This will be a multi-chapter story involving many of the characters from "The Pianist". The first chapter is very short, I'm just testing the water. Chapter two will be much loner I promise! The story will focus on the time spent in the ghettos.

If you would like to see character photos please go to this is what I envision some of the original characters to look like.

Szpilman Family-

Wladyslaw Szpilman

Henryk (Brother)

Regina (Sister)

Halina (Sister)

Zielinski Family-

Hava Zielinski

Alka (Mother)

Tanek (Father)

Kasper (Brother)

Prologue

Hava watched as her mother set her bags on the filthy floor of the small, two room flat. She said nothing as she stood next to her brother, the silence seemed loud enough to fit the mood.

"They let us stay in our home longer than any other family" her father, Tanek's voice threatened to break, he manager to hold strong. "And we are in the small ghetto, thank God."

"Things could be so much worse," Alka, their mother nodded her head, but her voice lacked the conviction her words begged. "we will be fine my dears." She made a move toward her two children. Hava shrugged away from mother's grasp, while her brother Kasper stared forward. His gaze hadn't moved since they open the front door.

"What will father do?" Kasper's words fell out.

"I will be a doctor, just as it had always been. Your mother will keep the house, and continue to write just as she has always done. You will continue your studies under my supervision and Hava will…" Her's father fell silent.

"Yes Papa, tell me what I will do?" She raised her head, tears forming the corners of her eyes. "I do not think that there is great need to Operatic Singers here in the ghetto, Do you?"

"Hava," Alka approached her daughter again, and this time succeeded in embracing her. "This will not last long, you'll see. We'll be back in our homes before you turn Twenty-Four. I promise."

"I don't think so Mama. As long as I am a Jew in the Nazi world, things are not going to be the same." Hava stared at her mother, who stilled held a breathtaking beauty as she approached Fifty. She looked just as ready to take on the world as she had when Hava was a young girl. "I suppose that's the one thing they can't take from us can they. We're are Zielinski's. We are Jews. They can't make us something we're not, can they?"

"Hava…" Kasper closed her eyes.

"No, from now on I am not a singer. It will not be mentioned again, not music, not Opera, not any of it. From here on out I am a Jew. Nothing more."