I am in the kitchen with Sister St Julienne when we hear terrifying voices yelling in German. There’s no way to escape. We’re being raided.

 

Sister rushes me over to the dumb waiter and motions me to get inside. It’s like a little elevator that takes food from the kitchen to the dining room upstairs. I get inside and Sister St Julienne pulls the cable and ties a knot so the dumb waiter is stuck between two floors.

 

I hear boots stomping over the kitchen tiles, and voices, really close now. I see a ray of light as the door to the shaft of the dumbwaiter opens. Then I hear someone say, ‘Out of order’. The door slams shut and I sit still for a very long time, almost too afraid to breathe.

 

Before sending me to the convent, Dad handed me a tiny mezuzah. Mum threaded a piece of red ribbon through it and pinned it inside my singlet, so the mezuzah would protect me and keep me safe. My father had always told me to recite the Shema whenever I felt afraid so I say this special prayer under my breath.

 

At night time the nuns finally rescue me from my little prison. I’m safe.