A Night Divided by Jennifer Nielsen (Chapter Summaries 17-32) – Flashcards

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Gerta needs a plan, a brighter light and way to not get so dirty. She puts wood in front of window better this time. She hides footprints. So many mistakes already. Iron Curtain (pg. 109). Questions she asks herself - how will she know if she's going straight, is she digging deep enough, when does she dig upward? Doesn't trust anyone to tell them and Fritz is trying to be good. He looked sad when he got home. He was writing something and hid it when Gerta looked. He also tells her he was fired from his job. In the morning, he lit a fire and showed Gerta a paper saying he is going to try to run for the river and swim to west. Gerta knows the river is too powerful and he'd die. He does not want to join military and they'll ruin his life. She knows he'll die trying and her and Mama's life would be ruined even worse. She shows him Papa's pic and told him to meet her there after school.
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Chapter 17
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They meet at the bldg. but Fritz bends nail on window. He wasn't excited about the shelter. She tells him everything. Seeing Papa, the dance, the picture from Anna. He doesn't believe dad meant this and if so, there's no one they can trust. He starts thinking. Soft dirt, will it cave in? Where would they put the dirt? Gerta says to plant real garden to have excuse for being dirty, and they have to leave as family. Fritz says no to the tunnel.
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Chapter 18
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Krause woke both of them up crying. He had sent his family to the west before Papa had gone but didn't go himself because his wife was so ill (she has since passed). Fritz says they have to build the tunnel. It's the last day of school and Gerta is telling Anna about the garden so she might be able to get in her house to see how wide the Death Strip is. Anna yelled at her for wanting things, but the real things she wanted weren't material things. It was freedom - to succeed, fail, talk, travel...
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Chapter 19
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Fritz started the tunnel. Mama will be with her mother a couple weeks longer. Fritz bought overalls with the food money. Fritz dug and Gerta moved dirt in buckets up the ladder to the basement. It was heavy and hard work. After an hour she was tired, hot and thirsty. Fritz realized and filled bucket and climbed the ladder while Gerta dumped it. After another hour the shelter was empty of dirt and Gerta ready to stop for the night. They were to the exterior wall of the building - in the Death Strip. Important to replace boards over the window so no one could see or come inside. Clothes clean but not hands and faces. On way home they needed to go to pond to wash. They would say to the guards they were gardening. No one came.
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Chapter 20
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Dirt turned to rock. In a few weeks Fritz would have to join military. Fritz had hinges to put on windows and told Gerta to use rocks to make stairs. She was happy to have Fritz. On the way home, they bumped into neighbor. Nosey and knows a lot. Sees they are dirty. They will need seeds to plant.
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Chapter 21
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When she woke up the next morning, Fritz wasn't there. A note said to stay there. She cleaned but was worried. She was hungry, running out of food. Fritz wanted to save money for tunneling supplies instead of food. She was looking for food and found a letter from Papa. It was all blacked out. She wrote him a letter asking for money to buy seeds, told of grandma, and Fritz out of work. Fritz saw her at post office and showed her a permit to garden in front of the building, tools, and seeds he had gotten. He's happy but Gerta is suspicious. Now they have to plant garden too.
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Chapter 22
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They spent next 3 days weeding. Gerta finally came up with idea to dump the dirt that was piling up in basement to cover weeds and garden. Fritz sent her to town for water. She saw a pulley at abandoned building. Anna was going into restaurant with mom. She got her the water because Gerta smelled. Gerta thanked her and Anna yelled a "You're welcome." Gerta wonders what changed, but also remembered she will need to get into her apartment to check out Death Strip.
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Chapter 23
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Gerta doesn't tell Fritz about her plan to steal the pulley. It isn't a smart idea, but she's tired and sore and will soon be useless. There's a curfew. She wakes up very early Saturday morning and it's raining. She takes a sack and their sharpest knife. She wore gray, stayed in the shadows, and felt alone. She ran for corner and there was a woman already hiding there. She knew her dad and said he was inspirational. She gave her money, said they never saw each other, and ran in direction Gerta came from. Gerta ran to pulley. Most stores closed. She cut down pulley and waited for traffic to start. She walked home and Fritz was very upset - scared for her.
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Chapter 24
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They buy rope and a little food. Gerta asks Fritz how involved Papa was in the Resistance. He says he and Krause had meetings and helped build support against the government. She tells him about the woman. They make the pulley at the bldg. and it works. They take the dirt from shelter, Fritz continues digging, Gerta gets dirt out of basement. She goes out to do some gardening. Anna and her mother come by, and Anna seems too nice. Her mom asks about where Fritz is, and has brought crackers, cheese and shortbread. Anna offers to help with garden, says the fresh dirt wherever it came from, won't stop the weeds. Fritz hears everything. They will now have to worry about Anna coming by, and where to put the rest of the dirt now.
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Chapter 25
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Lots of laundry. They decided to use it as a reason to go to the pond. It isn't really washing the clothes or sheets well, but it is an excuse to go the and a way to hide the buckets of dirt they are dumping into it.
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Chapter 26
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They received a package filled with seeds from Papa. One seed envelope had a lot of money. Gerta wanted to buy a bunch of food and a banana. This tells me she is still immature in ways. She understands now that she is so hungry, what mama was talking about when she mentioned starvation after WWII. They buy a wheelbarrow. Two guards stopped by to checkout the garden. One was Muller, the same one who put the gun on her face when she was staring at the Wall one the way to school a few weeks ago. He asked about the building, her name, and said he heard of her father and has seen his file. When he was about to touch the window they use, they were called to check out something else. He tapped the window but on the side with the hinges. It moved a tiny bit, but he was called again. They left, but Gerta was very upset.
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Chapter 27
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Back at tunnel again the next day they hit rock but kept going. Gerta was bringing rocks to river and Anna showed up ready to garden. She said she's noticed Fritz leaves her the hard work. She's brought food and water. Wants to help and talk/catch up. (I wonder if she's being sincere or if she will tell if she learns anything) Pg. 184 Gerta can't let her and feels terrible saying no because she misses their friendship. Anna thinks she hurt her feelings. Says she's trying for their friendship. Gerta says it's too late. Anna says good-bye. Gerta feels terrible.
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Chapter 28
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They got through the rock and were able to make good progress. Fritz tells her she has to get into Anna's to check out Death Strip. They have to know when it is safe to dig up. Too soon will get them in the Death Strip, too far might take too long and risk getting caught. Fritz and Gerta talk about prayer. She prays for forgiveness in so many lies. Fritz says he doesn't consider what they do to get away a sin, but he prays for those forced to serve a country they don't believe in. Gerta says she'll also pray for those who hold guns and want to also. Right before quitting for the night, they got the shovel stuck between a rock and the hard dirt. Fritz jumped on it to get it out and broke the shovel. The rest of the money was supposed to go to food. They consider different ways of getting another shovel. They discuss how in the West people will take advantage of others for profit and they don't want to do that (like steal a shovel). They hear footsteps in the basement. It's Muller, he's found them.
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Chapter 29
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He discusses killing them, bringing shame to their name and their mom goes to prison. Gerta sees a wedding ring and suggests he and his family come with them. He acts like the idea is unheard of, but is thinking about it. His wife has family in the west and she wants to go. They tell him they will need 2 weeks. He tells them time is their enemy, but he will let them continue - for now. Fritz thanks him and tells him when he sees the shovel in the dirt outside, it means they are ready to escape and bring his family that night.
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Chapter 30
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They stop for a little day old bread on way home. The next morning they buy a new shovel. Gerta still nervous. A few hours into the day Fritz calls her inside. There's water in the tunnel. Fritz hit a pipe and it was spraying out a lot of water. If it continued to spray, the whole tunnel would collapse. Gerta had to hold it while Fritz ran for supplies. Water and mud and rock started to make her cold, stuck, and cut up. She hung on though. Fritz finally came back. He had a clasp he got from Krauss ans a bike tube he got from Claudia. Krause asked no questions, but Claudia did and probably doesn't believe the garden answer. They just have to hope for the best.
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Chapter 31
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They jumped in the pond to clean up some. When they got home, Mama was there. Gerta remembered mics. Gerta took a bath and asked about grandmother. Mama asked where the food was. She brought some from the country. They greedily ate dinner and after went for a walk. They told her everything. Mama was very scared for them and told them to fill it up and the tools with it, that Papa never would have told them to do that. She says they have a good life. What would they do with grandmother. Gerta blames her again for them not all going west that night. Mama says some is true. They'll bring her to tunnel tomorrow. They walk home and stasi cars and armed officers in the street in front of their building. The woman Gerta bumped into in the alley was being taken out in handcuffs, and Krause dead on a gurney.
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Chapter 32
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