Lilac Girls

Pietrik has moved the family to their own apartment when Kasia returns. It is small but it is theirs. Kasia feels much better with her new tooth and her fixed leg. She hopes that she will be able to mend the rift between her and Pietrik. Caroline gets the necessary money and documents to Kasia as promised; the choice to find Herta Oberheuser will be Kasia’s and Kasia’s alone. Zuzanna also sends a letter. Kasia’s daughter Halina has an art show that day but she does not wish to attend. Pietrik throws pebbles up at the kitchen window to get Kasia’s attention; he asks her to come down and play with him. Pietrik comes upstairs and tries to kiss her, more like the boy he used to be before the war, but Kasia turns away.

Pietrik asks about the package and Kasia tells him everything. Pietrik encourages Kasia to go; he says that he will go with her. Pietrik wants Kasia to move on, to love their daughter the way she deserves to be loved. Kasia goes to Halina’s art show and gets drunk. She cries when she sees Halina’s self-portrait; Kasia sees only her mother. The sight of Pietrik speaking with another woman upsets her as well. Pietrik tries to take Kasia home, but Halina’s teacher comes to join them, as does Papa and Marthe. Kasia goes on a drunken rant about her mother before Pietrik helps her home.

The next morning, Kasia readies herself to leave for Stocksee. She watches Pietrik sleep but is unable to find the courage to crawl into bed with him. Instead, Kasia goes through the package and finds what she needs. She leaves a note saying goodbye to Pietrik before leaving. Kasia drives for a long time and makes it to Germany the next day. The chapter ends with Kasia at the border, an East German soldier ordering her to get out of the car as her travel papers have been impounded.

Kasia’s papers have been replaced with a one-day pass. If she is not back past the border by six o’clock the next morning, she will be incarcerated. Kasia continues to drive for a long time before she arrives in Stocksee. There, she sees a silver Mercedes-Benz park in front of a small doctor’s office; Herta Oberheuser emerges from it and enters the building. Kasia makes an appointment with Herta. She is the last patient of the day and she considers leaving before the receptionist calls her into the back. 

Serge and Zuzanna are married on October 25, 1959, on the grounds of Caroline’s Connecticut home. The bride and groom are beautiful in their respective luxurious outfits, as is their 10-month-old adopted son named Julien. Serge and Zuzanna have opened a French restaurant together; Zuzanna’s Polish desserts keep patrons coming back. Betty and Caroline both chat, happy for their friends, but cognizant that Zuzanna must miss her family terribly. Caroline, a group of British doctors, and Anise, one of the ladies from Ravensbrück who helped Janina and Kasia, wait for news about Herta Oberheuser; they are all ready to call for Herta’s medical license to be revoked.

Betty gives Caroline a gift: all the Woolsey silver that Caroline sold to Mr. Snyder to help her causes. Betty has been buying them for years and Caroline hugs her tightly, grateful to have such a kind friend. Earl arrives with a letter from Paul and a telegram from Kasia telling them that she has gone to Stocksee. Upon hearing that Kasia has gone to confront Herta on her own, Zuzanna takes Julien to the playhouse on the edge of the premises to be alone.

The receptionist leaves after handing Kasia her receipt. Herta does not recognize Kasia at all. Kasia tells Herta that she was once a prisoner at Ravensbrück; Herta denies any recollection of a Halina Kuzmerick. Kasia demands to know what happened to her mother. Kasia then notices her mother’s ring on Herta’s hand; Herta lies and says that the ring has been in her family for years. Kasia threatens to tell all the newspapers and everyone who will listen about everything Herta has done. Herta finally admits that Kasia’s mother was caught trying to edit the list of people chosen for surgeries. Halina attempted to take Kasia, Suzanna, and Luiza off the list. Halina had also been caught stealing coal to make remedies for the patients with dysentery. Otto Poll, one of the guards, was ordered to shoot Halina at the wall. Halina was allowed to see Zuzanna and Kasia one last time; Otto and Halina both cried, even when his gun jammed. Otto finally shot Halina when she wasn’t expecting it. Kasia asked Herta if she would have taken them off the list if she’d known they were Halina’s daughters, but Herta says nothing.

Kasia thanks her for telling the story and demands the ring back. She works the ring off Herta’s finger, cleans it, and puts it on her own. Herta tells Kasia that she would bring Halina back if she could. Kasia leaves, finally knowing what happened to her mother. She sends a telegram to Pietrik telling him that she will be home soon and another to Caroline: “Positively Herta Oberheuser. No doubt” (423). Kasia rips up the letter she was drafting to the paper. She knows Caroline will take care of Herta; the deep well of rage in Kasia had finally calmed.

Kasia returns home, lightness in her chest. Kasia gives her daughter the precious collection of her mother’s brushes before slipping into bed naked with Pietrik. He pulls Kasia close and she feels whole for the first time since before the war.