This was the first clue that out of sight, level with the window sill, was a writing desk, and that at this desk, on sheets of unruled paper in blue felt-tip pen, Samuel Menashe was writing poems.

It returned to the surface with a scrap of paper carrying a message scrawled in red felt-tip pen: "We're alright in the shelter, the 33 of us."

In many cases the signature was photocopied or printed, then traced over with a felt-tip pen.