Karolina's Twins (40 page)

Catherine waited until Lena was able to compose herself. “Do you want to go on with the story? We can talk another day.”

“No, I'm all right. I'm more than all right. Let's finish up. There's not much left. David and I were on our way to the Foehrenwald DP Camp, a large camp set up by the U.S. army in a residential complex that previously housed workers for the IG Farben plant. The units were pretty nice, among the nicest of all the DP camps. They were small, but they had running water, kitchens and central heat.

“Foehrenwald's community quickly established schools, health centers and a variety of cultural activities. By the time we arrived, Foehrenwald had over four thousand residents. The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency provided food, medicine, clothing and occupational training.

“All in all, it wasn't a bad place to live, but it was a temporary solution. All the families had made applications for visas and were just waiting for their immigration papers to be processed. Most of the residents wanted to immigrate to Israel, but in 1945, Israel was not a state. That area of the Middle East was administered by Britain as British Mandatory Palestine. Neville Chamberlain's prewar strict quotas were still in effect and there was violent Arab resistance to Jewish immigration, spearheaded by the mufti of Jerusalem, Amin al-Husseini. In fact, it was the mufti's position that all Jews presently in Palestine should be forced to leave. Of course, the situation changed in 1948, when Israel became a state.

“Actually, 1948 was a pivotal year for us as well. The United States Congress passed the Displaced Persons Act, allowing for up to two hundred thousand war refugees to enter the U.S. Still, it wasn't easy, especially for Jews. You had to have a sponsor and an ability to earn a living. We were lucky because David's brother was already living on the West Side of Chicago and he sponsored us. We got our visa and arrived in January 1949.”

Catherine's phone buzzed and she picked up the receiver. Gladys said, “Cat, Liam's on the other line and he wants to talk to you, but he doesn't want you to take the call in front of Lena.”

Catherine stood. “Lena, I have to take an important call in my office. Please excuse me for a few minutes. Let Gladys know if you want some coffee or need anything.”

With the door closed, Catherine answered the call. “What's up? Tell me you found the twins.”

“Not yet. I'm closing in on one, but that's not why I called. I just got off the phone with Muriel Bernstein. Let me play you the recording.”

“You recorded the telephone call?”

“Yep.”

“Liam, did you get her permission to record the call?”

“Oh, it must have slipped my mind. Would you please just listen?

“Okay.”

“Hello. This is Muriel.”

“Muriel, my name is Liam Taggart. I'm a private investigator and I've been hired by Lena Scheinman.”

“Lena? Oh, my word. She's alive? I haven't spoken to her since the middle of the war. Is she all right?”

“She's fine. More than fine—she's as healthy as can be. Her name is now Lena Woodward.”

“Woodward? She married David Woodward?”

“Sure did. They were happily married for over sixty years. He died two years ago.”

“You have no idea how that warms my heart. I would love to see Lena. Where does she live?”

“In Chicago. Just a two-hour plane ride away from you. Maybe I can arrange it. Can I tell you about my assignment?”

“By all means. How can I help you?”

“During the war, as I'm sure you must remember, Lena made a solemn vow to Karolina that she would return and find Karolina's twins.”

“Karolina's twins?”

“Right.”

“Karolina Neuman?”

“Yes. Of course.”

“Muriel?”

“Mr. Taggart, exactly what did Lena tell you?”

“You don't remember the promise?”

“Why don't you refresh my memory?”

“On the train to Gross-Rosen, the three of you were sitting together, is that right?”

“Oh, yes. We boarded the train in Chrzanów. It was actually a passenger train.”

“Exactly. And Karolina was holding her twins when a woman came by and told her that the Nazis would kill her babies as soon as they arrived at the camp. Karolina then threw one baby out of the window and Lena threw the other one. Lena and Karolina vowed to come back and find Karolina's babies.”

“Muriel?”

“What is it that you want from me, Mr. Taggart?”

“A few months ago, Lena hired me to try to find Karolina's babies and I'm very close to doing just that. I'm pleased to tell you that both of them survived and were taken to a nearby orphanage. But Lena's son has initiated a legal proceeding to declare Lena incompetent and stop her from keeping her promise to find Karolina's twins. He's alleged in court that Karolina's babies never existed and that his mother is delusional.”

“How awful for Lena. Oh my goodness, by her own son? But you haven't answered my question, Mr. Taggart. What do you want from me?”

“Well, if you were so disposed, I'd like you to come to Chicago and testify in court that Karolina had twins, that they actually existed and that Lena promised to come back and find them. Lena can defeat her son's petition with your testimony.”

“How about Karolina? Do you know what became of Karolina Neuman?”

“Unfortunately, she died at the Parschnitz concentration camp. According to Lena, she was so distraught about losing her babies that she tried to escape and was shot by the guards.”

“How terribly sad. Well, I don't travel much anymore. I'm afraid I can't come to Chicago.”

“That's all right, Muriel. Lena's attorney can take your testimony with a video deposition in New York. We can come to you.”

“You don't want to do that, Mr. Taggart.”

“Yes, we do. I haven't found those girls yet, and without your testimony Lena may lose her case.”

“My testimony won't help Lena.”

“Why not? You were the nurse who delivered the twins in the Chrzanów ghetto, weren't you?”

“Yes, I was.”

“Lena needs to prove that Karolina's twins really existed. Why is that so hard for you?”

“Talk to Lena. Good-bye.”

Liam turned off the recorder. “Did you hear that, Cat? Can you believe she won't testify?”

“Yes. And I think I know why.”

“I'm listening.”

“Karolina Neuman never had twins. She never had any babies. Muriel won't give a video deposition to support Lena's story because it isn't true. Muriel delivered the babies all right, but they weren't Karolina's. They were Lena's. Lena had the twins.”

“Holy shit. And the whole story about Karolina's babies?”

“Was a cover-up. Lena Scheinman loved David Woodward and they spent nights together in his room. Lena got pregnant. David was sent away a few weeks later and never knew. They were David's babies.”

“Oh, my God.”

“I've had my suspicions all along, but when you told me about Fräu Strauss and what she said about Helga Schultz, that started me to thinking. You know, I always told you I suspected there was a deep, dark secret. Over the past few days, I went back through my notes and there they were—all the clues. Now that you've told me about Muriel, I'm certain. When Lena was describing the birth of the babies, she was talking about herself. If you reverse Lena and Karolina, the relationship, the story, it all fits together.”

“What about the conversation they had when they were bathing, when Lena first noticed that Karolina was pregnant?” Liam said. “And they discussed abortion.”

“Reverse it.”

“But what about Siegfried? Lena asked Karolina whether she could live in Bavaria as Siegfried's wife. Didn't they talk about raising Siegfried's Jewish babies in Germany?”

“No. The talk was about whether Karolina and Siegfried could make a life together in Germany. When he wrote to his mother, he told her about falling in love with a German girl. He never told her about children. Even when Siegfried wrote down his address, he did it so that Karolina could live with his mother. Nothing on the paper alerts his mother to children. Think about it. Fräu Strauss told you she never heard of Siegfried fathering any children, and she would have because Helga Schultz would have bragged about them.

“When they needed coal from Siegfried, they twisted his arm by threatening to bring the babies to the Shop and tell everyone that they were
his
babies. The way Lena describes it, Siegfried was shocked and said, ‘
My
babies? Why would you do that?' He was shocked because they weren't his.

“Ninety percent of Lena's narration was true. Karolina had an affair with Siegfried. She slept with him to save Lena's life, but she didn't get pregnant. Karolina didn't have the twins—Muriel practically told you that. Lena was the one who gave birth. Karolina, Muriel and Lena lived in Yossi's basement apartment with
Lena's
twins. They shared the babysitting duties by alternating shifts.

“The rest of the story, Lena's involvement in the network was all true. Through your research you verified the identities of Colonel Müller and Witold Pilecki. I'm sure it's true that the colonel arranged for her to be sent to Gross-Rosen rather than Auschwitz. I'm equally certain that a woman on the train warned them about the Nazis, and confirmed what they already knew, that the Nazis would take the babies when they arrived. The story about throwing the babies out of the window is absolutely true, you've proven it. They were rescued in Domaniów, Poland. Whether it was Karolina's idea or Lena's, I don't know. I tend to think it was Karolina's. She seemed to be the stronger of the two—that is, until they arrived at Gross-Rosen, but it really doesn't matter. For seventy years, Lena has concealed the fact that she was the mother of those twins.

“The clues were all there, Liam. I just didn't see them. She continually referred to the babies as
our
babies. Even Karolina's last words were ‘You'll survive and find
our
babies.' Not
my
babies. It all makes sense, Liam. She waited all these years to begin her search because she couldn't tell David that she had killed his daughters. She told me that she refused to discuss the Holocaust or any part of it with David or anyone else for many years.

“David never knew he had daughters. Don't you remember her saying that David wanted daughters? Do you remember how Arthur derided her in court, saying she only wanted a daughter, not a son? She couldn't do it, Liam. She couldn't tell David that he
did
have daughters and that she'd heaved them out of the window of a moving train and probably killed them.

“Lena was crippled with guilt, but she was too afraid to find out about the babies while David was still alive. It was all bottled up inside of her, and a few years ago it was just too much. She's in her eighties, and if she's ever going to keep that promise, she'd better do it now. So, she made up the story about Karolina and a desire to return to Poland to find out what happened to Karolina's twins. It was all a cover-up.

“When I gave her your news, that the babies had survived, she became hysterical like nothing I'd ever seen. She reacted as only a mother could. Now we have confirmation from Muriel. What possible reason would there be for Muriel to refuse to help her friend? Think about it. Because she'd have to reveal the truth and she feared that telling the truth would hurt Lena.”

“Are you going to tell Lena that you know?”

“Not right now. There's no reason to do that, and I think she's too vulnerable, too susceptible to a breakdown. For the time being, let's just say you found out that Karolina's twins survived.”

“How are you going to handle the trial?”

“That's a good question. I haven't figured that one out yet. Peterson wouldn't give me more than two weeks, so I'll have to be ready. I've subpoenaed Lena's doctor; he'll be a good witness. I have her medical records. I've subpoenaed Mr. Forrester, the IDA agent. I'll do the best I can. How close are you to finding out anything more about the children?”

“Pretty damn close on one. The other one is a dead end—the family originally lived in Wroclaw but moved in the early fifties with no forwarding address. At least, not one I can find. Remember, Poland was behind the Iron Curtain, a Communist puppet, and all of its official records were secret. They were only released within the last twenty years. Digging through these archives is impossible.”

“But you're close on one of the girls, right? If you find one, that's all we need.”

“Well, maybe. If she's still alive, if the woman would be cooperative, if she would agree to testify, if she knew she was adopted, if she knew she was tossed from a railroad train, if she was the right age, and if their DNA matched. There's a lot of ‘ifs.' I'm zeroing in, but you're not giving me very much time.”

“I'm giving you all I have.”

“Okay. Talk to you later. Love you.”

Catherine returned to the conference room, where Lena and Gladys were engaged in an animated conversation.

“Lena, are you ready to finish up?”

“There's not much more. I've told you almost everything I know. When we got to Chicago, David opened up a tailor shop. What else would he do? But, as I told you, David was an entrepreneur.”

“Don't tell me he smuggled cigarettes.”

Lena laughed. “No. But he bought a couple little grocery stores in the neighborhood, and he invested his money wisely. He and I studied the financial markets together, and we became quite astute on market movements. Together we formed D. Morris Woodward Investments. Sixty-two years ago, we had Arthur.”

Catherine held up her hand. “Let me stop you for a minute. When did you first start talking to David about Karolina's twins?”