The following morning, Martha spoke to Gretchen in private. “Is there anything I need to know about Inge?” she said.
Gretchen frowned at her friend. “Like what?”
“She’s in hiding, isn’t she? Is she Jewish?”
“Yes, Martha. What difference does that make?”
“All the difference in the world,” said Martha. “If she gets caught, we’ll all be in trouble. Shouldn’t she be wearing the yellow star?”
Gretchen gave her young friend a look that said, don’t be stupid. “If you get stopped you just have to hold your nerve. Inge is your sister. She lost her papers when your house was hit by the bomb.”
Martha made no reply, but the disgust on her face told Gretchen all she needed to know.
42
March 11, 1945
Departure date had arrived at last. Before first light, Gretchen, Inge and Martha waited in the cold in Hans’s apartment. Inge had a small suitcase, Martha a bigger one.
Gretchen gave Inge some last-minute instructions. “Martha is your sister. Your name is Inge Engels. If anyone asks to see your papers, you lost them in the bombing.”
“We don’t look like sisters,” said Inge.
She has a point. Martha looks Jewish. Inge doesn’t look Jewish at all, thought Gretchen. “Don’t worry about it. You are sisters. Strange sisters maybe, but sisters, nonetheless. Martha will tell you all about your parents and where you were born, the school that you went to, and so on. You must remember every detail in case somebody asks you.”
“Somebody like the SS?” Inge shuddered.
“Anybody. You are sure to meet some checkpoints along the way.”
“Where are we going?” said Martha.
Hans replied, “Luckenwalde. It’s about sixty kilometers south.”
Martha nodded. “I know where it is. There’s a labor camp there.”
Inge looked startled at that.
”Don’t worry about it,” said Hans. “There are labor camps everywhere. We would have difficulty finding a town anywhere in Germany that doesn’t have one.”
First light came, followed by the dawn chorus.
“Where’s your drayman?” said Gretchen.
Hans scratched his head. “He should be here by now. Something must have happened to him.”
As light filled the sky, they gave up. Pitt wasn’t coming. Gretchen, Martha and Inge returned to the apartment on the second floor. Nobody saw them.
As soon as Gretchen closed the apartment door, Inge threw a tantrum. She stamped her foot and hissed, “What happened? I thought Hans had everything arranged.”
Martha and Gretchen did their best to calm the young girl, telling her to keep her voice down. Her anger quickly turned to tears.
“I really thought we were going to get away this time.”
Martha held her close, stroking her head. “Hush, Inge, don’t upset yourself. We’ll just have to try again.”
Dora arrived on her bicycle midmorning and Hans told her what had happened.
“You agreed to pay the drayman?”
“He was paid handsomely in advance.”
She swore like a drunken sailor before setting off on her bicycle to find out why Pitt hadn’t kept his appointment.
The five-kilometer journey took her past the shattered Westend S-Bahn station, through dozens of streets consisting of nothing but piles of rubble, over damaged bridges past splintered Litfass columns and a damaged fire hydrant, spewing water.
The coal depot at Siemensstrasse was deserted, its doors swinging open. There was no sign of a horse or a dray anywhere. Dora’s nose led her to an empty stable, stinking of horse piss and manure. She tried the office and the adjoining house. Both buildings had been looted.
She cycled back to Hans’s apartment and told him what she’d discovered.
“Sounds like he’s been conscripted. His horse will have been taken for food,” said Hans.
“So what do we do now?” she said.
Hans scratched his chin for a few moments. Then he said, “I have an idea. I’ll need a few days to work it out.”
Dora ran upstairs to Gretchen’s Apartment and told her and Martha what she’d discovered. Then the three women returned to Hans’s apartment.
Gretchen checked outside the apartment carefully and closed the door before joining the others at the table.
Dora said, “I don’t suppose the SS are too worried about Jewish fugitives at this point. Inge could probably come out of hiding.”
“You could join the flow of refugees heading out of the city,” Gretchen said to Martha.
Dora agreed. “What could be more natural than two sisters travelling together?”
“That’s not a good idea,” said Hans. “Give me a few days to come up with a better plan.”
Gretchen snapped at him, “We don’t have a few days. We’ve waited far too long as it is.”
Martha squirmed in her seat. “I’m leaving. I won’t stay another day in this accursed city.”
Gretchen marveled at her friend’s change of heart. Just a few days ago she’d sworn she’d never leave Berlin until her fiancé came home.
“What about Inge?” said Gretchen.
“I’ll take her with me if she can be persuaded to come,” Martha replied.
“Leave that to me,” said Dora.
After some more discussion they decided the escape should start the following Sunday. Gretchen had observed that the volumes of refugees was at its highest on Sundays.
“It’s a bad idea,” said Hans, quietly. “You’ll never make it.”
The women returned to Gretchen’s apartment with Hans’s warning ringing in their ears. Dora and Martha went to work to persuade Inge that this was the best course of action.
43
On Wednesday March 15, the Allies launched a daylight
