The Lost Catacomb (18 page)
“
Excuse
me,
”
Nicola said,
as she stopped a young nurse in the corridor of the Neurology department.
“
Can
you tell me where I can find a patient named Elena Keating?
She was brought here about twelve hours
ago.
”
“
Oh,
you mean the elderly woman whose relatives we had trouble locating?
”
Nicola nodded wearily.
“
She
’
s just down there, to
the left, in 1324C.
”
The nurse gestured vaguely in the
correct direction and continued on her way.
Wheeling a heavy flight bag behind her, her purse swinging
precariously from her shoulder, Nicola moved quickly down the hall and entered
her grandmother
’
s
room.
She dropped her things
quietly near the door and approached Elena
’
s bed.
Reaching out to touch her grandmother
’
s hand, she was surprised to see Elena open her
eyes.
“
Nonna
,
”
she whispered.
“
Oh,
Nonna
,
”
and
she burst into tears.
She had never
seen Elena look so pale and drawn, so frail, and she was terrified that she was
about to lose her.
Elena smiled feebly at Nicola and tried to squeeze her
hand.
“
Nicola, is it really you?
I thought you were in Italy.
Why are you crying?
I
’
m fine,
cara
.
Don
’
t worry.
I
’
m
fine.
But where am I?
What happened to me?
”
she now added, looking
around the room.
It was clear to Nicola that while her grandmother was lucid
enough to recognize her, she was nonetheless disoriented, so Nicola proceeded
to explain what little she knew of the circumstances of Elena
’
s hospitalization, how
she
’
d been phoned
by an attending physician at Mount Sinai, and how she
’
d taken a flight out of Rome almost immediately.
At this point a nurse walked into the room and, pleasantly
surprised by the condition of the patient, hurried out to bring one of the
senior staff, who examined Elena briefly and scheduled some tests for early
morning to reassess her condition.
It was already past midnight, and Nicola was exhausted, more
from the emotional strain than from jet lag or unexpected travel.
The nurse asked if she would like to
spend the night in Elena
’
s
room, in which case she could use the vinyl armchair in the corner, which
folded out into a fairly comfortable reclining bed.
Before leaving Rome, Nicola had phoned her friend Laura, who
lived on the upper West Side, to ask if she could stay there for the
night.
She knew that even if she
had the physical strength to take a taxi to her brownstone in the Village after
seeing her grandmother, her nerves were so shattered that she couldn
’
t bear to face a lonely
apartment on her own.
Now,
however, she elected to remain at Elena
’
s
side overnight.
There would be time
to arrange for a private nurse, if necessary, but meanwhile she wanted to be
there, in case her grandmother needed something or there was a sudden change in
her condition.
Though she was greatly relieved that Elena had gained
consciousness and could recognize her, she worried nonetheless that it might
only be temporary.
She moved the
chair closer to her grandmother
’
s
bed and dozed off.
About two hours later, she woke up, having thought she
’
d heard someone call
her name.
As she looked up, feeling
somewhat disoriented herself, she realized that her grandmother had spoken, and
thinking that she might want a glass of water, she poured some from a bottle on
the nightstand and helped Elena drink.
“
Grazie,
cara
, but what I really wanted was to tell you something,
”
Elena said
weakly.
“
We have to talk.
”
“
But
it
’
s three o
’
clock in the morning,
Nonna.
Can
’
t it wait until you
’
re more rested?
”
she begged tearfully.
“
I don
’
t
want you to have a relapse.
”
“
No,
Nicola.
I need to tell you some
things that you should have been told years ago.
But I couldn
’
t.
Or
wouldn
’
t.
I don
’
t know why.
I guess I was afraid.
Afraid
of remembering it all. . . of recalling the pain.
“
But
now, it seems, I have no choice.
There are things you need to know, and we may never have another opportunity.
I might never have the courage to do it
again.
”
She sank back into her pillow, exhausted by the sheer effort
of speaking.
“
Please,
Nonna
, are you sure this is necessary just now?
You
’
re going to be fine.
I just know you are.
I
’
m sure it can wait now that you
’
ve finally decided to
tell me.
”
“
No,
Nicola,
”
she said
again.
“
I must insist.
There is no choice.
So just
listen.
And don
’
t worry,
”
Elena added in gentler
tones.
“
This is not a deathbed confession.
I don
’
t intend to die quite yet.
”
Nicola smiled through her tears and touched Elena
’
s hand softly.
“
I
’
ve never told you
anything about my life in Italy,
”
she began.
“
It was just too
difficult to speak about.
So I kept
it to myself.
Only Grandpa Tom knew
what had happened to me and my family during the war.
He rescued me from all of it, after
all.
Gave me a new life.
Saved me.
And even he knew better than to speak of
it unless I raised the subject, which I rarely did.
“
Oh,
Nicola, this is so hard for me.
”
She paused and looked at her granddaughter,
who
’
d been
rendered speechless by all of this.
“
But you
have to know.
And please, I beg you
not to speak until I
’
ve
finished.
Not a word.
Not a syllable.
Please.
”
Nicola nodded in assent.
“
Cara
,
I know this will shock you,
”
Elena began determinedly,
“
but
. . . .
”
And slowly, inexorably, her eyes filling with tears, she
drifted back into the misty regions of the distant
past.
“
I knew that, on a foggy
night, I would be extinguished suddenly, like a star
Hidden in the mists,
And no star would
know the place of my burial.
”
~~
Chaim
Nachman Bialik,
“
On
a Foggy Night
”
“
Elena,
”
Giulio called out as
he knocked softly on his sister
’
s
door.
“
I have a visitor I
’
d like you to meet.
”
Elena came out of the bedroom and followed her brother into
the salon of their apartment, where a tall, handsome young man, about the same
age as Giulio, sat in one of the armchairs.
He now stood up and crossed the
room to shake Elena
’
s
hand.
“
I
’
m Niccol
ò
Rossi,
”
he said, introducing
himself.
“
I was a
classmate of Giulio at the university.
”
He paused and looked at Giulio before continuing in a somewhat
embarrassed manner.
“
That is, I was at the
university until the Racial Laws made it impossible for me to continue, because
I
’
m Jewish.
Your brother mentioned that you needed
some tutoring in physics and mathematics, and so I've volunteered to help out.
“
I
won
’
t take any
money, of course, since gentiles aren
’
t
allowed to employ Jews either in or out of their homes,
”
he said matter-of-factly.
“
And
besides, my family is doing just fine, so far, in that respect.
Your brother and I kind of came up with
the idea simultaneously
—
I
’
m bored now that I can
no longer attend classes, and apparently you are trying to improve your already
very impressive grades in the sciences.
”
Elena colored slightly and nodded.
“
So,
despite the restrictions,
”
he added with a dazzling smile that revealed straight white teeth and a
dimple in his right cheek,
“
there
’
s nothing to prevent me
from offering my services as a gesture of friendship.
I
’
m not doing anything terribly intellectual at the
moment, so if you
’
d
like, I
’
d be happy
to sit with you a few times a week, after you come back from school in the
afternoon.
I know how important it
is to do well on the national matriculation exams, especially if you plan to
attend university at some point.
”
Elena looked more closely now at Giulio
’
s friend and liked what
she saw.
Niccol
ò
appeared to be about
twenty or twenty-one years old, tall and well built, with curly black hair, an
olive complexion, high cheekbones, and dark eyes that seemed to shine with
enthusiasm and good humor.
He was
certainly good looking, and she found herself blushing under his gentle
scrutiny.
She smiled and answered somewhat shyly,
“
I
’
d love to have some
help in physics and math.
I
’
ve been thinking of
studying medicine, and there
’
s
quite a bit of competition for places at the university here in Rome,
especially for women.
Even in the
hallowed halls of academia, women who want to be doctors are looked on with
suspicion as being unfeminine,
”
she said wryly.
“
Maybe some day that
will change, but for now it
’
s
a nearly impossible dream.
“
Anyway,
”
she continued,
“
University of Rome has
the best medical program in the country, and I really don
’
t want to be forced to
study elsewhere
—
assuming
that I can be accepted altogether because of my sex.
I guess I
’
m kind of a homebody
—
my family is very important to me and I can
’
t imagine living far
away from them,
”
she
said, glancing fondly at her brother.
“
At least
not at this point in my life.
”
“
I
understand what you mean,
”
Niccol
ò
said,
nodding in agreement.
“
In the final analysis,
those whom we love are the only important things in life.
The only things that last.
”
A depressed, reflective look shadowed his handsome features
momentarily, as he added almost hesitantly,
“
When you find that nothing else stays stable any
more, that nothing you used to think of as being part of your life can be
expected to last . . . well, it
’
s
only your personal relationships that can be relied on.
And family is a very big part of that.
”
Elena smiled sadly at him, for she knew exactly what he was
referring to in this roundabout, almost indirect way.
Though she was young, barely eighteen years
old, she was well aware of the political situation in Italy and the
ramifications of the German invasion.
She knew all about the
Leggi Razziali
, the Racial Laws, partly
from what she had read in the newspapers, partly from heated discussions at the
family dinner table, and partly because she knew that her brother had many
Jewish friends at the university and quite a few Jewish professors whose
professional status and livelihoods had been severely affected by the Racial
Laws and the anti-Semitic legislation that had preceded them.
The first wave of laws had expelled Jews from the Fascist
Party and all venues of public employment, and Jews could no longer marry
non-Jews or own large businesses or land.
The publication of a ten-point document,
“
La difesa della razza
,
”
or
“
Defense
of the Race,
”
had
laid the groundwork for all of this by declaring that the biological concept of
race meant that Italian Jews were not part of the so-called pure Italian
race.
That they were, in fact, of
non-European origin.
Many things had changed for Italian Jewry since then, Elena
reflected.
She knew, for example,
that before 1938 one out of every ten professors at Italian universities was
Jewish, a number highly disproportionate to the percentage of Jewish citizens
of Italy.
Most of these professors
were on the faculties of sciences, medicine, and law.
And all had been dismissed as a result
of the new laws.
Jewish children had likewise been expelled from state
schools, though they were allowed to have their own special educational
institutions.
Elena
’
s parents had once
mentioned the actual statistics at the dinner table
—
5,600 Jewish students had been barred from
Italian elementary schools, high schools, and universities.
Other aspects of these laws were, in her opinion, even more
offensive.
She remembered Giulio
telling her, with deep disgust, that as of June 1940 Jews could no longer go to
the seashore because they would supposedly pollute the ocean.
Jews were likewise forbidden to own
radios or books with any sort of political content, and they could no longer
employ gentile servants.
But even
more significant, from a legal point of view, was the fact that children of
religiously mixed marriages were now considered to be of mixed racial origin.
Yes, it was all unfair, immoral, and unethical.
But unfortunately it was legal, thanks
to the willing collaboration of the Fascist government of Italy.
Many of the wealthier, more financially
secure Jews of Rome had already gone into hiding, renting apartments under
false names in neighborhoods far away from the ghetto, living off of savings or
the gradual sale of valuable antiques, jewelry, or artwork.
Still others had left for South America
or Cuba, while others took a prolonged vacation in the Italian Alps, in the
hope of eventually making their way to Switzerland with the help of mountain
guides.
Sometimes they
succeeded.
And sometimes they were
defrauded of their money and left in limbo on the Italian side of the border.
Elena
’
s
thoughts were now interrupted as her brother excused himself for a moment and
went into the kitchen to bring them all some homemade
biscotti
and fresh
limonata
, which, despite the current food rationing, was a staple in the
Conti household, since two thriving lemon trees that grew in large terracotta
clay pots on their apartment balcony continued to provide them with a plentiful
harvest.
Elena and Niccol
ò
looked at each other in awkward silence for a few moments, and then
Niccol
ò
asked her
when she would like to begin the tutoring sessions.
They agreed to meet the following day
and to decide at that time just how many hours per week would be best.
After Niccol
ò
left, Giulio explained to his sister that Niccol
ò
had been the top student in his class, with what
had seemed to be a bright future ahead of him.
“
I
really feel sorry for him, Elena,
”
he said.
“
It
’
s so unfair that
someone as brilliant as he is should be denied the opportunity to finish his
education and enter a profession.
“
He
’
s an only child, and I
understand that his parents have invested a great deal in his upbringing
—
only the best
schools, a home library full of the latest scientific literature, anything you
can think of.
And besides, he plays
piano and dabbles in astronomy as a hobby.
The last time I visited him, he showed me some amazing equipment,
including a really professional-looking telescope.
Maybe some day we can see how it
works.
If we decide to break
curfew, that is,
”
he
added, without much hope.
“
So
how come you
’
ve
never really talked about him before, Giulio?
”
Elena asked.
“
Or brought
him here for me to meet?
”
“
Come
on Elena, when have I ever brought home any of my friends recently?
I see most of them at the university
every day, and what with that stupid citywide curfew at 7 PM, everyone heads
straight home after classes.
We
’
re all
afraid of who
’
s
watching us or even following us, for that matter.
You never know who has a brother or a
cousin or a friend who
’
s
working for the Blackshirts.
None
of us wants to get in trouble.
“
And
besides, with a beautiful sister like you, Elena,
”
he added with a wink and a deliberate pause,
waiting for her reaction,
“
I
need to be very careful about whom I bring home these days.
I wouldn
’
t want half the student body at the University of
Rome to fall in love with you.
Just
think of the complications. And life is complicated enough for all of us at the
moment,
”
he
sighed.
“
Okay,
Giulio, you
’
re
forgiven,
”
Elena
replied, winking back as she pushed her dark wavy hair behind her ears.
“
But
aren
’
t you afraid
that I might fall in love with the handsome young Niccol
ò
Rossi?
You do agree with me that he is very striking?
And charming.
And apparently more brilliant than you
are,
”
she teased,
punching him lightly on the arm.
“
Otherwise you
’
d be tutoring me
yourself.
”
“
Sure
I would, Elena, sure.
In fact, I
’
m so good in
mathematics and physics that that explains why I
’
m studying Italian and French literature,
”
he said with gentle
sarcasm.