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tall and thoughtful, carried himself with quiet pride. With his objective and self-critical manner, he even enjoyed the respect of the teachers.
    Wilhelm, son of Peters, the pharmacist, faced all practical problems sturdily and energetically. He had risen to the rank of cadre unit leader in the Hitler Youth and worked hard at the difficult balancing act of overlooking his friends’ critical remarks.
    Hanna, the daughter of the Höver farm, had large ocean-blue eyes that looked out earnestly from above rosy cheeks. Hanna found book learning difficult and, at the age of fourteen, bore the responsibility for the household and her brothers and sisters after her mother’s death.
    Leonard, son of Kramer, the lawyer, was fine-boned and pale. He would pedal alongside Jacob and, when the wind was against them, put his hand on Jacob’s back and push him. Leonard, the literature lover, could recite whole passages from Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther by heart.
    And Therese, daughter of Pohl, the doctor, was seemingly in perpetual motion born of restless vivacity. Even in the classroom, when she was sitting quietly over her books, it was as if she wanted to reach out and grab the words and figures with her hands.
    Their time together was due to end that summer of 1939. The boys had done their school-leaving exams, and the word war had established itself at every table in the community. In some houses it was whispered fearfully; in others it was spoken loudly and confidently.
    Jacob and Leonard were to start their compulsory Reich Labor Service in a few weeks. After that they wanted to apply for officer training. In Jacob’s case, this was a family tradition. His father, a colonel in the reserves, had already enlisted. Leonard had signed up against his parents’ wishes. They feared for his health and had intended him to study law. Wilhelm would remain in Kranenburg and begin his training in the administration. SS Captain August Hollmann had said, “We can use you here, Peters. You’ll soon make your mark.”
    Because of her poor grades, Alwine had to go to boarding school. “Alwine takes everything too lightly,” the teacher had told her parents. “It’s high time she grew up.” Hanna left school that year, without a diploma, because both her older brothers had been conscripted and the work on the farm would never get done otherwise.
    It was a Friday in August 1939. Wilhelm, responsible for the allocation of harvest duties within the Hitler Youth, had ensured that all six of them would be haymaking on the Kalder estate. They spent the whole day turning the hay in various fields. They laughed and joked, and the atmosphere grew more and more relaxed as midday approached. They exchanged playful remarks, and then the first hay began to fly. Competitions arose. Who would be the first to finish a row? The girls lost. Alwine sulked, complaining vociferously. Couples formed up, then switched. The day flew by. When they had finished, they did not want to return to the farmhouse just yet. Nobody said it, but there was silent agreement. They all knew this was the last time the group would be together in such relaxed circumstances. They sat in the field, talking and laughing boisterously. Glances were exchanged, eyes lowered in embarrassment, gestures interpreted. Hanna was in love with Jacob; it was an open secret. Alwine liked Wilhelm, and Wilhelm was attracted to Therese. There was a competitive edge to their banter, and when words flagged, guilty smiles hovered over the field of stubble, and the setting sun tinged the evening and their cheeks with red.
    Wilhelm and Leonard talked enthusiastically about Germany’s great future. Therese said, “Father thinks Hitler is rushing Germany toward disaster.”
    Birds were twittering in the forest; a dog barked on a distant farm. Jacob glanced at her briefly, and she thought she caught an almost imperceptible nod of his head. Wilhelm laughed. “God, Therese, your father was in the