All My Love, Detrick (33 page)

“Yes, a Jewish state…a homeland…" She smiled. “I’m tired, Karl… I need to rest.”

As she closed her eyes, he felt her hand go limp in his as the life quietly left her body. Like Moses, Ada would never enter the Promised Land.

Karl fell upon her dead body, crying out like an animal that
had been shot in the forest. Grief overcame him as he continued to rock back and forth, wailing in mourning.

Midday had come and passed before Karl realized he must say goodbye.

Friends of the couple arranged the funeral. Karl attended, hazy and unfocused. He spoke to no one. Immediately following the burial, he left and returned to his room. Once alone, he lay down on the bed he’d shared with Ada, and once again, he cried.

The months drifted by. Sometimes Karl forgot to eat or to bathe. His hair grew long and greasy, tangling into a black, curly Medusa-like mass. His beard grew thick and unkempt. Often friends came to look in on him, only to find him ornery and unwelcoming. With the money he’d saved, Karl purchased whiskey on the black market and began to burn the pain, as the flame of liquor turned his feelings to ashes.

Winter turned to spring, followed by the nagging heat of summer. On a bright sunny morning in early August, an old friend came to see Karl.

“Shlomie… It’s been a long time.”

“Yes, how are you? I shouldn’t say it but, frankly, you look terrible.”

“How should I be? I’m still alive, but I wish I wasn’t.”

“You shouldn’t say that, Karl. Life is a gift from God.”

“Why did God take Ada?
Why? Can you answer that question? I’m sick of all of you and your God, too. Where is God now? Tell me, Shlomie - why has he abandoned us?”

“I know you are hurting.
And, I don’t blame you. You’ve lost someone, but you’re not the only one. We’ve all lost people who were dear to us. But life must go on, Karl, it must.”

“Eh…not for me.”

“I didn’t come here to help you to feel sorry for yourself. I came to let you know that last night the Nazis raided the orphanage. You know where Ada had that school of hers. Well, they took the guy who ran it and more than two hundred kids away. We know they are on their way to some place in hell that the Nazis built, where they’ll probably be murdered. Now, if that’s not a reason to come back from the living dead and work with the resistance, I don’t know what is.”

“Shlomie, are you sure about this?” He remembered his promise to Ada.

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

Karl stood up from the bed and walked to the window. He gazed out at the trees. Those children had been an important part of Ada’s life. She loved them almost as much as she'd loved him. In the end, she’d died because she’d refused to discontinue teaching. And, he’d vowed on her deathbed that he would look after them.

“When is the next meeting?”

“Tomorrow night. Mordechi’s apartment at nine, sharp.”

“I’ll be there.”

118

Berlin

R
ebekka Mueller envied her sister, Adelhied. Three years her junior, and not nearly as pretty, Rebekka lived her life invisible in her sister's shadow. Both girls had been members of the Hitler Youth since they'd turned ten. The Hitler Youth put strong emphasis on the ability to excel in athletics. Blonde hair and blue eyes, the pride of the Aryan race, were considered highly desirable characteristics, all of which Adelhied possessed much to her brown-haired, brown-eyed, clumsy sister’s dismay. It seemed to Rebekka that no matter what, Adelheid outshone her, leaving little room for Rebekka to find any positive attributes she might possess.

Since the marriage of Leah, the Jewish girl in the attic, to the Aryan boy, Detrick, whom Adelheid had so fancied, Adelhied had changed. It began with her clothing. Dressing provocatively, with tight skirts and sweaters, brought whistles and cat calls as she walked down the street. Then, she began coming home late at night, accompanied by various young men. From her bedroom window, Rebekka heard their laughter outside on the porch. The girls at school began to whisper; the gossip humiliated Rebekka.

Before Detrick married Leah, Adelhied discussed her feelings for him with Rebekka. Now she would no longer admit to what she’d once felt.

“You still care for him, don’t you? That’s why you’re running around acting like a tramp. This is doing you no good, Adelheid.”

“Mind your own business. Detrick was a childhood fancy. He’s no one. He means nothing to me. I have real lovers now.”

“Do you have any idea what people are saying about you? They’re calling you a tramp, and it’s rubbing off on me. Everyone says since we are sisters, we must be alike”

“I don’t care what they say. And this has nothing to do with you, Rebekka, so stop sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.” Adelheid had compensated for what she perceived as Detrick’s rejection with a promiscuous lifestyle, proving her desirability to men
repeatedly to herself, in hope of restoring her lost self-esteem. Sex seemed a small price to pay for the adoration that made her feel beautiful.

Where once Adelhied had shared a friendship with Leah, she now avoided her, and
Detrick as well.

With the constant teachings of the Nazi doctrine forced upon them, among their peers and in their classroom, both girls began to worry about the attic dwellers. They knew that hiding Jews was against the law, and their parents had firmly explained that they must never reveal their situation to anyone. Both Rebekka and Adelheid realized that the extra money Detrick provided improved the family's way of life. Tins of meat and vegetables replaced the former diet of bread and potatoes. When the girls needed clothing, they found themselves able to afford nice fabric, where once they’d remade hand-me-downs several times over. Sometimes they were even able to shop for store-made clothing, a luxury once far removed from the Mueller's lifestyle.

Adelhied spent time with boys she’d met at gatherings of the Hitler Youth, but she never allowed them inside of her home, for fear that somehow, they might discover her family’s secret.

119

E
mptied of the Jews, the streets of Berlin appeared distorted to Detrick. As he walked along, he saw that Gentiles now owned the shops that were once Jewish. Non-Jews occupied the once-Jewish residences. The bicycle shop where he had met Jacob so many years ago was now home to a new proprietor. For a long while, he stood on the sidewalk, staring at the building, memories passing through his mind. It was as if the entire Jewish population had never been there at all.

Because of his affiliation with the party, Detrick, overheard talk concerning the Final Solution.
It haunted him. If Hitler, by some horrible turn of fate, were to win the war, what would become of those he held so dear? He knew he must not lose faith. He must continue to believe that good would triumph in the end.

Over a year had passed since he’d married Leah. The U.S. had entered the war. Now England, the United
States, and Russia pushed hard against the Nazis, and it appeared that Germany was losing ground. Every day Detrick prayed that his friends would remain safe until this nightmare ended.

Even with the world coming down around them, Leah and Detrick’s love kept them from despair. As often as he could, Detrick went to the attic with extra food and supplies. The couple lay huddled together, hoping to
be spared, as the allies bombed Berlin. The deafening, thunderous sound shook the little house through the night. Jacob and the rabbi remained awake listening, praying. Rabbi Stern stood reciting sacred words, his body moving back and forth to the rhythm as the bombs shattered the night. Since the attack on Berlin, Jacob had developed a strange twitching on the left side of his face, which came and went sporadically. The cat, whom they had named Sammy, became nervous and skittish, often urinating in the corner of the room. Leah loved Sammy, so she cleaned the mess without complaint, and gently offered her feline friend comfort.

One evening, as Detrick arrived later
than usual at the Mueller home, Adelheid and one of her boyfriends were coming down the street. When the boy saw Detrick entering the house, he felt sure that he’d come to see Adelheid.

“Looks like you have company?”

Adelheid felt a tiny bead of sweat drip down the back of her neck. Quickly she came up with an idea. “He’s seeing my sister.”

“Isn’t she young for him?”

“Perhaps, but he’s seeing her anyway. My parents approve. After all he works for the party.”

\

120

Warsaw

T
he smoky room, the enthusiastic voices - nothing had changed… It was as Karl remembered it. Planning an uprising took effort.

“Welcome, Karl, we’ve missed you.”

“Thanks, Mordechi. It’s been rough since Ada passed.”

“I know
I’m sorry. We’ve all known loss here. But, we are glad to have you with us. We need as many as we can get.”

“How many of us are there?”

“Give or take, about 75.”

Karl nodded as he looked around the crowded room.

“The Poles feel sorry for us, or they just want the help. Either way, it doesn’t matter; they are supplying us with weapons.”

“When do you think we’ll be ready?”

“I’m not sure. Do you think you can get out of the Ghetto at night and buy weapons?”

“Of course.
I’ve been getting in and out since the beginning.”

“Good. We’re building underground bunkers. Can you help?”

“I can, and I will. I’m angry. I’m gonna kill as many Nazis as I can. I’m going to do it as revenge for Ada.”

Mordechi nodded… He understood.

121

During the night, Karl joined the band of men, women, and children who faced constant peril in order to beg, bargain for, or steal to build an arsenal. Over the rooftops and through the sewer systems they traveled, ducking out of the light and the vision of the guards. The Jewish Council, better known as the
Judenrats
, must never discover the plans, as they were known to be collaborating with the Nazis.

But
, slowly, small piles of weaponry lay hidden in underground bunkers. Bottle rockets, Molotov cocktails, pistols, rifles, a few pineapple hand grenades, and a handful of automatic firearms made up the armaments.

More people joined with the resistance daily as they realized that the Nazis meant to exterminate the entire Ghetto.
Two groups of Jewish defense were formed: the Zidowski Zwiazek Woskowy (the ZZW - translated: the Polish Jewish Military Union), led by Dawid Moryc; and the Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa (the ZOB - translated: the Jewish Fighting Organization), led by Mordechi.

After much deliberation, the decision for the date of the attack
was decided upon.

122

On January 18, 1943, a frigid wind blew through the silent streets of the Ghetto as the Nazi guards began their round up of Jews to be sent to the trains taking them to Treblinka and their ultimate death. The noise of their boot heels clicked against the asphalt as their guttural language echoed through the streets.

Karl, accompanied by a handful of other ragged and angry people, waited hidden in alleyways. As the Germans turned the corner, the Jewish resistance came out firing. Immediately, guns were drawn, and the Nazis fired back. The Jews fell to the ground in obscene numbers, until finally the attack ceased.

That night, they held a meeting to discuss what had happened.

“There was far too much loss of life today,” Mordechi spoke. “From now on we will engage them in partisan warfare. Instead of meeting the Nazis out in the open, we will spread out and shoot at them from high windows in various apartments. This way they will never know where the shots are going to come from. It will make it hard for them to fight us.”

A roar of agreement came from the crowd and the fighters rearranged their plan.