Chapter 4: The Long Way Home

Friedrich and David take the long way home—but not by choice. Their path winds through shuttered Jewish shops, silent watchmen, and the uneasy hush of a city learning to look away. As they pass blue-papered windows and empty doorways once full of life, every step is a reminder: danger doesn’t always shout—it watches, waits, and takes notes. In this chapter, fear hangs in the air like smoke, and friendship becomes a quiet act of defiance. To walk together is to risk being seen—but to walk apart would be its own kind of surrender.