What World is Left Read Online Free

me: the fact that he’d been a professor at the University of Amsterdam before the war, the gray stubble on his chin, his long tobacco-stained fingers, which shook when he got upset with us. Who was he to threaten me? He was as powerless as the rest of us.
    â€œYou’ll...what will you do exactly, Meneer Cohen?” I said.
    I’d never have dared to be so bold at the Amsterdam Lyceum, but what did I care now? Besides, what more did I have to lose? The other students giggled. But I took no pleasure in that. Most days, I hated Meneer Cohen. Sometimes, though, I pitied him, and that made me feel even angrier.
    Johan was the only one I knew at the Joodse Lyceum. We’d been friends forever. My heart softened a little when I thought about the birthday party where he’d given me the golden brooch I loved so much. The day of the party seems so far away now, but what fun it had been. I could practically hear Mother’s voice ringing from down the hall. “Johan’s here!” she called. “The others are in the parlor,” she told Johan.
    I gave Wilma, Trude and Theo a stern look. If they laughed, they’d give our game away.
    Johan was carrying a small parcel wrapped with a silver ribbon. “Happy birthday, Anneke,” he said as he walked into the parlor. Mother was behind him, her eyes sparkling with mischief. She was the one who had taught us the game.
    I had folded one of my legs beneath me, exactly the way Mother had shown me. My blue wool leotards felt scratchy. Before the party, Mother had cut the leg off another pair of my blue leotards and stuffed it full of rags, so that now, where my leg should have been, there was a stuffed leg in its place. Sitting like that was uncomfortable, but I tried not to squirm. The fun was worth a little discomfort. I tried not to laugh when I remembered how Trude shrieked when we played the trick on her.
    â€œJohan! Johan! Pull on Anneke’s legs!” Theo screamed with laughter. Though Theo was only eight at the time, he acted as if he was much younger. It comes from being the baby in the family.
    â€œNo, no,” I said. “You have to pull on
all
our legs.” I glared at Theo to remind him that if he weren’t my brother, he’d never have been invited to this party.
    Johan put his parcel down on the table. I wondered what it was. A bracelet or a brooch, perhaps? His mother has very good taste. Yes, I hoped it was a brooch. I would wear it on my new blue sweater.
    Johan approached our little circle, kneeling so he could pull on each of our legs. Wilma giggled, which made Trude giggle. I held my breath so I wouldn’t start giggling. Giggling can be contagious, especially at birthday parties where you play tricks on your guests.
    â€œOww, not so hard!” Theo said when Johan pulled on his leg.
    Next he pulled on Trude’s leg, then Wilma’s. “It’s a silly game,” Johan said when he came to me.
    I tried to look stern.
    Johan pulled on my right leg first. I met Mother’s eyes. She was standing by the door, smiling.
    â€œOh my God!” Johan screamed when he pulled on my left leg. The stuffed stocking came loose and fell to the floor. Johan covered his mouth with his hand. The rest of us doubled over in laughter.
    A little over a year later, I looked over at Johan, who was doing his math sums. So much had changed by then,but there was a little comfort in knowing that Johan was still Johan.
    Not all of the four hundred or so students at the Joodse Lyceum were Dutch. About half were
moffen
, German Jews who’d fled to Holland as Sara had done.
    One of the
moffen
girls caught my attention. Or rather her clothes caught my attention. She was far better dressed than the rest of us, and by then, with Father in jail, we had no money for luxury items like new clothes.
    The girl’s name, I learned, was Eva. We were the same age, but she was in another classroom. Eva’s older sister, Ilse,