Mrs. Höss had retired earlier on in her room that night. Once again, Rudolf had managed to sour the mood. He had come home early, anxious and jumpy, complaining of a bad stomach. She asked the servants to make him a tea, but there was no question of Rudolf taking part in the festive dinner, the man was white as a ghost and said he had the urge to vomit.
The children were sad and ate apathetically. They had waited for him the whole day, they didn’t see him often enough anyway, because their father was working all day, until late at night. The cook, a man terrorized by the fear of being sent to the gas chamber, came to the living room multiple times to ask if they enjoyed the food, and each time he would leave head down, shattered, seeing that his steak was no success, to the children’s amu
