You Are My Sunshine: A Novel Of The Holocaust (All My Love Detrick Companion Novel) (13 page)

“This little girl
is special I can tell.”

“Can you?”

“Of course” Helen smiled as she gingerly touched the small head that rested on her shoulder

“I wonder what she will grow up to be like.”

“Oh, I think she will be very smart?”

“And pretty?”

“Not pretty, beautiful.” Helen said. Then she whispered to Eidel “Won’t you, Eidel?”

Chapter
16

“At least Hitler is going to leave us alone. He promised to say away from Poland. Thanks be to God.” Gitel said, “He is most surely a mad man.”

“Yes, it’s true, he
has promised to leave Poland alone, and that is good.” Fruma said as she washed the cereal off Eidel’s chin. “But do you trust him? Really trust him?”

“
Of course not, who could trust him? But if he stays away from here, that is all we should be concerned with.”

Z
ofia came in to the kitchen. “Who is this Hitler anyway?”

“The leader
of Germany, a real conquer, I think.” Gitel said “but don’t you worry about him. He is far away from us and we have too much to do with our tiny package to worry about such a disturbing man.”

“I have a cousin in Germany.”
Fruma said. “I am concerned for her. Although we have not spoken in years, I think I will send her a letter.”

“
You want to ask her to come here?” Gitel said. “We don’t have so much room, but if need be we can manage.”

“
Yes and no. I don’t even know her really. We met once when I was just a little girl. If I saw her on the street, I wouldn’t recognize her. But I hear it is bad for Jews in Germany. I don’t know what to do. Do you think all of this will pass?”

“You mean this anti-Semitism
? Of course it will pass, it always does.  I wouldn’t worry too much. Besides this Hitler is so busy conquering the world that he probably has very little time to concern himself with the Jews.”

Chapter
17

“Manfred, Dr. Goebbels would like to see you in his office.” Dr. Goebbels secretary announced when he walked into work on that day in early November.

“Thank you.” Manfred said and rushed to put his things on his desk. Then he went
immediately to the Dr.’s large corner office in the back of the room.

“Dr.
Goebbels, sir. You asked for me?”

“
Yes I did. Sit down, please. I want to discuss something with you. I need someone I can trust to talk to about a pressing matter, in order to gather my thoughts.  You see, something interesting has happened. Something I believe we can use to our advantage.  What I have heard is that a Jew in Paris, his name is Herschel Grynszpan, went to the German embassy, and shot a German official. The official was really nobody of importance; his name is Ernst Von Roth. But… If this Von Roth should die then we have a good case to start a pogrom against the Jews here in Germany. It will bring the people together, strengthening their love for Hitler and all he has done to rebuild the Fatherland.  And because of how we will present this situation as a terrible crime that was done to us, the rest of the world will understand. We will show them how the Jews are sabotaging our country make them see our side. This is an opportunity for us. The more we can unite the German people against a common enemy the stronger our nation will become.

“Yes, sir, as always you are right.
This is a bad situation turned into opportunity by your brilliant mind.  I am just curious; does anyone know why this Jew did such a thing?”

“From what I understand his family was forced out
of their home in Germany, all of their possessions confiscated. Apparently, they were forced over the border into Poland. Their son, this Herschel had some nerve. He was living in Paris when he got the news. And this Jew had the balls to go into the German embassy and shoot a German official. This sort of behavior must be nipped in the bud. It cannot be tolerated. If we should over look something like this, then the Jews will surely begin to act out more and more until they are out of control. This must be dealt with in such a manner that the Jews begin to know their place. We must show them who is boss right now, right away, with such a strong demonstration that they will never even consider acting up again. They must be terrified of us. That way we can keep them where we want them.  So you see, if this should work out the way that I am planning. We will have achieved three things. We will show the world that the Jews are the enemy. We will show the Jews who is boss and at the same time we will unite and strengthen our Aryan brotherhood.”

“You are a
true genius, Dr. Goebbels. No one else could take such an unfortunate incident and turn it into a victory for the Father land.”

Goebbels
smiled and Manfred knew he’d said the right things. He could see in the Dr’s eyes just how much his boss enjoyed having him around. They made a good team.

For several
days, Manfred and Goebbels waited. Then on November 7
th
Von Roth died.

It was a
day like any other day in November of 1938, except that when it was finally over, it would go down in history as the date when Hitler openly waged war on the Jews of Germany. And so on the ninth of November in the year of 1938, everything began its rapid descent in a downward spiral. For two blood-splattered nights under Goebbels direction with Hitler’s approval, the Jewish communities throughout Germany were ravaged by gangs of hoodlum’s intent on revenge for the death of an unknown German diplomat at the hands of a young Jewish man. The cries of victims and perpetrators echoed through the streets as synagogues were set to fire, windows, and storefronts demolished, people beaten, dragged from their homes, and murdered.   That night genocide had begun that would last until the end of the war. November 9
th.,
1938 would go down in history to be known forever as “Kristallnacht” the night of the broken glass.

On November 9
th
unsuspecting Jews all over Germany went about their lives as they always had. The growing anti-Semitism had not as of yet turned violent. Some Jews had been forced from their homes. But those still living the way they did before Hitler rationalized this by telling themselves that those who’d been evicted must have committed a crime. Boycotts had taken place on Jewish business but then again the Jews had lived through this sort of thing before. And although the Nuremberg laws had, been passed declaring that it was illegal for Jews and Gentiles to marry. Well, again they rationalized this as just a part of Hitler’s campaign. It would pass, they told each other and themselves.  And, of course there were whispers when neighbors saw each other at the butcher shop or the bakery, talk of concentration camps and work camps being built, but most people  believed that only those guilty of crimes would ever see the inside of these prisons. In short, the Jews believed that if they remained quiet, and endured the insults for now, all of this would soon pass.

They could not have been more wrong.

That night, the night of November 9
th,
truckloads of German youths were brought into the Jewish part of town, they carried clubs and were told to destroy the business and beat anyone they saw out on the streets.

“You may do as you wish, but do not steal anything. Only destroy it.” The leaders told the young men.
For it was to be a demonstration not a robbery. The German’s must be exacting revenge for acts committed against their fatherland. If they took any valuables, the entire act would lose its ideals.

Besides, there was plenty
of time to confiscate Jewish property.

The sound
of crashing glass echoed for miles combined with the wild hollering of the youths as they ran through the towns bent on destruction.  The smell of burning penetrated the air as the hundred-year-old synagogues burst into roaring flames. Blood covered the sidewalks as men and women were torn from their homes and crushed under the clubs and boots of the raging attackers. By morning all, the Jewish sector of town was nearly destroyed.

Chapter
18

On November 12
th
Goebbels returned from an important meeting. The doctor had always been fastidious, his clothing pressed and well fit. But today, it was not. His suit hung on him as if he’d lost twenty pounds, and his hair appeared unkempt. Large purple swellings gave his sunken eyes the appearance of a troubled man. He sat down at his desk and gazed out the window. He needed to talk. Desperate for someone to discuss what he’d heard and seen, Doctor Goebbels sent for Manfred. Manfred had proven to him time and again that he was a good friend and a competent understudy. Joseph Goebbels enjoyed the admiration he saw in Manfred’s eyes. And he believed that he could trust and confide in this young apprentice who reminded him so much of himself.  After the others had left for the day, Joseph called Manfred into his office.

“Would you like a beer?” Dr.
Goebbels asked as he opened a bottle for himself.

“I would yes.”

“Nothing on this earth is like a good German beer.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

“How is you
r lovely wife?”

“She is doing very well, thank you.”

“Soon we can expect a child?” Goebbels asked

“We are trying…”

“That’s the good part, huh?” Goebbels laughed and Manfred laughed too.

“As you know I was attending a meeting with Goering and
some of the others. Men you will be getting to know very soon. Good German men…”

Goebbels
lit a cigar and placed it into his pelvis ashtray.

“Anyway, this business with the Jews is getting
out of hand. While we were in the meeting a message came, it was from Adolf Hitler.  He sent a notice that we are to begin the final solution.”

“I’m
sorry; I don’t know what that is”

“Nasty business
…”
“I don’t doubt it; everything having to do with Jews is nasty business.”

“Yes, that is true.”
Goebbels hesitated for a moment. After taking a long puff on his cigar and a sip of beer, he looked Manfred straight in the eyes. “It is the elimination of all of the Jews in Germany.”

“Elimination? You mean murder?”

“I mean…elimination.  You do understand.”

“We have to kill them?”

“I suppose that is the only way to eliminate them.”

Manfred nodded. He felt a thickening in his throat as if he mig
ht vomit. It was best to remain quiet, regain composure. He would not be directly involved, so why worry. This would take place far from his tidy office.
“We should be arresting them soon enough and shipping them off to the camps that we’ve been building for this purpose. There we will deal with them.” Goebbels said.

Manfred nodded again.

For several minutes, the room was quiet. The only sound was irritating the ticking from the clock on the wall.

“Nasty, but necessa
ry business,” Goebbels said shaking his head as if the job were a burden he could shake off. “Would you like to join me for dinner down the street at the café? Or do you want to get on home to that pretty wife of yours?” He patted Manfred’s shoulder. “I would really like it if you joined me.”

“Then
of course, I would be happy to accompany you to dinner. Just give me a moment to call Christa and let her know I am going to be late.”

“
Of course, we would not want her to worry.” Goebbels smiled.

Chapter
19

Try as they might, Christa could not become pregnant. After dinner the following evening, they sat at the table eating strudel and coffee. Manfred looked worried.

“What is it, you look upset.”

“No darling, nothing is wrong,” he said.

“Are you upset that I cannot conceive?”

“No, I am sure you will soon enough. We are probably trying too hard.”

“Perhaps we should go and see my
father; he can test us to see what is wrong. It might be something simple.”

“
Yes, all right. If you would like, we will go.” He said and patted her hand.

Manfred was
worried. He was worried about so many things. The inability to conceive was certainly on his mind, covert operations that he had become privy to at the office were concerning him, his workload was constantly increasing, most of all, he had stood by and watched as an old friend had been arrested. He could not erase the scene from his mind.  It was the man who owned the delicatessen right down the street from the apartment where he’d grow up. The man was a Jew.  But one incident that occurred when he was just a boy, stuck out in his mind.  It was a terrible winter he and his mother were so poor that they went for days without food. Manfred had gone down to the butcher and begged for credit only to be turned away. On his way home, he’d stopped at the delicatessen hoping to ask for the crumbs of bread that diners had left on their plates. At the time, the Deli owner was much younger than he was today. Manfred recalled walking up to the counter, his head hung in shame, and asking for anything edible that might be in the trash can.  The Jew had looked at him. He’d refused to let him look in the trash. Instead, this man had given him two sandwiches to take home to his mother. That night he’d slept on a full belly for the first time in a long time. He had never forgotten it, and yet, when this man lay on the cobblestones just feet in front of him beaten and bleeding, speaking in a voice barely audible.