Chapter 30 Another Child
Another Child
Berlin
and then he could retire.
The year before, in a secret meeting between the Führer and the army high command, General von Blomberg had opposed the plan
for an immediate war to secure highly prized “living space” for Germany. He did not think the country was ready for combat.
Then, at the beginning of 1938, von Blomberg got remarried. His new wife was Erna Gruhn, a twentysomething secretary with
a checkered past. Hitler’s patience with the general ran out.
The day that von Blomberg resigned, he called his long-standing assistant to his office.
“Derek, come in. Please, sit down.” Von Blomberg’s face reflected the strain of the past couple of weeks.
His young wife had been accused of practicing prostitution before their marriage.
Rather than separate from her, von Blomberg had resigned from all of his positions.
Now Hitler would have direct control over the army.
“Sir, I’m so sorry . . .” Derek began, but von Blomberg motioned for him to be quiet, then pointed to the walls. They were
being bugged.
“You’ve been a faithful, dependable assistant for many years. I’ve tried to secure a comfortable position for you and see
to it that you’re not transferred out of Berlin. I’ve asked Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel to keep you on staff here in the
office. He will receive you shortly in this office. It has been an honor to serve Germany with you at my side.”
Von Blomberg stood and held out his hand. Derek squeezed it hard and channeled all his gratitude into a parting phrase. “I
wish you all the best.”
Von Blomberg took his coat and hat, glanced around the office a final time, and then walked out. A few minutes later, Keitel
entered. He was taller than von Blomberg and had a pleasant enough face. His forehead was wide, his hair gray, and his mustache
nearly white.
“Field Marshal,” Derek said, saluting.
“At ease,” Keitel ordered.
Derek studied him for a few moments. Von Blomberg had told Derek many times that Keitel was a spineless puppet in Hitler’s
hands and that behind the facade was a complacent weakling.
“Well, I trust you’ll work as hard for me as you’ve done with my predecessor. We have important work ahead of us. In less
than two months we’ll be annexing Austria. It won’t be easy. The League of Nations is opposed, but Neville Chamberlain and
his entourage don’t have the guts to stand up to our Führer.”
Keitel’s words were firm enough, but Derek had the feeling he was just repeating what he’d heard others say.
“Yes, sir,” is what Derek said, but what he wanted to do was retire like von Blomberg.
“On my desk tomorrow morning I want a report about the Austrian army. I’ve got a very important meeting. You’re excused!”
Derek left the office and asked his assistants to gather all the information they could for the report and leave it on his
desk. He then set out for Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse. He needed to pick up Helene and Alexander from the Secret Library.
Derek parked a block away from the building out of caution. Helene opened the door immediately when he knocked, and Derek
slipped in. They hugged, and Derek lifted Alexander and swung him around.
“I have news,” he said, steadying the child, now gleefully dizzy, back on his feet.
Helene finished putting a small stack of books away and then turned her full attention to Derek. “So do I!” she said.
“You go first,” Derek said, trying to smile, though his news was not happy.
“No, sweetie, you go.”
Over the banter, they held one another’s gaze. They each felt like they were looking at the other for the first time. Despite
all the years, their love remained strong.
“Well,” Derek’s voice dropped, “I’ll probably have to go to Austria in a few weeks.”
Helene cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. She knew he was now working for a new boss, but it was not the ideal time for
a stint in Austria. Yet she did not complain. She only asked, “Austria?”
“Yes. Hitler wants to annex the country.”
Helene covered her face with her hands. “He can’t just annex a country like it’s an everyday activity. Europe won’t allow
it. The man is mad!”
“He’s got it all planned out, and he thinks destiny or some such rot has chosen him. He’s not just mad—he’s a dangerous madman.”
The whole time they talked, Derek was on the floor playing with Alexander. Then he stood and asked, “So what did you want
to tell me?”
Helene smiled and said, “I’m two months pregnant!”
After a millisecond of shock, Derek swept her up in his arms and kissed her face all over. “That’s great! Thank you, God,
it’s wonderful!”
The fog in his soul cleared for a moment. The joy of bringing a new life to the world put everything else on hold.
Helene’s second pregnancy was much smoother than the first, though uncertainty about the Austria situation had them on edge.
Their southeastern neighbor had endured many of the same upheavals as Germany, including an attempted communist revolution.
A nationalist, Fascist administration was in power with the support of Benito Mussolini, who wanted to keep the Nazi German border at bay.
The chancellor, Kurt von Schuschnigg, had met with Hitler in February.
The Führer had informed von Schuschnigg that Italy now approved the annexation and that it would be best for all involved if Austria put up no resistance.
After von Schuschnigg’s failed attempt at a plebiscite, the Nazis entered Austria early on March 12.
Hitler himself was among the soldiers, returning to his native soil as a hero.
He had made the Pan-Germanic dream to reunite the German-speaking peoples come true.
Berlin had turned out to celebrate the success. When Helene arrived at Kedem that day, she found Lipa frantic with worry.
“The fanatics have been at it again, painting the sides of the building and cracking our windows. That’s their definition
of celebration. And we’re hardly making any sales. I’ve made up my mind: I’m going to close the shop. A friend has suggested
we move to Tel Aviv, a newer city about seventy kilometers from Jerusalem. Life here in Germany for Jews—it’s just too hard.
There’s no room left for us,” he said, hunched over with sadness. His family had been in the region for over five hundred
years, long before the Reformation.
Helene nodded. She had known this day would come. “I understand, Lipa. I’ll miss you very much.” Helene had come to appreciate
Lipa deeply. Besides Derek and Lena, Lipa was the person Helene could talk with most freely about nearly everything.
“You and your family should come too. The Nazis won’t forget your background or your past,” he said.
Helene knew he was right, but she couldn’t leave her family behind in Germany, and Derek had no idea when he would return
from Austria. “I still have things to do here. When I got out of Moringen, I was living in so much fear. I don’t want to die,
and I don’t want anything bad to happen to my children,” she said, touching the mound at her stomach, “but my work here isn’t
finished yet.”
Lipa gave Helene a brief hug, uncustomary for the man. Yet Helene was like a daughter to him. “I’ll miss you. Thank you for
all your help, and do take care!”
That was the last day Helene went to work officially.
Maria still insisted on watching Alexander in the morning, so some days Helene would go to Neukolln.
Over coffee she, Klaus, and Lena would discuss the Secret Library.
But she had reduced her outings significantly while Derek was away.
They kept up by a weekly telephone call and wrote letters almost daily.
At the end of July, shortly before Helene was due, Derek secured a leave of absence. He pampered Helene throughout the final
days of the pregnancy, reading her favorite books aloud, preparing her favorite foods, and massaging her sore muscles. On
the last night of July, their daughter Matilde was born.
To Helene’s great relief, Derek was allowed to spend the rest of the year in Berlin. Every time they ran into the neighbors
on the stairs or at the door of the building, Laurelai showered the children with kisses. It made Helene feel so awkward,
like each of her neighbor’s touches was a message that Helene did not deserve to be the mother of those angels: a perfect
blond Aryan boy and a charming red-headed baby girl.
Throughout 1938, the screws were tightening for Jews in Germany. In April they were required to register all belongings valued
at higher than 5,000 reichsmarks. In June, some one thousand Jews had been rounded up and sent to concentration camps alongside
common criminals. Furthermore, an executive order required all Jews to add a name to their legal documents: Israel for males and Sara for females. The Nazis were also expelling all foreign-born Jews. That included several friends from the synagogue Helene’s
grandfather attended.
On the night of November 9, Helene was home with Alexander and Matilde, but Derek was still at the office.
She had just put both children to bed when the doorbell rang.
She was startled to see Shlomo Ver, the rabbi from the synagogue near the Neukolln library, together with his wife and teenage son.
“Good evening, Mrs. Nathan,” he said quietly, removing his hat. “I’m so sorry to bother you.”
“No, please, come in.” Helene stood aside and pointed them to the living room. She glanced around the hallway before closing
the door.
“Are you aware of what’s happening in the city tonight?” Rabbi Shlomo asked. His wife had a terrified look on her face, and
her hands gripped her son’s shoulders tightly.
“No, I haven’t been out all afternoon. My daughter is still young, and it’s so cold already.”
“Of course. Well, the SS and the Hitler Youth have attacked the Jewish neighborhoods. They’ve broken the windows of all the
stores and set fire to the synagogues.”
Helene put her hand over her mouth in shock. Such things did not happen on her side of town, where there were very few Jews.
“Oh my goodness, why would they do that?”
“In retaliation for the assassination of a member of the German embassy in Paris. A young Jewish man killed him. And now the
whole country’s gone mad,” the rabbi answered, fiddling anxiously with his robe. “They’re arresting people, mainly men, and
a lot of rabbis and community leaders. I hate to . . . could we . . . we need somewhere to stay tonight.”
“Of course, you can stay in our spare room. It’s not very big, but I think you’ll all fit.”
“Thank you,” the wife said, kissing Helene’s hand.
“Anyone would do the same,” she answered, going to prepare the bed for them.
The doorbell rang again, and they looked at one another in silence.
“Get in the back room,” Helene whispered. Then she went to the door. Through the peephole she could tell it was Lauralei, dressed for going out.
“Hi, neighbor, how are my little darlings?” she asked as soon as Helene opened the door.
“Just fine. They’re already asleep, which is why I can’t ask you to come in.”
“Out here on the landing I heard voices, and I got worried. You know there’s a hunt going on for Jews tonight, and I was worried
one of them was hiding at our door.”
“Oh no, I don’t think so. I’ve not seen anything,” Helene said, trying to act casual and making to shut the door.
Lauralei stuck her foot out to stop the door. “You know that hiding Jews is a serious offense, unless you’re a Jew yourself,
or a half-Jew, maybe?”
Helene’s blood froze. “I’m sorry, I’ve got to say goodbye now.”
“I know who you are, Helene Nathan: a Jewish librarian who was locked up in a concentration camp. I’m going to ask the building
manager to turn you out like a dog. Decent people don’t live next to Jews.”
Helene shut the door and leaned against it. She was trembling all over. She had to warn Derek. Lauralei was capable of anything.
She called and was relieved he was still at the office. She told him it was an emergency and that he needed to come home as
soon as possible.
Derek got home in record time and was breathless, having run up the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. “What’s going
on?” he asked.
She briefly recounted what had happened with Rabbi Shlomo and his family and then the scene with Lauralei.
Derek ran his hands through his hair. This was the trouble he had been expecting for so long.
“We’re going to wait till dawn, and then we’re all leaving by car.
I’ll drop you and the kids at my parents’ and will take the rabbi and his family to a train station out of town, so they can get to Poland. ”
Derek was so distracted and nervous that he hardly greeted the family when Helene introduced them. The world was coming unhinged.
Hitler’s popularity was so universal that he knew he could do whatever he wanted. No one could stand up to him anymore.
At four o’clock in the morning, the two families snuck out. Without a proper goodbye, Derek and Helene shut the door on the
apartment that had been their home for so long. The only place to look was ahead to the future. If they turned to glance back,
they would join Lot’s wife as a pillar of salt.