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It smelled like old paper and stale coffee and...hope. He stepped inside and breathed it deeply, waiting to see if Kraus would join him.

He did, latching the door softly behind him, as if afraid too loud a noise would wake him from a dream. “Where are we going?”

“To the tribunal.” He looked away from the shelves with their jumble of familiar titles. To the young man he’d always known could be a threat. Whom he’d wanted to make a friend. “You’re going to escort me.”

Red stained the pale, hollow cheeks. Fire lit the dark, empty eyes. “No! I won’t turn you in, I—”

“I know about the letter, Kraus—it’s all right.

You did what you were expected to do, what you were taught to do.

I do not blame you for that.” It was scarcely warmer in here than outside, but at least there was no wind.

Christian pulled his gloves off so he could rub his hands together.

“But I am hoping you will help me now. That you will testify to Ackermann’s behavior.

I have heard that he ransacked our neighbor’s flat, and that you saw it.

Perhaps if we both testify to his rage, he will answer for it. ”

“Testify?” Kraus sagged against the door, his foot bumping the return bin that had only ever had one book in it, in all Christian’s time here.

The one Corinne had slipped him, when Felix was ill.

“I will risk his wrath. And you —you’ll be charged with desertion, for all these weeks, and for all he accused you of to begin with.

Why...why not just stay disappeared? ”

“I considered it,” he admitted. He set his gloves on the circulation desk.

“But I can’t, Gunter. I can’t let innocent people’s lives be destroyed because Ackermann hates me .

So...I will answer for my part in it all.

I will confess that I am not a Nazi—but I’m not a traitor.

I’m a German, just like you. A man who loves his country, even as he hates what it’s become.

” He reached for a book—the book Kraus had tried to toss into the rubbish bin their first day here.

Would Kraus remember that? Maybe.

Christian sighed. “A man who knows that true freedom means extending to others the right to hold opinions I don’t agree with.

The right to be wrong . You have every right to believe what you do.

” He held out the book. “Take it. Read it. Or if not this one, another. Read a page, read a chapter. Think about the words, whether you agree with them or not. Think about them and try to understand why someone else would agree. Try to understand their perspective and recognize it as valid , even if it’s not right.

Even if you aren’t willing to face Ackermann at the tribunal, do this much. ”

Though he looked as though the book were a snake that might bite him, Kraus stepped away from the door, reaching out until his fingers closed around the book. “But...they’re verboten .”

Christian breathed a laugh. “Do you even know why? It was because a bunch of college students got together and decided they didn’t like this book or this author or this idea. They decided it would harm their ideology.”

He braced a hand against the desk, leaning forward. “Because they knew, they knew that if they kept reading them, their own ideas couldn’t stand the test.”

Kraus flinched, turning his face away. But he held on to the book.

Christian drew in a breath. Let it out. “I can’t make you come with me today. But grant me this much, Kraus. One promise. Read. ”

Kraus’s larynx bobbed, the debate raging in his eyes clearly about more than a banned book. “A page? Every day?”

“A page, at least. A chapter. A whole book. Read novels, because they will put you in someone else’s skin.

Read poetry, because it will give wings to your soul.

Read science, because it will show you what’s possible.

Read politics, because it will teach you how strongly people care about how their fellow men are treated, wherever they stand on what the best way is.

” He pulled books off the shelf, books he’d been putting there since June, wondering how he’d ever convince Kraus to read them.

Maybe he wouldn’t. But maybe he would . “Read things you hate and things you love and things you never thought you’d understand.

And never, never accept the excuse that you’re not strong enough to handle it if you read something that offends you.

You are . You’re strong enough to be offended and then try to understand why.

You’re strong enough to grant that someone can be different and still be worthy of dignity.

And if you aren’t?” He slammed one more book onto the stack. “Then read more, until you are .”

Kraus studied the stack of books. When he looked back to Christian, his eyes were wet with doubt and pain. “Why? Why do you even care if I get stronger? I’ve already ruined everything for you.”

Christian moved forward, clasping his hand to Kraus’s shoulder.

“Do you know what my father told me one day, after bullies had beaten me up when I tried to defend my brother? He told me the only way to ever truly defeat your enemies...was to make them your friends.” He stepped around him, toward the door.

“You’re my friend, Kraus. In my eyes, at least, you’re my friend.

Whether you choose to act like it now is up to you. ”

Gripping the banned book in his hand, Kraus pressed his lips together and marched out the door.