thoughts. Then she took her bike and walked it down the hill. The devastation sometimes threatened to swallow her whole. She had been separated from her husband back in February. Trocmé, Theis, and Darcissac had been held at the Saint-Paul Camp, but just before most of the camp’s prisoners were transferred to Germany, the three men were released thanks to intervention from various public officials. But what would happen now with Daniel and the children? Would they face the same fate? Would they return safe and sound?
At home, Alice had been watching the Trocmé children and waiting for Magda to return. Seeing Magda’s dejected face, Alice went to the kitchen and made tea.
“How are the children?” Alice asked.
“I don’t know. They wouldn’t let me in. I’m sure they haven’t eaten since early this morning. They must be terrified. We’ve got to get them out of there.”
Alice groped for comfort, though her face was as downcast as Magda’s. “Rest for a bit and save your strength. In a couple hours things might look different.”
Magda sank into the chair and began to cry. Then she knelt and prayed, “Oh God, God, God!”
Two hours later, she returned to the Maison des Roches with Jean-Pierre, whose friends Jacob and Moses were among those being questioned. As they approached, they saw all the children lined up with Daniel at the head. The Gestapo did not let them approach, but Magda called to him, “Daniel, don’t be afraid!”
His clear voice ran out, “It’s all right! I’ll go with my students and protect them.”
The tears returned to Magda’s eyes, and she clung to Jean-Pierre’s hand. “Why are they taking you?” she called back.
“They’re accusing me of being a Jew and of helping the Resistance.”
“But that’s ridiculous,” she protested, desperate.
“Tell my parents that I love them and that I’ll be fine. As soon as I can, I’ll get in touch with them,” Daniel said, raising a hand. Jacob, Anna, and Moses were beside him. Jean-Pierre saw them and started hollering for them.
“Where are they taking them, Mother?” he asked, distraught.
Magda did not know how to answer. She bit her lip and shifted her weight from one foot to the other while the soldiers pushed the students toward the truck. One by one they climbed in, but when it was Moses’s turn, Jean-Pierre ran up and hugged him.
“Don’t go, don’t go!” Jean-Pierre begged between sobs.
Magda ran up to her son as the Gestapo inspector cracked his whip at them.
“These two are very young,” she protested, pointing to Jacob and Moses.
“They’re Jewish swine. It’s hard to believe you’re the wife of a Protestant pastor,” was his disdainful reply.
“They’re children, not Jews. They’re just orphans,” she answered.
The inspector seared her with his dark eyes. “Don’t you know a preacher’s wife shouldn’t lie?”
“I’m not lying, inspector. They’re just orphans from Paris, innocent children,” she said, weeping.
Jean-Pierre clung to Moses. Their sobs were audible, as were Jacob’s, coming from inside the truck. The inspector hesitated briefly, then gave the order for the boys to be released.
Jacob grabbed Anna’s hand, and she held on tight, but their fingers separated as a soldier pulled Jacob out of the truck. Magda saw Anna, the child with light eyes, blond hair, and panic all over her face.
“She’s not Jewish either!” Magda cried, reaching for Anna’s hand.
“Not the girl!” the Gestapo officer shouted, pushing Anna farther into the truck.
Two soldiers dragged Magda back. Jacob, Moses, and Jean-Pierre ran to help her, but other soldiers blocked them. The students of the Maison des Roches continued filing into the truck until it was nearly full. Besides Daniel Trocmé, the Gestapo detained eighteen students: Spaniards, Dutch, Belgians, Germans, Austrians, Romanians, Luxembourgers, and French.
A soldier shut the doors and smacked the back of the truck. The rest of the soldiers returned to their vehicles, and the party was off in a cloud of dust. Jacob tore off running behind the truck. He could see Anna’s pale face looking out the back. He ran faster and faster, but the truck moved farther and farther away. As soon as the convoy turned onto the main street, Jacob fell too far behind and stopped to catch his breath. Anna’s face turned into a white speck and then disappeared. Jacob collapsed and beat at the ground with his fists.
He later walked back to the house, head hung low. There was no one outside. Inside, he found half a dozen of the older boys in absolute silence. The Spaniard boy who had saved the German soldier was