This is the place where Chana is originally from. To protect herself from the Nazis and prison gaurds, she must lie about her place of origin. When asked, "You are Chana Shayevitsh, are you not? A Jew from Lodz, Poland?", she lies. Lodz is the third largest city of Poland. Just before the war, Lodz made up the second largest Jewish community in Poland. Nazis occupied this city just one week after Germany invaded Poland. Although this novel is fictional, it very accurately portrays how a victim would have to lie when asked where he or she was from.