The Light in Hidden Places: Chapters 23–30

by Sharon Cameron
Based on a true World War II story, this novel details how, as a teenager, Stefania Podgórska managed to take care of her younger sister, while hiding and supporting Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–8, Chapters 9–15, Chapters 16–22, Chapters 23–30
35 words 52 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. unravel
    become or cause to become undone by separating the fibers of
    The children carefully unravel the sweaters; Danuta saves the water from the boiled beets and re-dyes the yarn. And when the yarn is dry, everyone learns how to knit.
  2. prodigy
    an unusually gifted or intelligent person
    The women who know teach the men who don’t, my thirteen are occupied, and Siunek is a surprise prodigy, able to finish a sleeve in just a couple of hours.
  3. flourish
    a showy gesture
    Max comes, too, because he’s curious, and I empty my sack with a flourish. A warrior with her trophies.
  4. challah
    (Judaism) a braided loaf of white bread containing eggs
    The cooking and baking become a group effort, with Siunek and Max and even Schillinger sometimes lending a hand, since he had always been the one to peel the potatoes for his wife. Mrs. Bessermann will let no one help with the challah.
  5. devise
    come up with after a mental effort
    The three of them devise a game that involves kicking the ball through one doorway or the other, and we’re lucky it never lands in the slop bucket or the soup.
  6. borscht
    a soup containing beet juice as a foundation
    When the sun is setting, I bring all three of our lamps to the table for the third day of Hanukkah, Old Hirsch sprinkles salt on the challah, and we eat borscht and latkes and tinned pears and one of the chickens, sacrificed while Helena was safely playing ball.
  7. latke
    a pancake made of grated potato
    When the sun is setting, I bring all three of our lamps to the table for the third day of Hanukkah, Old Hirsch sprinkles salt on the challah, and we eat borscht and latkes and tinned pears and one of the chickens, sacrificed while Helena was safely playing ball.
  8. devolve
    grow worse
    We play Guess What I Am. And Jan Dorlich, we discover, is a dark horse as an actor. But after the vodka has gone around, the whole thing devolves into Max with a soup pot on his head, talking when he’s supposed to be silent, taunting Hitler in what I think is supposed to be a British accent, only it isn’t.
  9. distinct
    clearly or sharply defined to the mind
    “We require your house,” he says again, in very distinct, German-accented Polish. As if I might be stupid.
  10. notion
    a vague idea in which some confidence is placed
    There are four Nazis sleeping in the bedroom.
    There are thirteen Jews in the attic above their heads.
    Helena and I are standing in between.
    I think we are all about to reinvent our notions of hell.
  11. grovel
    show submission or fear
    I go to work the next day and beg Herr Braun to switch me to the night shift. I flatter him. Grovel.
  12. auger
    a hand tool used to bore holes
    The man is pulling out an auger, ready to drill.
  13. static
    crackling or hissing noise caused by electrical interference
    Whatever they’re listening to, it's a static blur beneath conversations I can’t understand.
  14. ruffle
    disturb the smoothness of
    Helena comes in to return the rinsed-out bucket, and Max bends down automatically, letting her ruffle his long hair and then scratch all through his beard and he makes noises like a well-petted dog.
  15. inadvertently
    without knowledge or intention
    My hand creeps up to the neckline of my nightgown, holding it closed, making me hunch over a little. Which must, inadvertently, make me look a little sick.
  16. treason
    a crime that undermines the offender's government
    I will not sign a card for someone who is not ill. To do so would be treason against the Führer.
  17. feral
    wild and menacing
    They are dirty and weak, feral and hungry-looking, like I’ve wandered into the den of some wild, desperate pack with Max as their leader.
  18. unintelligible
    not clearly understood or expressed
    His next words are unintelligible, except for “seen in the market.”
  19. scuffle
    fight or struggle in a confused way at close quarters
    I move toward the little door, but Max holds out a hand and shakes his head. I try to push him aside, and he shakes his head hard and puts a hand over my mouth. I freeze. If we scuffle, we’ll be heard.
  20. translucent
    allowing light to pass through diffusely
    He looks translucent. A pale shadow.
  21. sterile
    free of pathological microorganisms
    They take me down a long hallway painted blinding white. And there are nurses walking by and doctors with their coats. It all looks very clean. Sterile.
  22. clinical
    relating to or based on direct observation of patients
    They listen carefully, crane their necks to see, take notes while I blush. And the doctor is not being gentle. He presses hard with his other hand, pushing into my abdomen. I grimace. I start to sweat. Their cold, clinical stares make me want to run and never stop.
  23. delirious
    marked by uncontrolled excitement or emotion
    Because Mrs. Bessermann is delirious.
    She can’t be still.
    She can’t be quiet.
  24. maggot
    fly larva commonly found in decaying organic matter
    I stand in one place in a grocery and look at maggoty cabbages for fifteen minutes while he tries to decide what to do.
  25. straggling
    spreading out in different directions
    Mrs. Bessermann with straggling hair and dirt running with the rain off her cheeks, a faded, filthy blouse hanging off one shoulder.
  26. frail
    physically weak
    They look delicate. Frail.
  27. teeming
    abundantly filled with especially living things
    And in the morning, when the rain is gone and the summer sun shines in warm yellow streamers through the crack in the window curtains, the teeming silence is still there, and I wonder why we're still alive.
  28. shabby
    showing signs of wear and tear
    I try to sell the sofa. The half table. The broken armoire. I offer to trade them with a farmer and even offer the shoes off my feet. But no one has any need for my shabby furniture or my shabby shoes.
  29. vise
    something likened to a tool that clamps or holds tightly
    But Sala is cringing, clutching my arm like a vise.
  30. preoccupied
    having excessive or compulsive concern with something
    I don’t think we’re going to get there without being questioned, not with Sala turning her face from every soldier or policeman on the street. But everyone seems busy tonight. Preoccupied.
  31. irreverent
    showing lack of due respect or veneration
    Mrs. Krawiecka says things like, “Great God,” and “Mother Mary!” and without being irreverent.
  32. haphazardly
    without care; in a slapdash manner
    The door to the second bedroom is open, and there are clothes everywhere, Ilse throwing shoes haphazardly into a suitcase.
  33. pilfer
    make off with belongings of others
    No more pilfered food.
  34. remnant
    a small part remaining after the main part no longer exists
    I look at our little mass of people. At the remnants they have left.
  35. demeaning
    causing someone to lose status or the respect of others
    Goyka. Non-Jew. Me. But the way he said it was ugly. Demeaning. Like I am a piece of gum to be spit out once the flavor is gone.
Created on Wed Nov 30 12:12:09 EST 2022 (updated Thu Feb 02 16:22:38 EST 2023)

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