Tomas cuddled Brown-Bear; his eyes large in his face.
“Heinz, I’m scared.”
Trudi answered. “We all are, pet. I’ll tell you a story after I just check the other windows.”
“I’ll check them. You read the story.” Heinz took back control. He was almost fifteen-years-old and not a child anymore. Papa had left him in charge. He went through their apartment closing the curtains and turning off all the lights. Only when it was dark did he poke his head around the curtain to glance out the window and immediately wished he hadn’t. Sturmabteilung!
The Sturmabteilung (SA) had invaded their street. It seemed like every SA man in the country was standing outside. In the apartment opposite, he watched as an SA man flung open the windows and turfed various pieces of furniture over the edge. He saw Mr. Geller, a wonderful old man, a veteran of the First World War, stand up in protest, only to be knocked to the ground. Then they started kicking the prone figure. Tears in his eyes, Heinz closed the curtains wishing he hadn’t promised his father to stay put. He wanted to go to Mr. Geller’s place and help him. But it was too late.
There was a knock on the door. He jumped, despite his bravado. Heart hammering, he moved closer but didn’t answer it. Was it the Gestapo? They wouldn’t knock silly; they’d just break the door down.
The knock came again. “Please Heinz, Tomas, open the door.”
Rachel? What was she doing out on a night like this? He quickly unlocked the door. Rachel and her sister almost fell into the hall, quickly followed by their mother. Mrs. Bernstein looked like she had fallen out of bed, her hair was all messed up and red streaks marked her cheeks.
“Is your father here?”
“No Mrs. Bernstein, he left to help at the synagogue.” As the woman looked around her, a wild expression in her eyes, he realized the door should be shut.
“Come inside, please. We should lock the door.” He took her hand to pull her inside, as she seemed incapable of listening.
Her voice trembled as she glanced behind her. “But what if they come here? They will kill us all.”
“Mama, please get a hold of yourself, you are scaring Ruth. They aren’t going to kill anyone. They are just bullying us, trying to scare us like they always have. You are letting them win.”
Heinz watched in awe as the strict Mrs. Bernstein looked at her daughter. He thought she might slap Rachel but instead, she pulled her into a hug.
“You are right, my darling. I’m so sorry. But when your papa and your brothers didn’t come back after the Gestapo came, I thought… Well, it doesn’t matter what I thought.”
“Mrs. Bernstein, I thought I recognized the voice. Please, come in. You are shivering. Here, put this on.” Trudi went to the coat stand and took down her fur coat. “Would you like some coffee?”
Heinz’s lip curled. Even now, Trudi was trying to use the situation to her advantage by getting into Mrs. Bernstein’s good books. At a look from Rachel, he felt ashamed. It was almost as if she could read his mind.
“Thank you, Trudi. I don’t know if we should stay. We may have led the Gestapo straight to you. I wasn’t thinking. I just had to get away, they broke up the whole house, every dish and…” Mrs. Bernstein dissolved into tears. Trudi gathered the woman to her and half-carried, half-dragged her to sit down on the couch.
“Heinz, a glass of water please for Mrs. Bernstein and take the girls into Tomas. They will be company for each other.”
He did as he was told, without argument. As he gave Mrs. Bernstein the glass of water, he listened to her story. They had destroyed everything. What about his Oma and Opa? They lived further away. Were they safe?
3
The noises outside escalated, as the sounds of stamping boots came closer. Mrs. Bernstein seemed to recover. She stood up, took off the fur coat and gave it to Trudi.
“Try to hide it. Together with any other valuables you have. The stuff that is easy to carry. They’ll fill their pockets with your gold, your diamonds.”
Trudi flushed, her eyes looking at the floor. “There isn’t much left. I have been using them for food.”
Mrs. Bernstein held her hands out to Trudi who clasped them to her. “My dear, we all have to do what we can to survive. We don’t have much time. Get your jewels now. Ruth, Rachel, come here please.”
The girls came forward, they hadn’t stayed in the bedroom but all three children had taken up residence behind the couch as if by staying closer to the adults they would be safer. Trudi ran to the bedroom she shared with Papa and returned carrying some jewelry. Heinz recognized one piece as his mother’s engagement ring. He’d never seen Trudi wear it and had assumed it was buried with his mother. Mrs. Bernstein picked it up, the large diamonds sparkling against the darkness.
“Now children this is a game. You know how we play hide and seek? I want you to do that with Mrs. Beck’s jewelry. Ruth put this ring in your shoe and don’t take it off. Don’t tell anyone you have it.”
“Yes, Mama.” Ruth put the ring in her stocking and then put her shoe back on, wincing as she tried to put her foot on the ground.
“Good girl. You can pretend you hurt your ankle and that’s why you are walking funny.” She turned to Rachel, “put these on Rachel, hide them wherever you can think of.” She gave Rachel a pile of jewelry that the girl took with her to the bedroom. When she returned, there wasn’t a piece visible.
“Your engagement ring Trudi, take it off and put it somewhere else. Be quick.”
“But I…”
“Quickly. This is no time for arguments.” As she spoke, Mrs. Bernstein undressed Liesl and wrapped up some jewelry in her diaper, before redressing the child. All the time Liesl
