they can work, have enough to eat and live safely. Later, a Jewish courier sneaks into the ghetto and informs the Judenrat that all those people were taken to Maidanek Concentration Camp and massacred. It's almost too much to believe, but it is true. You've heard of killings at a ravine called Babi Yar near Kiev and the harsh treatment of the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto. Why should Cracow be any different?
Your family insists that you try to escape, but you continue to resist. Family is all you have left. You will not abandon your parents, brothers, and sisters.
If you decide to stay with your family, continue to page 23.
If you are finally persuaded to try to get away from Cracow, continue to page 24.