Chapter 22 Stolen Books
Stolen Books
Berlin
In his letters, Derek had not mentioned to Helene any details about his efforts to get her freed. He did not want to raise
her hopes.
Rommel had agreed to speak with a high-ranking government official, though he did not say who. Weeks went by and then months,
and there was no word.
Derek continued in his work for the war ministry. General von Blomberg seemed more and more distant, as if acknowledging that
the only way to survive in the Nazi regime was to look the other way and get by day to day. As Hitler grew more secure, he
also grew colder and more authoritarian. Derek had seen the Führer a few times in recent weeks and had been tempted to intercede
for Helene, but his nerves always failed when the time came.
The afternoon sun promised that summer warmth would soon be arriving.
Berlin was at its best: people sitting on their balconies or ambling along the wide streets.
City life had picked back up, and Germany seemed to have recovered its energy.
Excepting the bearded citizens with long ringlets who walked quickly down the street trying to go unnoticed, everyone seemed happy.
Derek often wondered if it were all a masquerade. The Nazis had murdered countless dissidents and political enemies. Thousands
were locked up in jails and concentrations camps—yet no one in Berlin seemed perturbed.
A call came through to Derek’s office.
“Lieutenant Derek von Sholtz?”
“Speaking,” he answered formally, wondering who it was. He never received private calls at the office.
“This is the personal assistant of Reinhard Heydrich.”
Derek’s throat momentarily closed, and he sat bolt upright.
He willed his voice to be steady. “How may I help you?”
“The Gestapo chief can meet with you next week, on Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. Would you be so kind as to come to his office?”
“Yes, of c-course,” Derek stammered, then hung up when the assistant ended the call. He looked at the phone in disbelief then
back at the hand that had just held it. He started sweating and got up and paced around his office.
That appointment could only mean one thing: Rommel’s mediation had worked.
The happiest day in Lena’s life was also one of the hardest. She had married the man she adored, yet her best friend was missing.
Derek had told Lena that Helene was alive and expecting a child.
Every day she walked into the library, Lena thought of her friend.
Though she was now the director, she never sat at Helene’s desk.
Lena could not forgive herself for having joined the Party, but it was the price she had to pay in order to have any chance at keeping the books safe.
Betraying her principles was a worthwhile sacrifice, for their sake.
Klaus was also quite low, though he tried not to show it. He fully carried the load of the library’s community programs, even
though most of the children and adolescents had been swallowed up by the Hitler Youth.
“Any news of Helene?”
That was Klaus’s daily question. And as she did every day, Lena shook her head in response, trying not to give into the despair
she felt.
That morning the mailman placed a pile of official letters on Lena’s desk and waved a friendly goodbye.
Lena eyed them with boredom until the handwriting on one envelope caught her attention. Her heart jumped: It was Helene’s.
“Klaus!” she called, a ball of excited nerves. She grabbed a paper knife and carefully slit it open.
Klaus came running. “What is it?”
Lena unfolded the pages and began to read aloud.
Dear friend of my heart,
At long last, the lonely librarian writes you. I’m so sorry I could not attend your wedding, but I was with you in spirit.
There’s no greater love than giving your life for your friends, as Jesus said. It makes me very happy to know that you’re
forever united with Gabor, the most wonderful man on earth—after my Derek, of course.
You’ve probably heard that I’m expecting. I’m doing all right, and having a baby is the sweetest gift God could give me. I’m here loving words as much as ever; you know how the world only makes sense for me between the covers of a good book.
I love you so much and hope to see you soon.
Your friend and soul sister,
Helene
Klaus and Lena were silent for a moment and then looked up at one another. Klaus leaned down from his lumbering height to
hug Lena, and they both began to cry tears of relief and sadness. The three of them had been together for years: from studying
at college, to working at the Neukolln library, to creating the Secret Library of Berlin.
“Did you hear what she was saying? Did you get it?” Lena asked, still crying.
“What do you mean?” Klaus said, pulling back so his tears didn’t wet the shoulder of Lena’s blouse.
“What she said about being a librarian and the covers of a good book . . . Helene started a secret library there at the camp.
It’s unbelievable. Only she would think of something like that.”
Helene had become a very busy woman. On top of her work sewing uniforms and giving literacy classes in the afternoons to several
women, she also loaned books to some of the prisoners.
Anna had shown her an empty cavity in one of the walls near the place where the block leader slept, in a separate room.
When no one was in the barrack, Helene would slip in, grab a book, find an excuse to go to one of the other workshops, deliver the book to a fellow prisoner, and tell her when it was due back.
She had loaned out over half of the books that way.
It all had to be done with utmost secrecy. Reading was not against camp rules, but under no circumstances were prisoners allowed
to have anything belonging to another. Besides, many of those particular titles were banned.
One afternoon, Alice was reading Pride and Prejudice. She was so engrossed in it that she failed to hear Elke approaching with her sidekicks.
“What’ve you got there, you swine?” Elke growled, ripping the book out of Alice’s hands. She struggled to get out, “‘Priiiiiide
and prejjjudisss.’ What the hell is this? A piece of British garbage?”
“Give it back!” Alice cried and sprang up to grab for the book, but Elke shoved her back as easily as swatting at a fly. Alice
fell back hard onto the bed.
Just then the block leader came in and saw the scuffle.
“What’s going on?” she demanded.
“The Berliner’s got a book. Such a pain; this is her contraband.” Elke handed the tome over.
The block leader glanced at the cover and then at Alice. “I’m going to have to report this.” And she marched out with the
book.
Elke gave Alice a smug smile. “Well, this is going to end well. Just wait till the lovely Ludmilla hears what you and your
librarian friend are up to. I know she’s got to be behind this. You’d never have gotten mixed up with that rot without her.”
Alice started shaking. She knew what Ludmilla was capable of and that the guard would seize any chance at all to go after Helene. Alice started to sob and ran out of the barrack to warn Helene, but she was too late.
Ludmilla, book in hand, was already delivering a heated diatribe to Helene.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” Alice tried to intervene.
“Who invited you to the party? This is none of your business,” Ludmilla snapped and then smacked Alice with the night stick.
“Don’t do that!” Helene cried, automatically grabbing Ludmilla’s hand to keep a second blow from falling.
At that, Ludmilla’s face lit up with delight. She wrenched her hand free and turned her full attention to Helene.
Within minutes, Helene was unconscious on the ground. Blood was pouring out of her nose and from one arm.
The guard looked at the inert body and smirked. “Not even human,” she hissed under her breath as she grabbed Helene’s hair
and dragged her to the door of the barrack. She stalked away, leaving Helene’s limp body there, her unseeing eyes open.