In 1943, a system of rewards was instituted for the denunciation of Jews and those shirking forced labour, known as STO, in Germany.

A nun in the night

The bounty ranged from 100 francs for an STO-evader to 1000 francs for a Jew at a time when a pound loaf of bread cost 1.50 frs with ration coupons and 9 frs on the black market.

I learned from my schoolteacher, Monsieur Gounod, that there existed a bounty system for the denunciation of hidden Jews; he said he knew who I really was, and he would claim the bounty unless I did my homework.

I'm sure he meant well, even if he had come up with a novel, if extreme, way of getting a kid to do his homework.

One night, a woman who looked like one of the nuns of the river episode, appeared at the house and both she, and the old hag, interrogated us mercilessly as to our true identity. They ranted and screamed in turn that they knew full well we were not who we said we were; we were going to be in big trouble, unless we told them the truth. We didn't cry, remained calm, but denied everything. Our father—may he still be alive—would, given his own quiet unassuming dignity, have been proud of his two beloved sons. The bounty huntress left in a huff, indicating that she was not through with us yet; she would return shortly, with some mean big men, who would know how to make nasty little boys talk. Our hag no doubt already had plans for her half of the bounty.

The rapid advance of the liberating Allied Forces put an end to this very close brush with certain death.