Chapter 5 The Last Christmas
The Last Christmas
Berlin
The Christmas spirit in Berlin was palpable through the uncustomary pause of passersby, who slowed to greet others and smiled
as if spring had come to the streets caked with muddy snow. The square-grid blocks with gray facades hid within their walls
the secret gardens coveted by Berliners, where the northern cold stopped and life seemed kinder.
The families of Helene and Derek had arranged to meet each other for the first time on Christmas Eve. The von Sholtzes lived
in Konigsberg in East Prussia but would be in Berlin for the holidays. After dinner, Derek’s family would attend midnight
Mass at a nearby cathedral and Helene’s, completely unreligious, would spend the rest of the night smoking and dancing to
the radio.
As if they were about to sign an armistice, the families had chosen the neutral ground of a restaurant for their first gathering.
The von Sholtzes were dressed in tailor-made clothing, though Blaz, the patriarch, wore civilian clothes as a sign of peace.
Helene had chosen to use her mother’s name, Nathan, but the rest of the family went by her father’s last name.
The Webers came from a line of diplomats and high-ranking civil servants.
Their background was Lutheran, but the most recent two generations leaned toward Kantian ideas and Hegel’s philosophy.
The von Sholtzes were the first to arrive at Horcher, an upscale restaurant. Blaz was governed by Germanic punctuality, which
many joked was stricter than Kantian ethics. He appeared to be an older version of his firstborn son, though with deeper features
and a hardened, disapproving expression. Beside him his wife, Gisela, had a kinder face and softer features, yet these did
not mask her noble background. She allowed herself zero pleasure and together with Blaz had raised their three children with
utmost strictness. Their identical twins Dieter and Ebert looked so much alike that even their parents had trouble telling
them apart.
Derek walked in a few minutes later, which elicited a frown from his father. The two men shook hands, and Derek kissed his
mother’s forehead. She responded with only the slightest smile despite the fact that she had always favored him. He hugged
his younger brothers. They adored him not only for being the oldest, but also for standing up to their father and not backing
down.
Helene entered, her arm linked with her father’s. Her face was resplendent with such joy that other diners paused to gaze
at the young woman. Her sister Amalia and mother Maria followed, smiling as if they had just shared a good joke.
The von Sholtzes stood, almost at attention. The only one who moved to greet the Webers was Derek, who had already met them
on several occasions.
“Mr. Weber.” Blaz nodded to his son’s future father-in-law.
Despite his more relaxed style of dress, Gustav Weber moved in the upper echelon of government and had traveled the world. He was not intimidated by military titles or Prussian austerity. “Mr. von Sholtz, a pleasure to meet you,” he said casually and then introduced his two daughters and his wife.
Gisela remained seated, observing the women. They seemed pleasant enough, though their style of dress was too modern for her
taste. She held out a cold hand and then nodded to introduce her younger sons.
To Helene’s dismay, the males sat at one end of the table and the females at the other. She detested the separation of the
sexes.
Maria knew her daughter too well but also knew how important this dinner was. “Easy does it, love,” her mother whispered.
Blaz looked at Gustav and said, “So it seems that our children have decided to get married. Derek is a hardworking, sensible,
highly intelligent, and prudent young man with a bright military career ahead of him . . .”
Derek looked up in surprise. He had never heard such words of affirmation from his father.
From the other end of the table, Helene was unconcerned with making a good impression on her future mother-in-law as she strained
to hear what the men were saying.
“The little I’ve seen of him compels me to congratulate you, sir,” Gustav said, attempting formality. Then he shrugged, raised
his glass, and proposed a toast to the couple.
At first Blaz tensed up but eventually raised his glass as well, and everyone relaxed a bit. That simple gesture sanctioned
the union.
Derek breathed a sigh of relief. Helene was on his right, and he squeezed her hand under the table. He was determined to marry her with or without his father’s approval, but he preferred to do things the proper way.
“Your father doesn’t seem too fierce,” Helene whispered into Derek’s ear.
Gisela’s forehead muscles tensed in disapproval but relaxed again when Maria caught her eye.
“The world certainly has changed, hasn’t it?” Maria asked. “Things aren’t like they used to be, not since Goethe published
The Sorrows of Young Werther and showed the world the power of love.”
Gisela kept her face blank. She detested romantic notions about life. “I think the more important values over which to construct
a marriage are commitment, dedication, sacrifice, and duty. Love is a rather fleeting feeling, wouldn’t you agree?”
Maria smiled. She knew well what love was and the high price it demanded. “My husband turned his back on his career to marry
me. We’ve been together thirty years, and in my case, love has survived many things. Love is also a decision. And the other
values you mentioned are the fruits of love, not of effort and abnegation.”
Gisela’s eyes widened in surprise at this woman who was so alien to her.
The twins talked with Amalia, who was much prettier than Helene with the early, almost-divine beauty of a girl just becoming
a woman. Amalia was amused to find the twins competing for her attention.
“What are you studying?” asked Ebert, the braver of the two.
“I’m finishing up high school, and then I want to follow my mother’s footsteps and become a social worker,” she said. The dim light of the restaurant reflected off her deep red lips and slightly upturned nose. Her flaming mane of red hair flickered when she tossed her head.
Blaz and Gustav ordered venison for themselves and pheasant for the women before turning the conversation to politics. The
whole city was on pins and needles about what might be coming.
“It seems that after so many years of upheaval, Germany is finally returning to the path of propriety and sound judgment,”
Blaz pronounced rather than spoke.
Gustav was loath to contradict him. But from the other side of the table came Helene’s retort.
“If you’re talking about National Socialism,” she began, “I don’t think those bullies have sound judgment or know how to act
properly. They’re a bunch of pub thugs and small-time swindlers who will push Germany to disaster. Thomas Mann warned us that
fascism would sneak into Germany under the guise of freedom.”
An uncomfortable silence took hold. Derek leaned forward to speak, but his father cut him off with a wave.
“Perhaps the young lady would prefer for the Bolsheviks to take the streets of Berlin? You’re aware of what happened in Moscow
when they did?”
Helen frowned. People always pitted communism and fascism against one another, as if one were the only solution to the other.
She did not agree. “My library is in the crossfire of this fratricidal battle between Germans. Did we learn nothing from the
Great War? Ideologies are the new religions. They have their own dogmas, high priests, idols, and punishments.”
“Are you calling me a pagan?” Blaz retorted. “My family has been Lutheran since the days of Martin Luther. We cannot allow
foreign ideas to destroy Germany. They almost did in ’19, and we are not going to allow that now. The country has suffered
enough.”
Maria coughed and, with a conciliatory tone, said, “I think the food is getting cold. It would be a shame not to enjoy it when there are so many who don’t even have daily bread.”
Gisela picked up her fork and, for the first time in her life, crossed her husband in public. “Discussing politics at the
table with our future family is discourteous. Wouldn’t you agree, Blaz?”
He glared at her but said nothing.
The younger siblings talked about music, the couple discussed the wedding with the mothers, and the fathers held their tongues.
The price for the two Germanies to coexist at the same table was silence. It was a calm that could not last long.