Chapter 10: Paper Trails

As evening shadows creep through Bieber-Haus, Friedrich meticulously forges the Kaufmann family's passport renewals—three generations captured in black and white photographs that must now be given a chance at escape. What begins as careful document alteration turns into a heart-pounding game of deception when Heinrich Schmidt's precise footsteps echo down the marble corridor, forcing Friedrich to hide evidence of his rebellion beneath legitimate paperwork. With every stamp and signature, the stakes climb higher. When Schmidt finally leaves, Friedrich makes a fateful decision to complete all forgeries at once, knowing a single mistake could unravel everything. But it's what he discovers afterward—a mysterious folder marked simply "Umzug" on Schmidt's desk—that transforms his understanding of the danger they all face, setting the stage for a desperate race against a machinery of extinction already in motion.