Oskar Schuster. Gretchen’s husband!
Hans led him home.
31
When Hans brought Oskar back to the apartment block, he found Gretchen at the door. She hurried to meet him, thanking Hans for bringing Oskar home.
“I went out to see if I could find something to eat. I was only gone an hour. I’ve been searching all over for him. Where did you find him?”
“He was on the golf course.”
She shook her head in amazement. “How could he walk so far so quickly?”
If she hadn’t been holding onto Oskar’s arm when Hans told her that Inge would have to wait a month before leaving Berlin, she would have fallen over.
“That’s an eternity,” she said. “The war could be over by then.”
Hans hung his head. “I’m sorry, the drayman has military commitments.”
February 9, 1945
A knock on the door sent Inge scurrying into the bedroom.
“Who is it?” said Gretchen.
“It’s Martha.”
Gretchen opened the door.
“I heard you wanted to see me,” said Martha.
“Yes, please sit.”
Martha sat on the sofa.
“I wanted to let you know that some friends of mine are leaving Berlin soon.”
Martha’s eyes opened in amazement. “How? And where to?”
“I can’t tell you that, but they’ll be travelling south. I thought you might like to go with them.”
“Who else is going?”
“I’m not sure yet, but there’ll be a small group.”
“When are they leaving?”
“Early next month.”
“What about Oskar?” said Martha.
“Oskar and I won’t be going. So, what do you think? Should I tell my friends that you’ll be joining them?”
Martha glared at her. “What makes you think I would want to leave? I need to be here when Paul returns.”
Gretchen grabbed the young woman’s hands. “You need to get away before the Russians get here. Think about it, Martha, it will be months before the prisoners are released. Just leave word for him in your apartment. You’ll be able to find him after things have returned to normal.”
Martha pulled her hands away. “Haven’t you been listening to Herr Doktor Goebbels on the radio? The new secret weapon, the V-3, will turn the tide. The army will start using it very soon. And when they do, our enemies will have no answer.”
Gretchen planted her fists on her hips and glared at her friend. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”
Martha stuck her chin out. “I’ve no reason to doubt it.”
“It’s nonsense, Martha, and you know it. We can’t put our faith in fairy tales. You need to leave Berlin before it’s too late.”
Martha’s face flushed red. “Nothing you say will make me change my mind. I will be here waiting for Paul when he returns.”
Gretchen was astonished at her friend’s resolve. She was being stubborn and foolhardy. The rumors about Ivan were almost certainly true. By staying in the city, Martha would be putting herself in mortal danger.
Martha said, “Why don’t you go, Gretchen?”
“Because of Oskar,” said Gretchen.
“What about Oskar?” Martha looked at him. He was in his chair, staring out the window, where a pigeon was strutting about on the sill.
“I can’t leave him. I won’t abandon him.” Gretchen knew she sounded steadfast, but her inner feelings were conflicted. She was desperate to get out of Berlin. Not that she thought Dresden would be much better. The postwoman’s horror stories chilled her to the bone.
“You mustn’t let your feelings for Oskar cloud your judgment,” said Martha. “His life is effectively over. You must take this opportunity yourself.”
Gretchen shook her head.
Martha waved a finger like a teacher admonishing a pupil. “Oskar’s not Oskar anymore. And he was never the ideal husband. You said so yourself. You owe him nothing.”
Martha’s words echoed Gretchen’s own thoughts… thoughts that she had never allowed to form, although they had bubbled under the surface of her mind for a long, long time. Oskar was nothing but a husk, barely a shadow of the Oskar Schuster she had married.
Would he even notice if I wasn’t here?
Inge was listening behind the bedroom door. Once more, people were organizing her life without talking to her. Why did they think she needed a chaperone?
I’m old enough to look after myself!
Who was this Martha anyhow? How old was she? If they had to spend time together would they get on?
She opened the bedroom door a crack and caught sight of Martha as she left the apartment. Dressed in a navy-blue shin-length overcoat, she looked younger than Gretchen, younger than Dora, even.
“Who was that?” she asked Gretchen.
“That was Martha. I’ve known her all her life. I went to school with her mother.”
If Martha changed her mind, and decided to accompany her, thought Inge, maybe they would get on.
32
February 10, 1945
Anton stood sentry duty at a roadblock on a bridge over the river Havel. His companion was an old man named Professor Hepple. Their job was to check the papers of everyone leaving the city, their instructions to stop and detain any able-bodied men or boys who could be put to the defense of the city.
A member of the SS military police came visiting at 4:00 p.m. each day to gather up any that they had managed to recruit. During the second week on post, Anton and Hepple detained an old man called Braun. His claim was that he was a dentist and had been released from the Volkssturm so that he could continue to supply dental services to the troops and the citizens of Berlin. His story made no sense. If he had been released to supply dental services, why was he leaving the city?
The SS-Feldjägerkorps man interrogated the detainee and quickly identified him as a Volkssturm deserter.
Anton blamed himself for the subsequent tirade of abuse that Braun had to suffer. But when the SS-man took his pistol from its holster, placed the barrel on the deserter’s forehead and pulled the trigger, Anton’s legs collapsed from under him. He slumped against the Kübelwagen.
The SS-man saw the look of shock on Anton’s face. “That man was a worm, a traitor to the Führer and the Reich,” he said.
Anton couldn’t find words to respond.
“Do you
