When you leave the ship at Le Havre, you are surprised to find a representative of the Jewish community of Paris on the dock. You and the others who have decided to disembark in France are greeted warmly, given a good meal, and put aboard a train to France's capital city.
One in Paris, you are housed in a dormitory with other young Jewish refugees. The Jewish community takes care of your needs, and they even find you a job, working as a nurse's helper in a hospital. You feel good; at least your medical training is being put to use helping other people. It's not the same as being a doctor, but, in your situation, something is better than nothing — and nothing is what you would have had in either Germany or Poland.
The newspapers are full of news of Nazi conquests. The Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia was virtually given to them when the British agreed not to object, and the invasion of your homeland, Poland, took only a few weeks. There are rumors that they will now turn west and attack the Low Countries and France. The French military command is certain that the forts along the Maginot Line will prevent them from conquering the country, and you feel somewhat reassured.
The French are sadly mistaken. In a lightning-fast strike, German tanks race through Holland and Belgium; it takes barely a month for France to surrender. You are trapped in Paris, a city now administered by the Nazis. You must leave your job and go into hiding.