The Underground Reporters (5 page)

The weeks and months dragged by slowly for John. There was nothing to do and so few places to go. He felt cooped up, spending most of his days in his room, or in the courtyard behind the apartment. He kicked his soccer ball against the wall and dreamed of an end to the restrictions. “When will I be able to go back to school, or play on the streets again?” he pleaded to his anxious parents. “You told me things would get better, but they are just getting worse.” His parents turned away and would not look at him. They had no answers.

In Budejovice, as in other cities occupied by the Nazis, many Jews lost their jobs. To save money and help make ends meet, a lot of Jewish families gave up their large apartments and shared accommodations with one another. When John’s father was forced to close his office and his
medical practice, and was no longer permitted to work as a doctor, he invited a Jewish family to move in with them. He spent the hours gardening for another Jewish family as a way to pass the time. But if anyone came to call with a medical problem, he was happy to offer his services. These new Nazi laws would not stop him from providing medical care to those who needed him.

In the meantime, the family continued to spend their savings. “How long can we live like this?” asked John’s mother. She was worried that their money would run out and they would have nothing to live on. Luckily, Karel was able to help. He managed to get a job cleaning house for two elderly people. It did not pay a lot, but the small amount of money he earned relieved some of the family’s financial worries.

But everything else kept getting worse. Where would it end, John wondered. When would things go back to the way they had been? How much worse could it get? No one knew the answer. All they could do was wait and hope that life would soon return to the way it had been before the dreadful day when the Nazis marched in.

CHAPTER
5
L
AWS AND
R
ESTRICTIONS
July 1939

A new decree was announced in town. Jewish men were ordered to work on the banks of the Vltava River. Each spring, swollen from the winter’s rain and snow, the river threatened to overflow and flood the town. The only way to control it was to dredge the bottom of the river, digging up sand and rocks, filling boats with this dirt and then piling it on the banks of the river to hold back the water. In the past, hired laborers had done this job. But now, more than one hundred Jewish men were ordered to take over the work. Among them was Beda’s father. “How can the Nazis expect you to do this kind of manual labor?” Beda’s mother asked. “You are an educated man.”

“I’ll be fine,” Mr. Neubauer replied. “It will keep me busy, and make me strong. Besides, I’ll earn a bit of money. And you know how much we need money.”

His wife bit her lip but said no more. They were desperate for money now that he was no longer permitted to work. Besides, an order was an order. And so the very next day, at the crack of dawn, Beda’s father and the
other Jewish men reported to the river for their first day of hard labor.

Jewish men were ordered to do forced labor, in this case dredging the river to prevent flooding.

The work was filthy and backbreaking. Soft-skinned hands, unaccustomed to shoveling and hauling rocks, became blistered and callused. Often, men fell into the freezing water, fully clothed. Beda’s father did not complain, but each night Beda and Frances watched as their mother tended to his cuts, sores, and aching muscles. Still, they all knew it was the only way to earn money.

Before the Nazi occupation, Frances had been attending a German school in Budejovice. But it was hard being the only Jewish girl in a school full of Christians. For some time, she had felt the other children turning against her. They had whispered behind her back, pointed at her, and called her names. “Dirty Jew,” some had jeered as they pushed and shoved her. Frances’ parents finally switched her to a Czech school, where things were better. But by the summer of 1939, she too was forbidden to attend school. She consoled herself by teaching Beda at home, as she had when he was just a little boy.

One day, Beda, Frances, and Reina made plans to go to the movies.
Finally we’re doing something fun,
thought Beda. “Be careful,” his mother said as the children went out the door. “Stay together and talk to no one.” It was becoming more dangerous for Jews to walk on the street these days, but the three young people hardly worried at all. They were going to see
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,
and they were too excited to think about danger. They sat in the balcony of the theater and reveled in the bright colors of the animation, their eyes wide with pleasure and anticipation. The only entertainment at home was radio, and movies with actors were in black and white. But this – this was magic.

The very next day, a notice appeared in the newspaper announcing that Jews were no longer permitted to go to the movie theater.

Soon, Beda and his family were forced to change apartments. The Nazis wanted to use their building because of its desirable location across from the railway station, since German soldiers were regularly coming and going by train. The Neubauers moved into a smaller apartment that they shared with another family. It was cramped, and thirteen-year-old Frances hated sharing her space. Understanding this, her parents began to talk about sending her away to live with a family overseas. She would be safe there, and maybe she would even find a way to send money back home.

In preparation for leaving, Frances had her passport photo taken, wearing a dark red dress with a stylish hat made by her aunt. But before she could go, a new law was passed. Jews could no longer leave the
country. Frances’ family scrambled to make other plans. They decided that, if Frances could no longer attend school, perhaps learning a trade would come in handy. “You’re so interested in clothing and fashion,” said her father. “You could help your Aunt Elsa in her dressmaking business. We’ll send you to stay with her and learn the trade.” He wrote to Aunt Elsa, who said she would be glad to have Frances come to her home in Brno, about two hundred kilometers (125 miles) from Budejovice.

Frances at the age of fourteen, just before she left for Brno.

“But she lives so far away,” cried Frances. “I don’t want to leave.”

“Yes, it is a long way,” agreed her father. “But you’ll be safe there. You must go.”

And so Frances sadly said goodbye to her family. At the railway station she held onto Beda. “Promise me you’ll write,” she said.

Beda nodded. He didn’t trust himself to speak without crying.

“And promise you’ll keep reading,” Frances continued.

With that, she boarded the train. She had no plans for when she might come back, and no idea how long she would be gone.

CHAPTER
6
W
AR IN THE
W
ORLD
S
EPTEMBER
1939

The Jewish families in Budejovice continued to feel the restrictions tightening around them, as the Nazi soldiers lived in their town and ruled it. One day in September 1939, John walked into the living room to find his parents huddled around the radio, their faces gloomy. John moved closer to hear the radio, and recognized the voice at once. It was Adolf Hitler, shouting out a proclamation to what sounded like a mass of cheering supporters. “What is he saying?” asked John.

“Hitler’s armies have invaded Poland,” his mother replied. “Britain and France will have to stop them now. There’s going to be a war, a very big war.” Her voice trembled as she glanced over at her husband.

Hitler’s speech continued from the radio. “The Jews are our misfortune,” he shrieked. “Workers of all classes and of all nations, recognize your common enemy.”

John looked at his parents and he felt afraid. It was one thing to worry about the occupation of Czechoslovakia; that was scary enough. But they had hoped that Hitler would settle for the territory he now held – that
things would not get worse, and would eventually get better. Now, the reports on the radio confirmed their worst fears. Hitler was trying to take over all of Europe, country by country.

Day after day, John and his family listened to the radio. Within one month of Germany invading Poland, the Polish army was defeated. The Nazis continued their push, moving against Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. And still Hitler pressed forward. As frightening as it was to hear about his victories, the Jewish families of Budejovice were hungry to know the truth about what was happening around them.

All across Europe, anti-Jewish activities were on the rise. As in Czechoslovakia, education was restricted for Jewish children, and adults were no longer permitted to own businesses or even work for their old employers. Like John’s father, Jewish doctors, nurses, dentists, and lawyers could no longer practice their professions. All Jews over the age often were ordered to wear yellow stars to mark them as outcasts. Jewish men were being taken away and forced to work for the Nazis, constructing buildings and railway tracks.

Still, John’s parents tried to keep up a brave face. They didn’t want to worry their children. But John was not fooled. Late one night, he left his bed and tiptoed into the living room. Once again his parents were huddled around the radio. Karel sat sullen and withdrawn in a chair. John bent closer so he could listen in on his parents’ conversation.

“Jews are trying to escape from countries all across Europe. But it’s
becoming more and more difficult,” John’s mother said, to the radio boomed in the background.

“I can’t imagine leaving our home,” replied his father.

John’s mother continued, “In Germany, all Jewish passports have been stamped with the letter ‘J’ to prevent Jews from leaving for Switzerland. Those who can afford it have tried to obtain illegal passports and smuggle themselves to safer countries. Some lucky families have managed to escape to freedom this way. But many have been caught and sent back to their homes, or immediately put in prison and punished.”