“He loves me, too,” Yona said softly.
“Don’t be a fool, Inge. Jews aren’t capable of such a thing. They’re animals! How could you let him influence you this way, take you away from the life you could have with your family?”
“He’s my family now. He’s my future.” Yona knew she should stop. Jüttner had a gun, and he looked unhinged. But it was as if all the light and pain poured into her heart had finally burst the vessel, and she couldn’t keep it in anymore. “How could you think I would come back with you? Do you see what you’ve become?”
“Enough!” her father roared, his anger suddenly exploding. He waved his gun wildly, and Yona felt a pang of fear. Jüttner was gaunt, exhausted. If she and Zus turned to run, there was a chance they could get away from him before he began firing, and in minutes, they could vanish into the forest. But if his instincts were still sharp, they’d both be dead before they took a few steps. It was too risky. “You are my daughter,” her father said, his voice sinking to a low growl. “You will leave all of this foolishness behind and come with me now.”
“She is not going anywhere with you.” Zus’s words were firm and calm.
“You think you can tell me what to do? She is my blood,” Jüttner spat, spinning unsteadily toward him. “Don’t you people care about that, too? That you’re a Jew because of what’s in your blood?”
Zus didn’t say anything.
“What, you can’t speak now, you filthy Jewish dog? Answer me! What makes a Jew? In your fancy religion, with all its rules and its plans for taking over humanity, what is the one thing that makes a Jew?”
Yona could feel the tension escalating.
“According to halakha, a child with a Jewish mother’s blood is always Jewish,” Zus said calmly. “Is that what you’re referring to?”
“Stop, Zus,” Yona murmured. He was making it worse. She could see Jüttner beginning to spin out of control, his eyes bulging, his movements growing more erratic. He looked crazed, and with a loaded gun and a simmering hatred of Jews, there was only one way this could go.
“And you think that by tricking my daughter into loving you, you can purify your own dirty soul? That if you have children, they won’t be Jews like you? Is that it? That’s your plan?”
“I—” Zus began, but Jüttner cut him off.
“Well then, joke’s on you, Jew. You want to know my dirty little secret? I married a Jew.” He turned to Yona, his features twisted, his eyes wild. “She lied to me about it, but your mother was a half-Jewish whore, the daughter of a Jewish mother and a Christian father. She tried to hide who she was, but you can’t hide a thing like that. Not in Germany. She didn’t even tell me, the ungrateful bitch. She was long dead by the time the records surfaced. And it’s a good thing, because I might have killed her myself. She could have ruined me, Inge. You understand that, right?”
She felt as if the breath had been knocked out of her. “My mother was Jewish?” she whispered.
Jüttner’s laugh was cruel. “Oh, she fell to her knees in church every Sunday, just like everyone else did. You never would have known that her blood was tainted. She was hiding it, Inge. Hiding it from me.”
Yona’s head was spinning. Was that why Jerusza had chosen her? Not just a random desire to steal a baby from a blooming Nazi, but a premonition about the day the truth might be revealed? Had Jerusza realized that if things had unfolded without her interruption, Yona and her mother might have one day been sent away to their own deaths by the man who was supposed to love them most?
“I’ve been Jewish all along,” Yona murmured.
“No,” Jüttner said firmly. “No. You are a Mischling of the second degree, not a Jew. My blood is strong, Inge. I have done enough for Germany to erase the stain of your mother’s lies. It’s why I had to bring you back. It’s why I’ve been wandering the woods for months now, looking for you. I have to save you, Inge, before someone sees what you really are.”
She finally found her voice. “I don’t need saving. Not by you.”
“But you do!” He waved his arms wildly. “It’s obvious now! Don’t you understand? The second you join your life to his, you become once again a full Jew by law.”
Yona took another step backward. Why wasn’t Zus moving away? “Papa.” She tried the word again, to soften the tension, but it was too late. Jüttner seemed to hardly hear her.