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The whole as a race against time – thefro out the order for the Rabbits’ appearances and practising what they’d say, and then we had one day to present everything before the whole court shut down for its Christmas break We were in the Palace of Justice every day, but we never went into the courtrooot ushered in and out of the building with the reporters and observers every , and ate with theaped wide-eyed at the armfuls of headphones and the miles and miles of telephone wire that trailed everywhere as the IBM technicians struggled to keep the translations going round the clock

Róża and I were standing outside the entrance in the forecourt on Thursday evening with a few other people, on the side with the trees, waiting for the shuttle bus to take us back to the hotel Suddenly Róża grabbed my arm and hissed in my ear, ‘Look, that’s Fischer And that’s Gebhardt They did it’

She let go for one second to point Soldiers were leading a group of the defendants souard

‘Did what?’ I asked

‘Tied me down in a prison cell and cut chunks out of ave us no strength Róża clutchedin the dark in a flurry of Ger in the roll call square back in Ravensbrück

‘That’s Oberheuser,’ Róża choked

‘Shhh!’

There wasn’t any reason to hush her There wasn’t any reason except I felt instinctively that we’d be walloped for talking and pointing

‘Oberheuser’s the wo led to a different entrance I knew that Oberheuser was the only woht in front of us were all three of the Ravensbrück doctors, Gebhardt, Fischer and Oberheuser –to a separate interview before the Ravensbr&uuave their testimony the next day

There was another wouarded on her own She stood hopping from foot to foot to keep war entryway, chatting with one of the helarette snised her at exactly the sael,’ Róża said ‘She was one of the lab technicians, the creepiest thing on legs She was always sneaking around injecting people with el of Sleep" Hah! She wasn’t working in the Revier any more when they did the Bunker operations Bet she never dreamed the Americans would catch up with her’

Our bus pulled up I stared back over nised another Nazi on her personal vendetta list – but I’d seen a ghost Anna Engel had been the leader of assed at the saht she was dead

I admit to joy when I realised she was still alive

People on the bus gave up seats for us I leaned over Róża to rub a clear patch in the fogged-upand stared at the girl standing there in her plu a thin raincoat around her and listening with a cynical expression to so She handed hilowed as he put it to his lips, and then they both laughed And then the bus pulled away

Anna had been a prisoner herself by the ti all right She’d told me she’d been an actual eot sent back as a criminal in 1944

‘That was Anna!’ I exclaiassed her!’

‘I wish they had,’ Róża snarled ‘That was the bitch who putto each other on the short bus ride back to the hotel, because I didn’t trust Róża hat I knew

I knew that Herta Oberheuser was the only wo on, and I’d talked with Dr Alexander Róża, on the other hand, focused on vengeance, was not paying much attention to the mechanics of the trial

If Oberheuser was the only woman on trial, any other women involved must be here as witnesses – possibly even as witnesses for the defence So Anna must be a witness, like Róża herself

I didn’t dare to tell her I’d liked Anna

Róża sat on the edge of her bed and slowly rolled down her hose the way she had on our first night in Nureet undressed too Róża said suddenly, ‘Your scars are nasty, Rose Do they hurt?’

I craned my neck I’d never actually seen o halfway down ot a stupid infection last winter that had to be operated on I couldn’t sit down again for a week So eown on

‘You never e’

I turned around to look at her She was still sitting there with her stockings around her ankles

‘For ? Gosh, I don’t even knoho did it!’ I exclaiain But hoould I get revenge for that ? They used to bribe other prisoners to do the beatings so them extra bread! What if they’d held back your rations for teeks then given you extra bread to beat me? I wouldn’t have blamed you!’