The Keeper of Hidden Books

Months pass, and Zofia notices that the number of people fleeing the ghetto has decreased significantly as more Jews are subjected to the Nazi roundups. Zofia’s hope to reunite Janina with her mother for Hanukkah comes to nothing—Zofia has not seen Janina since she escorted her mother out of the ghetto. One day, Zofia attends a secret piano concert with Darek. She is nervous but ends up enjoying the music much more than expected. Walking home after the concert, Darek tells Zofia that the Department of Education and Culture wants to feature his paintings and drawings in an exhibit. Zofia pulls away when she feels a moment of romantic connection building between them.

By January, the secret library that Zofia and Miss Laska are running in the reading room is in full swing. Zofia asks Danuta and Kasia to help. One afternoon, the Fraus enter the reading room, surprised to discover that a branch of the library they believed to be closed is still open and staffed. Zofia claims that she asked Miss Laska to help her take inventory of the building because of Miss Laska’s incredible memory for all the books that are in circulation there.

The Fraus quiz Miss Laska on her memory of books checked out from her reading room. She satisfies them, and they leave. Next, Marta Krakowska—the famous Polish novelist whom Zofia and Janina met in Chapter 5—visits the reading room. Krakowska tells Zofia that a scene in her new novel is inspired by Zofia’s actions to save books after the bombings.

Veronica’s organization is absorbed into the larger Polish Underground State organization and given a new name, Zegota. Mrs. Steinman’s safehouse is discovered by a neighbor, so she is relocated outside the city to live with a widow named Ella. Zofia regrets that she hasn’t been able to visit Mrs. Steinman often, so when she has spare time on a snowy day, she takes the opportunity to do so. She is delighted to find that Mrs. Steinman looks healthy and has gained some weight. Ella and Mrs. Steinman warm Zofia and serve her milk, a very rare luxury. Ella turns down Zofia’s offer of money to help with supplies for Mrs. Steinman. Instead, she asks for a book, and for help establishing a small collection of books for the locals. Zofia promises to bring books in the spring, once the weather clears.

In the middle of January, Zofia hears explosions and gunfire from inside the ghetto; it is an uprising of the ghetto residents. The fighting doesn’t last long, but it inspires the Home Army to begin planning to smuggle weapons into the ghetto. Zofia worries about Janina’s safety amidst this outbreak of violence.

Zofia, Danuta, and Kasia attend Darek’s art exhibit. They are all impressed by the accurate details and emotional power of Darek’s paintings, which depict landmarks from around Warsaw, partially destroyed and partially in their pre-war condition. Darek tells Zofia that he once dreamed of having his art displayed in the National Museum, but that now the dream feels selfish.

At the art show, Danuta reveals to Zofia that the Nazis lied to her when they claimed that her father was in Pawiak Prison for so long. Zofia’s father—like Danuta’s parents and other intellectuals—was only in the prison for a day or two before being driven to the forest in large groups and shot. The Germans committed this crime early in the occupation to prevent the well-educated residents from gathering and potentially leading a rebellion. Zofia is shaken by the news. She wonders what the punishment will be for actual rebellion if the Germans are willing to murder innocent people on the off chance that they might start a rebellion.

It is now April 1943. A few months have passed since the first armed uprising in the ghetto. Now, on the night before Passover, fighting breaks out again. Darek seeks Zofia out to let her know that he has people asking after Janina in the ghetto. While the pair are walking, they see that someone has raised a Polish flag somewhere in the ghetto. Zofia and the others are moved and inspired by the uprising in the ghetto. However, while people like Miss Laska see the fighting as a chance for the Jews to free themselves, Zofia has learned more about the poor conditions in the ghetto. She knows that “this was a fight the Jews knew they could not win” (308). Zofia understands the uprising to be inspired by vengeance and by the desire to die fighting.

Marta Krakowska gives Zofia a copy of her new book, which was printed by an underground press. The story is set in Nazi-occupied Poland; Zofia recognizes that the heroine is a mix of herself and Janina. The novel has a cozy ending, with a safe family home and a pet cat. Meanwhile, the Nazis’ violence toward Polish citizens increases as the ghetto uprising lasts much longer than anyone expected. Matka and Zofia have a scare when German soldiers storm into their building and arrest some of their neighbors. Matka and Zofia are safe but shaken. Zofia feels like a coward for not running to her neighbor’s aid, even though she knows that her actions would only have endangered her mother and would not change the neighbor’s fate. One night, Zofia is half-asleep and restless with worry for Janina and the others in the ghetto when she hears a knock on the door. It is an unknown man, carrying a wounded Janina.

Janina has been shot several times. Matka and Zofia scramble to care for her, inviting the man, Jakob, to sit in the kitchen and warm up. He is a friend of Janina’s father. Zofia is amazed at her mother’s medical knowledge and discovers for the first time that her mother worked as a nurse for her father early in their marriage.

Jakob returns to the ghetto to continue fighting. Janina remains unconscious for three days; during this time, Zofia returns to Miss Laska’s reading room. Marta Krakowska stops by, and Zofia asks her to explain the cat at the end of her novels. Krakowska explains that the cat is a symbol of hope and peace for her, a recollection from her childhood before World War I.

The fighting in the ghetto quiets while Janina is still unconscious. When she wakes, she wants to return to the fighting, but there is nothing to return to at the moment; the Nazis have finally quelled the uprising. Janina becomes depressed when she realizes that her friends and neighbors are either dead or in great danger; she is frustrated by her inability to help as the Nazis scour the ghetto for fighters, using dogs or burning buildings to flush out any people.

Zofia realizes that Janina needs something to bring her hope and purpose, so she takes Janina to see her mother. On the train ride there, Zofia marvels at how adaptable Janina has become; she blends in naturally with the crowd despite Zofia’s worries that her injuries will make her stand out. Janina is reinspired after seeing her mother safe and well. On their walk home, a patriotic Polish song plays from the loudspeakers on the street. The Nazi guards patrolling the road are angry and confused, but Zofia and everyone else feel a surge of hope at this act of rebellion. The ghetto burns for several days as the Nazis destroy the entire area. Zofia and Janina work with Zegota, delivering money to safehouses that harbor Jews to make sure that the Jews who managed to escape the ghetto remain protected.

Janina stays in the apartment with Matka and Zofia. Finally, after almost a year, the Bandit Book Club meets to discuss War and Peace. The other club members are delighted to see Janina again after two years. They have a lively discussion about the book, finding it very relatable to their own experiences. Zofia and Janina bike to the town where Mrs. Steinman is staying, bringing books to fill the one-room library as Ella requested. While they are biking, they discuss their shared desire to be part of the upcoming battle when the Home Army attacks the Nazis.