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resembled eczema, especially on his hands. Despite the pain it caused, his obsessive washing was a comforting ritual.
    â€˜Felix!’ shouted a bemused Klaus, appearing out of the darkness and making him jump. ‘What are you doing? You’ll catch your death.’ Felix hadn’t heard his uncle approaching or noticed the light from his torch in the moonlight.
    â€˜Onkel, I’m OK, just cooling down,’ Felix replied, hiding the soap in his trunks. He liked to keep his obsession with cleanliness a secret.
    But how could anyone really keep Torgau a secret? The damage and effects were there for all to see. The first time Klaus and Ingrid had set eyes on Felix after he’d escaped from Torgau they noticed the cigar burns on his ears, his dry, red skin and pale, thin body. They also logged the torment in his eyes. On the night he’d arrived, Felix had answered all their questions as best he could. Klaus and Ingrid had listened patiently and compassionately and on hearing about the abuse he’d suffered they reassured Felix he shouldn’t feel guilty for escaping and leaving Susanne behind, and he was now safe with them. They were outraged on the twins’ behalf, although Ingrid masked her sadness in front of Felix on hearing that her sister Sofie had died and the twins had been decreed orphans by the state and sent to Torgau. Love might not be enough to heal Felix but that was all Klaus and Ingrid could offer him, and they just hoped it would be enough after everything he had suffered.
    â€˜Come to the house, it’s important,’ Klaus pleaded, his usually stoical voice faltering and close to tears.
    Felix felt a lump in his throat and a wave of sympathy towards his uncle. ‘Are you crying? Onkel, you never cry.’
    â€˜Yes, I’m crying, even me. Promise me, boy, you’ll never be too proud or afraid to cry. It doesn’t make you less of a man.’
    It was the first time Klaus had spoken to Felix with such paternal warmth. Up until now he had shown kindness and generosity through his actions but had stumbled to say what he felt with words. Klaus and Ingrid were inexperienced in parenthood and were growing into this role but had agreed their relationship with Felix needed to develop over time and for trust to be built with the boy. Ingrid had discovered how Sofie had died, crushed on her bicycle on the streets of Berlin with no one to comfort her as she slipped away. Ingrid dealt with her own pain and regrets, crying herself to sleep for many nights, but knew her pain was nothing compared to Felix’s sufferings.
    But as Felix came out of the water there seemed no more barriers between them. They were not just uncle and nephew, there was at last the hope and possibility they could become like father and son. Klaus picked up the towel and wrapped it around his nephew and rubbed his back to warm him.
    â€˜You’ll never guess what’s happened… I thought I’d never see the day.’
    â€˜Onkel, what’s going on? Is it about the parties in the village?’ Felix asked.
    â€˜Come and see for yourself,’ Klaus exclaimed. ‘The Berlin Wall is down.’

Chapter Four : The Wall
    O N 9 TH N OVEMBER 1989, the Berlin Wall came down. The sequence of events leading up to this was clearly influenced by the fall of Communism throughout Eastern Europe that year. However, there was one East German who gained much notoriety for precipitating the fall of the Wall on this night rather than any other night. His name was Gunther Schabowski.
    A Politburo minister, Schabowski announced on television that East Germans were free to travel outside the country immediately. In his second, revised and corrected version later the same day he announced citizens could apply for a visa on 10 th November, valid for travel the following day. Confusion and chaos reigned as crowds, full of expectation, gathered at checkpoints throughout East Berlin.
    The Stasi