Harry Mulisch, a contemporary Dutch writer, was born in Haarlem, much like his protagonist Anton Steenwijk. Mulisch's mother was Jewish and lost her family to the concentration camps and his father was a Nazi collaborator who was jailed after the war. This gives Mulisch a unique point of view on the war, suggesting a highly personal connection to the characters of his novel.
The Prologue:
The writer describes the neighbourhood in which the Steenwijks lived. There are four houses set close together along a quay that is bordered by water. Each of the houses bears a name. The first is Hide-away, belonging to the Beumers, then Carefree, where the Steenwijks live. Next to the Steenwijks is Home at Last, where Mr. Korteweg lives with his adult daughter.
Beside the Korteweg's is Bide-a-Wee, the home of the Aartses, an older couple who keep to themselves most of the time.
First Episode:
It is after seven in the evening and the Steenwijk family is gathered in the dining room because it is a small room that can be sealed, conserving the amount of fuel that must be consumed to war the family. It is January of 1945. The war is nearly over, but Liberation has not come to Holland yet. The family is on the verge of starving due to a lack of available food. Mrs. Steenwijk has a terrible toothache that she treats with a piece of clover. The children no longer attend school because of the inability to warm the school building. As a result, Mr. Steenwijk, a clerk, is teaching the children at home. Peter, the eldest at seventeen, is just completing a lesson despite his insistence that he does not need to learn to translate Homer.
In the silence of the evening, six shots suddenly ring out. Peter runs to the windows in the front parlor and calls to his family that Fake Ploeg has been shot. Anton instantly thinks of his schoolmate, Fake, whom he once saved from punishment at school when he stood up for him against a teacher who refused to teach a child in a Nazi youth uniform. However, it is Fake's father who has been killed. Fake Ploeg is the Chief Inspector of Police, known for his particular brand of cruelty. As Anton joins is brother at the windows along with his mother, their neighbors, the Kortewegs, move the body from their front yard to the Steenwijk's front yard.
Peter becomes angry, insisting by doing this, the Kortewegs have placed all their lives in danger. Peter tells his mother they should move the body back or next door to the Beumers. Mrs. Steenwijk refuses, insisting they have done nothing wrong and the Germans will understand that. When Peter tries to defy her, Mrs. Steenwijk throws the key to the front door into the darkness of a back room. Peter leaves through a back door instead. However, just as Peter reaches the body, they can all hear the Germans approaching. Peter grabs Ploeg's gun and disappears around the corner of the house.
The German soldiers come into the Steenwijk's home and begin demanding their papers. Mr. Steenwijk shows them the papers. The soldiers demand to know where Peter is. Mrs. Steenwijk is honest and tells them that Peter ran toward the Korteweg home. The soldiers drag Mr. and Mrs. Steenwijk out of the house. Anton is placed inside a car. From the car, Anton watches as the soldiers break the windows of his house and burn it down with a flame thrower. Anton watches for his parents, but only sees his mother briefly. Finally the soldier who placed him in the car returns, surprised to find Anton there. The soldier had forgotten about him.
Anton is taken to a police station in Heemstede. A man who appears to be in charge places Anton in a cell with a prisoner he cannot see. The darkness is so complete that Anton only finds his way to the prisoner by the sound of her voice. The prisoner takes Anton into her arms and strokes his face, attempting to console him. Although she refuses to give Anton her name or talk about why she is in the cell, she tells Anton a story about how she once got lost in the darkness after attempting to return home after curfew. The woman got so lost that she just stopped and sat on the curb until dawn. When she could finally see, the woman realized she was sitting in front of her own home.
The woman tells Anton, too, that there is a man who loves her. This man is married and has two children. The man believes that the woman does not love him, but she tells Anton she does love him very much. Anton listens, but he is so exhausted he finally falls asleep. A few hours later, the cell door opens and Anton is yanked out by a man who is angry that he was placed in the cell. The man sees blood on Anton's face and becomes angry, especially when he learns the blood is not Anton's, but belongs to the young woman.
Anton is sent to the Ortskommandantur in Haarlem. Anton falls asleep and sleeps until morning. In the morning, Anton wakes and sees Mr. Korteweg walking down the corridor. Anton is taken into the office of a man who appears to be a general. The man questions Anton, telling him that many mistakes were made the night before. When Anton asks about his parents, the man claims he knows nothing about their current location. The man tells Anton he is going to send him to Amsterdam with a military convoy to be reunited with his aunt and uncle until his parents can be located. Anton is giving to a young soldier who dresses him in warm clothes and a helmet before taking him into a truck that is part of the military convoy. As the convoy approaches Amsterdam, it is attacked by a plane. Everyone jumps out of the trucks except for Anton, who is fascinated by the plane. Anton is finally yanked from the truck as the plane destroys the final truck in the convoy. The man assigned to escorting Anton has been shot.
Anton is taken to the military headquarters in Amsterdam where he explains who he is and why he was with the convoy to a man who appears to be in charge. Anton's uncle, Peter Van Leimpt, arrives and takes him home.
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