The Luck of the Weissensteiners (The Three Nations Trilogy) by Christoph Fischer Page B
Authors: Christoph Fischer
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are so many of you Jews, it has become the perfect pl ace for excitable aspiring Nazis to stir things up. They are brutal and they are not scared of resistance, they want a proper fight and they know the police will look the other way.”
“It can't be that bad, surely, I would have heard,” Greta insisted.
“Do you think anyone would tell you about it? They want to spare you the pain of knowing, which is understandable. I, on the other hand, want to spare you the pain of seeing your family getting hurt, especially with the worry about your new baby. You lost the last one. You are safe here. We can cover for you and Karl, especially since you have rarely left the house in the last few months. If Jonah and Wilma come here and are seen, it will attract unnecessary attention and will refresh people's memory that you or rather that we know Jews. We need the neighbours to forget about that so if, or when, Hitler comes we won't get into any trouble. We keep agreeing to this and then we let things slide and the visits happen again. I’m afraid that we need to be more disciplined about it from now on. ”
“Wilhelm thinks so too,” Greta said with a sad tone. “He wants us to get away from here altogether before anything happens. He is looki ng for me and Karl to get clean German passports and leave via Poland.
“Thank G od! That is an excellent idea,” Johanna exclaimed. “I hope he does it sooner rather than later. There won't be much time.”
“I just don't know where we would be going,” Greta wondered. “We don't speak any other languages. He said he wants us to go to England or France.”
“Why there?” Johanna asked surprised, as she knew little about International politics and other countries beyond Germany and Austria.
“It is where the biggest Jewish communities are,” Greta explained. “France is especially liberal in its laws and has been so ever since the Great Revolution. He says that the political situation in most other European countries is not very Jew friendly or stable. He thinks it would be safety by numbers there. A larger community would be better equipped to help us.”
“I see the logic in that but you must be aware that over there you wouldn't be Jewish. You would be German. They would look at your blond child and your passport and exclude you. How would you prove to them that you are Jewish if you want their help? They will never believe you. You never even practised your religion and you don't look your race. Even if the Jews abroad are willing to help you, they would not help Wilhelm. He can't prove he is Jewish and neither could Karl. You married a goy, how could they ever accept you as a family? You are too naïve my darling.”
“But I am Jewish by birth and even more so by the German racial laws,” Greta insisted. “It makes no difference to Hitler that I converted. In his society we are nothing. You think that any place that welcomes me and Karl as Jews won't welcome my German husband? That would be ridiculous. I am not the only one who is married to a non-Jew.”
“You know your people better than I do,” Johanna said with doom i n her voice. “I hope for Wilhelm’s sake that you are right.”
Greta sat down and stared into space. All of a sudden, life was so complicated. She was just a young woman trying to live her life without hurting anybody. Now the situation in countries that had nothing to do with her was changing and as a consequence she had become a pawn in a political chess game. Did she have to leave Europe altogether to escape that hateful Hitler? Suddenly, nowhere seemed to be safe anymore.
“Don't worry Greta,” said Johanna. “Our W ilhelm will think of something.
When Wilhelm came home that night , the two women were busy giving little Karl his weekly bath. Greta withdrew from the room, gave her husband a kiss and started preparing the food, while he went to the bathroom to say hello to his little boy.
“How is my little Karl the Great?”
“It can't be that bad, surely, I would have heard,” Greta insisted.
“Do you think anyone would tell you about it? They want to spare you the pain of knowing, which is understandable. I, on the other hand, want to spare you the pain of seeing your family getting hurt, especially with the worry about your new baby. You lost the last one. You are safe here. We can cover for you and Karl, especially since you have rarely left the house in the last few months. If Jonah and Wilma come here and are seen, it will attract unnecessary attention and will refresh people's memory that you or rather that we know Jews. We need the neighbours to forget about that so if, or when, Hitler comes we won't get into any trouble. We keep agreeing to this and then we let things slide and the visits happen again. I’m afraid that we need to be more disciplined about it from now on. ”
“Wilhelm thinks so too,” Greta said with a sad tone. “He wants us to get away from here altogether before anything happens. He is looki ng for me and Karl to get clean German passports and leave via Poland.
“Thank G od! That is an excellent idea,” Johanna exclaimed. “I hope he does it sooner rather than later. There won't be much time.”
“I just don't know where we would be going,” Greta wondered. “We don't speak any other languages. He said he wants us to go to England or France.”
“Why there?” Johanna asked surprised, as she knew little about International politics and other countries beyond Germany and Austria.
“It is where the biggest Jewish communities are,” Greta explained. “France is especially liberal in its laws and has been so ever since the Great Revolution. He says that the political situation in most other European countries is not very Jew friendly or stable. He thinks it would be safety by numbers there. A larger community would be better equipped to help us.”
“I see the logic in that but you must be aware that over there you wouldn't be Jewish. You would be German. They would look at your blond child and your passport and exclude you. How would you prove to them that you are Jewish if you want their help? They will never believe you. You never even practised your religion and you don't look your race. Even if the Jews abroad are willing to help you, they would not help Wilhelm. He can't prove he is Jewish and neither could Karl. You married a goy, how could they ever accept you as a family? You are too naïve my darling.”
“But I am Jewish by birth and even more so by the German racial laws,” Greta insisted. “It makes no difference to Hitler that I converted. In his society we are nothing. You think that any place that welcomes me and Karl as Jews won't welcome my German husband? That would be ridiculous. I am not the only one who is married to a non-Jew.”
“You know your people better than I do,” Johanna said with doom i n her voice. “I hope for Wilhelm’s sake that you are right.”
Greta sat down and stared into space. All of a sudden, life was so complicated. She was just a young woman trying to live her life without hurting anybody. Now the situation in countries that had nothing to do with her was changing and as a consequence she had become a pawn in a political chess game. Did she have to leave Europe altogether to escape that hateful Hitler? Suddenly, nowhere seemed to be safe anymore.
“Don't worry Greta,” said Johanna. “Our W ilhelm will think of something.
When Wilhelm came home that night , the two women were busy giving little Karl his weekly bath. Greta withdrew from the room, gave her husband a kiss and started preparing the food, while he went to the bathroom to say hello to his little boy.
“How is my little Karl the Great?”
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