Featured Spotlight on "A Prodigy in Auschwitz" by Fred Goldman - Blog Tour

BOOK EXCERPT

Simon was one of the first to notice the disturbance among the starlings roosting in the sycamore trees bordering the east and west sides of the square. He heard their pitched chorus and the flapping of their wings seconds before hundreds of them flocked to the sky, creating two formations before joining into one large configuration. They moved swiftly, twisting, turning, changing shapes, and creating an astonishing spectacle to those watching below. 

As the progression of movements among the birds increased, Lena and the other young girls with whom she was playing ran to the benches where those caring for them were sitting. Lena pressed closely against Simon, her older brother. “What is it?” she whispered.

Simon put an arm around Lena’s shoulder. “Don’t be scared,” he said. “I saw this in a movie. Watch, it will be spectacular. You’ll have something special to tell the others at lunch.”

She pulled closer to him when the birds formed a spiral-like circle that temporarily blocked out the sun and caused a brief darkening over the square. Two worshipers wearing prayer shawls came out of the front doors of Beth David Congregation, a square-shaped, flat-roofed building on the west side of the square. Its congregants were comprised of Jews who followed the rules and practices of Halakhah, the strict observances of Jewish laws. They looked up into the partially blackened sky, stared at each other, and shrugged before returning inside their house of worship.

“This is unusual,” an observer sitting near Simon said. “Starlings take flight at dusk.”

An elderly woman occupying the same bench shook her head. “It’s a bad omen. Something terrible is going to happen.”