Fire and Steel, Volume 6

by Gerald N. Lund

  Lisa watched her as she licked her lips. “Uh . . . Miki, could I have just one bite?”

  “I can cut you your own piece, Lisa,” Arnie said.

  “No, no. I just want one bite.”

  “Of course,” Miki said as she slid her dish partway across the table.

  Lisa half stood and leaned across the table, cutting a piece with her fork. She speared it and put it in her mouth. “Oh, my,” she said after a moment. “That is delicious.” And she leaned over again and took a second bite.

  As she sat back, she glanced at Arnie. What she saw on his face stunned her. He was staring at her, his eyes wide, his expression almost glazed, almost. . . . The right word escaped her. His countenance had changed, and she was puzzled by it. And then it hit her. She was wearing a short-sleeved, cotton sweater that was soft pink in color. It was one of her favorites because it set off her light hair and blue eyes nicely. When Arnie had joined them for dinner, she had been pleased that she had brought it.

  Now she realized that when she had leaned across the table for the cake, the fabric had stretched tightly across her chest. And that she had been directly in front of him. Instantly she felt her face go hot and had to look away quickly. Fortunately, Miki once again had eyes only for her major and hadn’t seen any of that. But Arnie Klempke had. Lisa could see it in his eyes. She could see it on his face. And clearly, he had very much liked what he had seen. Then noticing that she was staring at him, Arnie’s face flushed and he looked away quickly, as if something else had suddenly caught his attention.

  And in that instant, something clicked in Lisa’s mind. In that single moment, she understood with perfect clarity what was going on. And what had been going on all day. Her face was suddenly so hot that she felt like it was going to burst into flame. Totally flustered, she looked away, then hastily bent down and picked up her purse, looking for something—anything!—that would give her an excuse to keep her face averted. As she did that, the word she had been searching for popped into her head. Hunger! His look had been one of raw hunger. For her!

  And with that flash of insight, everything else fell into place. Miki coming to camp. The lies about her research. The tour of Lebensborn Haus. Miki and Lisa getting separate bedrooms even though both of their bedrooms had two beds. Major Reidell and Miki’s more-than-friendship relationship. Lieutenant Klempke just happening to show up just in time for dinner.

  “Lisa? You’re white as a ghost. Are you all right?” Miki reached across the table to take her hand.

  Lisa shook her head as she lifted her purse into her lap with one hand and covered her face with the other. “I. . . .” She feigned a groan. “I don’t know what happened.” She kept her face averted from Arnie, who was now staring at her too. “I just. . . . uh . . . There is this shooting pain in my head.” She pushed back her chair and quickly got to her feet, wishing she could die on the spot. “I . . . I think my headache is coming back.”

  Arnie pushed back his chair and got up awkwardly, starting to come around toward her. “Shall I call a doctor?”

  Lisa managed a shaky laugh. “Nein! Nein! Silly me. I think I’m just tired. But I have some aspirin in my purse. If you’ll excuse me, I will be back in a few moments.”

  “Are you sure?” The major asked, on his feet now too.

  Miki waved him back down. “I’ll go with her. We’ll be right back.”

  Lisa didn’t wait for her. Ignoring the curious looks she was getting, she crossed the room in quick, short steps and pushed through the powder room door. She set her purse down on the counter, then swung around to face the door, jaw tight, fists clenched.

  When Miki burst through the door, her face registered deep concern. “Lisa, are you—”

  “I know what you’re up to,” Lisa cried. “How could you?”

  “What?” Miki stopped. “How could I what?”

  “You lied to me, Miki! Research? What a laugh. You and Major Reidell. Separate bedrooms. It all fits now.”

  Miki, clearly taken aback, started to protest, then suddenly tipped her head back and laughed derisively. “Well, well. Little Lisa has finally come to the party.”

  “How could you do that?”

  “Because it is time you grow up. It is time you stop being little Miss Goody-Goody Pants. It’s time you do your duty for the party and the Reich. It’s time your father and mother realize that they are skating on very thin ice. That’s why I brought you here and why we’re not leaving until it’s done. You, my dear, are about to give yourself to the Fountain of Life.”

  It had come out in such a torrent of hate and invective that Lisa was stunned.

  “I won’t. I won’t do it.”

  “Oh, come on, Lisa. I saw how you looked at Arnie. He’s a wonderful man. Great lineage. Strong family. Stunningly good looking. Kurt picked him out especially for you.” She stepped closer, smirking now. “Don’t worry. You can stay here until the baby comes. No one has to know. Not your mommy. Not your daddy. Nor Benji either, for that matter. You’ll always be his innocent little—”

  Lisa’s hand flashed out so fast, Miki had no chance to react. The crack of Lisa’s palm connecting with Miki’s cheek sounded like a gunshot in the confined space. Miki fell back a step, one hand raised to ward off another blow.

  “I will not do it!” Lisa said, her voice low and trembling. Then it turned to pleading. “This is not what I am, Miki. Not who I am! How could you ever think it was?”

  Miki’s fists came up and she took a step forward, her eyes venomous. “Meaning that you’re not like me, right? Little Miss Purity. Not someone used. Not someone tainted.”

  Lisa stepped back. “You are despicable. I’m going home, Miki. The party is over.”

  Just then, the door to the powder room opened, and a woman started to come in. Both girls whirled. “Not now!” Miki barked at the woman. Startled, she hurriedly backed out and disappeared.

  As Miki turned back, Lisa started to push past her. But then, chest rising and falling, Lisa stopped. “You go ahead and have your night with the major. But then, you’d better run, Miki. You’d better find a place to hide. For when I tell Papa what you did here today, I’m not sure anyone can guarantee your safety anymore.”

  She roughly shoved Miki out of the way and started to walk out, but Miki grabbed her arm, jerking her around hard. She stuck her face right up next to Lisa’s. “Oh no, little girl. You will tell Uncle Hans nothing. You will go back out to our table and put a smile on that stupid face of yours and tell Arnie that you are feeling much better now. And then you will put your arm through his, and you will walk him back to your room, and you will assure him that you are feeling just fine.”

  Lisa yanked free of her. “I won’t. I don’t care what you or he or the major does to me.”

  “And tomorrow,” she went right on as if Lisa had not spoken, “you and I will kiss our men goodbye, and I will take you back to camp. And I will come again in August, and if you are not with child, then you and I will come back to Lebensborn Haus again. And that will continue again and again until you have fulfilled your duty to the Führer and to the Reich. Then and only then will I get out of your life. Do you hear me?”

  “You have lost your mind!” Lisa again tried to push past her, but again, Miki spun her around. “Oh, come on, Lisa. Ask me why you would ever agree to such a thing.”

  Lisa pulled free again, but something in Miki’s voice stopped her now.

  There was a slow, triumphant smile. “Would it help you to know that Major Kurt von Reidell is the favorite nephew of Second Reichsführer–SS Joseph Berchtold? You may have heard of him. In the command structure of the SS, he is second only to Heinrich Himmler. Should a report of your unwillingness to participate tonight reach Uncle Berchtold’s ears, your father will simply disappear without a trace.” Miki leaned in, her eyes like flint. “You’ve read about that in the papers, haven’t you? How
the SS comes in the middle of the night, and people disappear without a trace?”

  When she saw the horror in Lisa’s eyes she laughed in her face, then stepped back and bowed, motioning toward the door. “If you think that I am bluffing, my dear little Mormon girl, then you are free to go.”

  As the two young women came out of the powder room a few moments later, Lieutenant Arnhuss Klempke got to his feet and quickly came over to meet them. “Are you all right, Lisa?” he asked anxiously. “You’re very pale.”

  “It’s. . . . No, I am all right. It will take a few minutes for the aspirin to work, but I’m all right.” She walked up to him and linked her arm through his, startling him. She smiled up at him. “I think a walk in the night air will help.” She turned to Miki and the major. “We won’t need a ride.” She smiled up at Arnie, then back at them. “See you in the morning, then?”

  Miki was all warmth again. “Ja, ja. Let’s all have breakfast before we leave.”

  9:29 p.m.—Lisa’s Room, Lebensborn Haus

  As Arnie shut and locked the door behind them, he reached for Lisa, but she neatly sidestepped him and moved to the bed. “Not yet,” she said. She picked up the small valise with her things in it. “I brought something special to wear. I’ll only be a minute.”

  He sighed as she moved to the bathroom door. “I saw some wine in the cupboard,” she said over her shoulder. “Why don’t you pour us some?”

  His head came up. “I thought you didn’t drink wine.”

  “I don’t normally, but. . . .” She smiled shyly at him, then went inside the bathroom door and locked it. She lowered the toilet lid and placed the valise on it, opening it. Moving quickly now, she stripped off her sweater and skirt and let them fall to the floor and got the clothes from the valise that she had planned to wear on the way back the next day. As she put them on, she called through the door. “Arnie?”

  “Yes?”

  “I am afraid that I threw up on myself in the powder room. Would you mind terribly if I took a quick bath?” She turned the water on in the tub full blast before she heard his reply. Moving swiftly, she put on her stockings and her walking shoes. That done, she moved to the window, undid the latch, and carefully pushed it open. She stood back for a moment, sizing up the opening. It would be tight, but she could make it. She took her purse, pushed it out the window, and let it drop softly onto the balcony. Then she reached down and shut off the water. Listening carefully for a moment, she was pleased to hear a cork pop. Good. Reaching down, she splashed vigorously with her hand. “I’ll only be about five minutes,” she called.

  “All right,” he called back. “I’ll be waiting.”

  Less than a minute later, she dropped softly onto the grass, looked around quickly to make sure she had not been seen, and raced off into the night.

  Chapter Notes

  In mid-December 1935, SS Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler formally initiated the Lebensborn Society. This was viewed as necessary to combat the low birth rate in Germany at that time, which was partially due to high abortion rates. This was done in greatest secrecy since Himmler wisely surmised that if it were known, it would shock even some of those most loyal to the party. And the negative publicity from the world would have been enormous.

  The first house established for the Lebensborn project was in the village of Steinhöring in Bavaria, as described in these chapters, including the cribs out on the lawn. Other homes were quickly established as the program spread throughout Germany. When the war broke out in 1939, additional homes were set up in the conquered countries. In 1945, the Allies liberated the home at Steinhöring and found 300 children there, ranging in age from six months to six years.

  As the Lebensborn program was taken into conquered territories, an estimated one quarter of a million children were taken from their homes and put into the program. Some of these were as old as ten. They were taken from their families and shipped to new homes. On further screening, some children were deemed not fit for the program and were either offered for adoption to selected German families or were sent off to concentration camps. Records show that some children who were sent to the camps were rejected for such things as “drooping shoulders and protruding ears” or because they were labeled as “totally useless.”

  The young women of Germany were indoctrinated in the Hitler Youth Program that their duty was to raise children for the Fatherland, so many of them readily accepted the invitation to offer themselves as partners to the SS officers and men. How many women actually participated, or how many children were born, has not been determined, but it was very likely in the thousands.

  One of the nicknames for the homes was Lusttempels, or “Temples of Lust.” To the SS officers, who were already fanatically loyal to Hitler and the Reich, this was seen as an especially appreciated “perk” and further deepened their commitment to the Reich. Himmler’s statement about the bonds of matrimony not being a strict requirement is accurate. Later studies showed that about sixty percent of the women who participated were not married.

  Typically, the women came to the homes as their time for delivery neared, staying there until after the birth. With few exceptions, they left the babies at the homes and returned to their lives. The children were then cared for and “educated” until they were ready to be placed in the Hitler Youth Program or with loyal families. Later studies showed that many of the children turned out to be autistic due to the fact that they were left in their cribs with little interaction and without any “mothering” adults during those formative years (sources include www.toptenz.net/10-interesting-details-about-the-nazi-lebensborn-program.php; “The Nazi Party: The Lebensborn Program: 1935–1945,” www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-quot-lebensborn-quot-program; “The Child Robbery Machine of the Nazis,” www.spiegel.de/einestages/ss-lebensborn-a-948211.html).

  June 18, 1935, 12:19 a.m.—Eckhardt Home, Munich

  Hans Eckhardt groaned and rolled over, raising his head off the pillow. As he heard the phone in the kitchen ringing, he groaned again. Moving quickly now, he rolled out of bed, grabbed his robe, and moved toward the door. He glanced at the bed. Gut. So far Emilee was still sleeping. He slipped through the door, carefully pulled it shut, then hurried down the hall and into the kitchen. He snatched up the phone. “Hallo!”

  A woman’s voice spoke in his ear. “Is this Herr Hans Eckhardt?”

  “Ja.”

  “I have a collect call from Fraulein Alisa Eckhardt. Will you accept the charges?”

  “Uh . . . ja, ja. Of course.”

  Two minutes later, Hans burst back into the bedroom and turned on the light, then rushed over and sat down on the bed beside his wife. She was already stirring, but he took her by the shoulders and shook her gently. “Emilee, wake up.”

  12:27 a.m.

  As Hans climbed into the car, Emilee grabbed for his hand. “Where is she again?”

  “In a little village called Zorneding, just off Highway 304. I looked on the map. It’s about twenty-five or thirty miles from here.”

  “And she gave you no explanation for why she’s there?”

  “No, but she is very frightened and begged me to hurry. We are to drive through the village once, then meet her at the south outskirts of the town where there is a village sign. And no, she did not tell me why the SS is looking for her. But she told me three different times that she is not hurt in any way. And to hurry. It’s important that we get there before daylight.”

  “Oh, Hans. What is happening? Why isn’t she at camp? It’s the middle of the night.”

  Hans took a breath. “Emilee. I know this is very upsetting. I’m upset too. But she was in a phone booth and she said she couldn’t talk for more than a minute lest she be seen.”

  “And she specifically asked you to bring Alemann with you? That doesn’t make sense either. Why Alemann?”

  Hans squeezed her hand. “Because she asked for him. None of
it makes sense. But she’s not hurt. That’s good. She’s in trouble, and we’ll get her. I’ll call you.”

  1:38 a.m.—Zorneding, Eastern Bavaria

  “There’s the sign,” Alemann said, pointing ahead of them to the right.

  “Got it.” Hans took his foot off the gas pedal and turned off the headlights, letting the car roll to a stop. In the moonlight they could just make out the writing on the sign: Village of Zorneding, Pop. 346. Suddenly a figure stepped out from a thicket of trees and undergrowth. It was Lisa. She ran to the car, opened the back door, and jumped in. “Go, Vati. Don’t go back through the village. I think someone may have seen me.”

  As he did as she instructed, Alemann turned in his seat. “Lisa, before you say anything else, when and where did you last see them looking for you?”

  “About an hour ago. In another village east of here. I don’t remember the name of it. But they didn’t see me. I’ve stayed off the roads or in the deep shadows the whole time.”

  “Good girl,” Hans said over his shoulder.

  Alemann turned to Hans. “They’re going to guess that she called you. I suggest we don’t get back on the highway, but make our way back to Munich via back roads only.” As Hans nodded, Alemann had another thought. “Let’s find a safe place and pull off. Then Lisa can tell us everything.”

  “Yes,” Lisa said eagerly. “We can’t go home. They may already be waiting for us.”

  Hans looked at her in the rearview mirror. “Oh, Lisa, what is happening?”

  She reached across the seat and threw her arms around his neck and started to sob. “Thank you, Papa. Thank you for coming to get me.”

  1:46 a.m.—Country Lane, Eastern Bavaria

  By unspoken agreement, they didn’t speak as Hans drove slowly, headed south. About three miles farther on, he found a little two-track road that turned off into a forested area. There was a full moon, so he turned off the lights and drove slowly until they came out into a small meadow. He pulled to a stop, shut off the engine, then turned to his daughter. “All right, Lisa. Come up here and sit between me and Alemann and tell us what has happened.”