The Island of Rügen loomed on the horizon, and it wasn’t more than a hundred yards before the bridge ended, and they would step onto the island. But the trek slowed down. SS and border police demanded to see papers again.
“Papers, please,” an SS officer said.
Ursula handed over her and Tom’s papers, while Tom stared at the ground, his mouth half open while incessantly nodding his head.
“These papers are not valid.”
Ursula almost toppled over at the impact of his words. If it weren’t for Tom’s unforgiving grip on her hand, she would have dumped everything and started to run – like the fake nurse at the train station. And she’d probably end up the same way…
“Why, sir? Our papers…” Ursula’s breath came in ragged spurts.
The SS officer turned to Tom, completely ignoring Ursula. “You and
