Chapter 29
Leonore found two postcards in her mailbox.
The first was from Eberhard Lange, informing her that their passports were ready and that she should present herself the following morning at Gestapo headquarters in Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse.
The mere mention was enough to make goosebumps break out on her arms.
Next, she eyed the second postcard. It showed an image of an idyllic landscape with fields, forests, hills and a cottage at the leftmost edge.
Wondering who was writing to her, she turned the card in her hands.
She recognized the delicate handwriting as her cousin Maria’s, even before she deciphered the signature. Then she read:
Dear Leonore,
We have arrived safely at our destination. It’s beautiful. A truly idyllic landscape (see picture). Of course, there’s plenty of hard agricultural work to be done, but I’m out in the fresh air a lot and enjoying the sun.
Pensively, Leonore lowered the postcard and sat down on the bed.
She hadn’t heard from Maria in months. The last news had been that her cousin, along with her parents, husband and four children, had been deported to the East. However, these enthusiastic lines did nothing to still Leonore’s fears.
On the contrary: Maria hated the countryside, and especially the sun, because she wanted to maintain her aristocratic pale complexion.
Leonore read the sentence again, wondering whether Maria had completely lost her mind, or if there was something else behind her odd words. Then she read on:
The food is good, and I’m sleeping so soundly.
If you have the opportunity to be evacuated, please be sure to join us. Berenike is here too.
Your cousin Maria.
A violent tremor shook Leonore. The postcard fluttered to the ground, landing with the illustrated side up, as if to mock her with its idyllic scene.
“Berenike is here too,” Leonore muttered, tears gathering in her eyes and running down her cheeks. “My Berenike.”
She knew exactly one person by the name of Berenike: her sister. It couldn’t be a coincidence. Maria was trying to warn her.
If Leonore still needed an incentive to fear deportation, she now held the evidence in her hands in black and white. Whoever got on one of those trains was as good as dead.
Probably not immediately, since the Nazis would be sure to squeeze every last drop of labor out of a person before throwing them aside like a wrung-out rag.
No, Leonore truly felt no need to follow her sister Berenike to death. With every passing day she remained in Berlin, her longing for her departure grew.
The next morning, Leonore got up extra early and took the S-Bahn to Michaela, who lived on the outskirts of Berlin.
Michaela lived in a pretty, residential area. Thanks to her privileged marriage to an Aryan, she hadn’t been forced to move to a Jewish quarter.
Leonore rang the bell. Michaela must have been waiting behind the door, since it opened barely a second later. “Herr Lange told me you’d come to fetch me. But…” Michaela’s gaze fell to the spot where Leonore’s yellow star should be. “…Come in.” In the hallway she asked, “Where’s your star?”
Leonore rolled her eyes. The doctor could be really naive at times. “I took it off, otherwise I’m not allowed to take the S-Bahn.”
“You’re—” whatever she was about to say was drowned by the sound of thundering footsteps, followed by the appearance of her two daughters. “Mother, why can’t we come with you?”
“Good morning, you two,” Leonore greeted them.
“Because you’re better off at home. Besides, it’s a very long way, and you’d never make it in time,” explained Michaela.
“Why are you allowed to take the S-Bahn and we’re not?” Ilse whined.
“Because your mother has a special permit.” Turning to Michaela, Leonore asked, “Ready? We don’t want to be late, otherwise we might miss our own emigration.”
“Don’t tempt fate.” Michaela rapped her knuckle against the wooden door jamb, making Leonore laugh.
“I thought you studied medicine? And yet you believe in superstitious hocus-pocus?”
“Lately, I’ve been grasping at every straw, even if it’s a superstition.” Michaela turned to her daughters. “Don’t go out, and don’t let anyone in while I’m gone. If the Gestapo knocks, hide in the garden shed.”
Eva rolled her eyes. “As if they won’t find us there.”
“You’re not registered here, so they’ll only be searching for me.”
“Now come on.” Leonore pulled her friend toward the door. “Nobody will show up.”
On the way to the S-Bahn, Michaela’s pace slowed. “We have to walk. My permit for public transport expired last week.”
“And you’re only telling me this now?” Leonore groaned.
“I told Herr Lange. I thought you must have gotten us transport.”
Leonore was no longer listening. She glanced at her watch. “There’s no time for that now, or we’ll be late. You’ll have to take that star off, so we can take the S-Bahn.”
Michaela turned pale. “That’s prohibited! What if we get caught?”
“I’ve never been caught.” Leonore shrugged. “If we do, we’ll talk our way out of it somehow. You’ve got your letter of protection from the Abwehr with you, haven’t you?”
“Always, but that won’t help us. Besides, I can’t just take the star off, it’s sewn firmly on. How on earth did you manage to get yours off?”
“Snap fasteners,” Leonore grinned. An idea occurred to her. “Do you still have your permit for the S-Bahn?”
“I think so.” Michaela dug into her purse and fished out a piece of paper. “Here it is, but as I said, a letter arrived last week stating the permit is no longer valid.”
“Let me see it.” Leonore inspected the special permit. “There’s no expiration date on it.”
“So?”
“Then the conductor won’t know it’s no longer valid.”
Michaela turned deathly pale. “I can’t do that.”
“Of course you can, or do you want to be late for our appointment and miss getting your passport? Because then you’ll be staying in Germany.” Leonore hooked an arm through Michaela’s and pulled her in the direction of the S-Bahn. “Here goes nothing.”
“Amen to that.”
When they arrived at the door of Gestapo headquarters – stars in place on their jackets – the rest of the group was already waiting. Leonore’s heart fluttered at the sight of Lieutenant Ruben.
“Finally! We thought you weren’t coming,” someone greeted them.
“We’re all here.” Lieutenant Ruben headed for the main door.
Entering the huge entrance hall with its marble floor, a chill ran through Leonore’s limbs, which could only be partially explained by the coolness inside the building.
Behind her, the door closed with a loud clack.
The finality of the sound made her cringe, and only the reassuring presence of Lieutenant Ruben prevented her from turning on her heel and running away.
“Thank you for coming,” she whispered to him as they ascended the stairs.
He tilted his head, gazing at her kindly. “I wanted to make sure none of you got arrested.”
Again, a shiver ran down her spine, and again she took inordinate pleasure from his presence.
Lieutenant Ruben led the small group into one of the offices, where each of them was handed a passport.
Leonore barely dared to breathe as she held the small gray booklet with the inscription “Deutsches Reich Passport” in her hands.
The printed Imperial Eagle swung its wings upward, almost like a boxer raising his fists to the sky after winning a bout.
It echoed her own feelings: exhilarated, sure of victory and so close to freedom. Despite the bureaucratic hurdles they must still overcome, she was finally holding in her hands the passport that would enable her to cross the border.
She walked – no, floated – down the majestic staircase into the entrance hall which had intimidated her so much just half an hour ago, and out onto the street, where the sun seemed to shine much brighter. Leonore could hardly wait to leave the country.
As she stepped onto the sidewalk in front of Gestapo headquarters, an irrepressible joy bubbled up inside her.
She grabbed the passport with both hands, kissed it, then raised her fists in the air, just like the Imperial Eagle’s wings, while she spun on the spot sending a prayer of thanks to heaven.
“Fr?ulein Vogel, please,” Gerda Seifert admonished her. “That’s not a seemly way to behave in public.”
Leonore didn’t care. She cared about nothing besides the fact that she was allowed to leave the country.
She turned one more pirouette before a heavy hand landed on her shoulder and Lieutenant Ruben’s sonorous voice admonished her.
“Fr?ulein Vogel. I understand your enthusiasm, but I must warn you against causing a stir. So much can still go wrong.”
Despite the kindness in his tone, his words had the same effect as a cold shower. Leonore stopped with a guilty expression. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to put the operation at risk. I promise to be extremely discreet from now on.”
Herr Lange collected the passports to take to the Swiss embassy for the visa stamp. Herr Seifert looked very pale when he handed over his and his wife’s passports.
“Are you all right, old friend?” Herr Lange asked.
“Yes, of course. It’s just the excitement. It’ll pass in a moment.” Herr Seifert pulled his face into what was probably meant to be a smile, but looked instead as if he was in great pain.
Leonore paid no further attention. The group said their farewells; she and Michaela setting off in one direction, the rest in another.
“I’m worried about Herr Seifert, he seemed very upset,” said Michaela suddenly.
“Understandably. I’m still shaking inside with excitement.”
Michaela shook her head. “That looked more like pain than excitement. I hope it’s nothing serious.”
“You worry too much,” Leonore pulled her friend onward. “Let’s celebrate! Let me buy you a lemonade.”
“But…” Michaela glanced pointedly at her yellow star. “What about our rash?”
“Well, you’ll have to cure that first, after all, you are a doctor.” Leonore laughed, looked over her shoulder and pulled the star from her jacket before urging Michaela, “Come on, take off that jacket and hang it over your arm.”