In the Shadow of the Storm

by Ella Zeiss

  ‘Can I . . . May I see him?’

  ‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you. There is always the possibility that he is a traitor after all. You wouldn’t want to declare your sympathies for anyone in that situation, would you? It might create the impression that you don’t mind what he thinks, or even that you share his opinions. Think of the children, Comrade.’

  ‘Of course,’ Anna said, lowering her eyes. ‘Thank you for receiving me.’

  ‘It was my pleasure.’ He stood up to help her into her coat.

  ‘Have a good evening,’ Anna mumbled. He patted her shoulder reassuringly and then the door fell closed behind her.

  Anna was lost in dark brooding thoughts when their front door flew open. Erich slammed it behind him, looking furious.

  ‘Erich!’ Anna was about to start scolding him when Rita ran over with a panic-stricken gasp.

  ‘You’re bleeding!’

  Anna hadn’t noticed but her foster-daughter was right. Erich’s lip was torn. Dirty snow was stuck to his coat and in the warmth of the room was beginning to drip onto the floor in a dark grey trickle.

  ‘What happened?’ she asked. She turned his face to the light in alarm.

  ‘It’s nothing.’ Roughly Erich pulled himself away and wiped his mouth.

  ‘It doesn’t look like nothing to me. Were you in a fight?’

  He looked away defiantly.

  For a moment Anna had no idea what to say. This wasn’t the son she knew. He was usually so mature and sensible and she was ill-prepared for this situation. She really had enough worries right now without Erich suddenly deciding to rebel. It was two days since her visit to Boris Alexeyevich but they’d had no word from him.

  ‘Should I fetch the first aid box?’ Yvo asked, having put down her book and come over.

  Anna pulled herself together. The questions would have to wait until she had cared for Erich’s wound. ‘Yes, fetch some swabs and the bottle of hydrogen peroxide, please.’

  Yvo ran off and was back in a second with everything they needed. ‘Let me do it!’

  ‘All right,’ Anna said, standing back. She had already noticed her daughter’s interest in medicine. Most girls her age would turn away in disgust at the sight of a cut knee, but Yvo had already taken a first aid course and often said she would like to become a doctor one day.

  Yvo carefully soaked a cotton swab in the solution. ‘This is going to burn a bit,’ she said seriously to Erich, who reacted by looking at her in annoyance. ‘Don’t move.’ She pressed the cotton swab onto the bleeding cut on his lip.

  Erich gasped and tried to push her away, but she wasn’t daunted by that. She continued to repeat the procedure until she was satisfied with the results.

  ‘That should heal up nicely now,’ she said.

  ‘It would have anyway,’ Erich grumbled.

  ‘Are you finally going to tell me what happened?’ Anna asked him sternly.

  ‘I had a minor difference of opinion with Sashka,’ he said reluctantly.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  Erich drew a sharp breath and frowned at his mother. ‘He called my father a despicable traitor, an enemy of the people. I didn’t agree and my fists didn’t either.’

  ‘You hit someone because he said something nasty about your father? Why couldn’t you just ignore him?’ Anna was counting all the consequences he might have to face in her mind. Could he be held to account? He was only just sixteen after all, and not an adult yet.

  ‘Why shouldn’t I defend myself if he and his mate ambush me and start calling me a filthy Fascist pig?’

  ‘They attacked you?’

  ‘Yes. Don’t worry, I fought them off, then I ran for it.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Anna said, hugging her son unhappily. He was already half a head taller than she was and she had to pull him towards her to kiss his forehead.

  ‘It’s not your fault,’ he murmured.

  ‘I’m proud of you.’

  ‘What for?’ he answered bitterly. ‘For running away?’

  ‘No, because you managed to keep a clear head. It would be no use to anybody if you or one of the others were seriously injured.’

  Erich shrugged his shoulders crossly and took off his coat. ‘Sorry,’ he added when he noticed the dirty puddle of water on the floor.

  ‘I’ll take care of that,’ Yvo said hastily, and went to fetch a cloth. ‘You lie down.’

  Heavily Erich let himself drop onto a chair. ‘Is there any news?’ he asked more quietly.

  ‘No.’ Anna shook her head sadly, then looked at them all keenly. ‘Until the issue with Papa is resolved, you must all be especially careful. Understand? If someone tries to insult you or get your back up, don’t allow yourselves to be provoked. Simply walk away and don’t react. You can’t change their minds if that’s what they think in any case.’

  ‘But I don’t want them to get away with it,’ Erich said, still full of suppressed anger. ‘Papa’s no traitor or Fascist.’

  ‘We know that – you and me, all of us – and that’s all that matters. It’s no use to him if you get yourself in trouble. That won’t help anyone.’ She took a deep breath. ‘The spring holiday starts in ten days’ time. I think you should accompany Rita to her aunt’s to make sure nothing happens to her on the way, and then you could stay there until the end of the holidays.’ At least he’d be out of the way of bored boys with nothing to do in the holidays looking to pick a fight, and hopefully the matter would have been forgotten before he returned.

  Rita’s face broke into a huge smile, but Erich turned white all of a sudden. ‘You don’t think he’s coming back, do you?’

  Instead of answering, Anna looked away.

  March 1938, City of Armavir, North Caucasus

  ‘A happy eighth of March, Mutter!’ Harri said, handing his mother a bunch of violets he had picked for her to celebrate International Women’s Day. ‘And these are for you, Tante Gerda.’ He produced another bunch from behind his back.

  ‘How sweet of you. Thank you!’ His aunt gave him a loving smile and put the flowers next to the ones she had already received from her own boys. ‘They really brighten up the room.’

  Harri liked to see his aunt smile. That didn’t happen very often any more. Ever since Onkel Otto was taken on Christmas Eve, he hadn’t seen her happy at all. Even when she did smile or played with the children, her eyes were full of sadness and worry.

  He often talked to his two smaller cousins, Ludwig and Viktor, about what had happened. They had made all sorts of plans to help free Onkel Otto and wondered how he was faring. The two younger boys didn’t really understand how serious the situation was. They had no idea what his arrest meant. Harri had heard his mother and Tante Gerda whispering that men were being sent to prison for ten years, but he didn’t want to give up hope, even if his aunt had not managed to achieve anything so far despite all her letters to the GUGB.

  ‘Mutti, the postman is coming!’ they now heard Viktor calling loudly from outside, through the open window.

  Harri shook his head, amused. He didn’t see why his young cousin invariably got so excited. The postman came every day after all, even if he didn’t always have a letter for them, but today Viktor was in luck. He charged through the door laughing and ran to his mother, holding a white envelope.

  ‘Look, Mutti, we’ve got a letter!’

  ‘Let me see.’ Intrigued, Tante Gerda wiped her hands on her apron and took the envelope from him. Then her face went white. ‘It’s from the security commission.’

  Everyone in the room went as quiet as a mouse. Tante Gerda’s fingers were shaking so much she nearly dropped the letter as she tried to open it. Harri held his breath, his heart beating in his mouth. Surely this must at last be the news they had all been waiting for – that his uncle had been reprieved!

  Tante Gerda finally managed to pull the sheet of paper out of the envelope. She opened the letter and bent her head to read it.

  Harri, Ludwig, Viktor and Emma looked at
each other with hope in their eyes.

  Tante Gerda let out a shattering scream. The letter fluttered to the ground as she groped for the arm of a chair, trying not to fall.

  ‘What is it?’ Harri’s mother ran over to her as the sheet of white paper floated to the ground in front of him.

  Sobbing, Tante Gerda covered her face with her hands.

  Harri automatically picked up the piece of paper and unfolded it nervously. The handwriting was difficult to read but the words guilty, ultimate sentence, shot literally sprang out at him.

  Harri gasped, horrified. Unable to grasp this terrible message, he forced himself to reread the letter carefully. There must be some mistake, a misunderstanding, he must have read it wrong.

  But there it was, in black and white. His funny, kind uncle had been convicted of the terrible crimes he was accused of and had already been executed. When Tante Gerda sent off her last plea for mercy five days ago, he was already dead.

  Harri swayed. He couldn’t focus properly as his eyes looked around the room in a daze. How different the world seemed all of a sudden. How changed. As if his childhood had ended in that one moment.

  Tante Gerda threw her arms around her two sons, sobbing uncontrollably. The boys clung to her, terrified.

  Harri’s mother hugged his sister and stretched her other arm out to him. Her face was wet with tears, her large brown eyes misted over, her lips quivering. All Harri wanted was to flee into her arms too, to be held and comforted by her. He needed to feel that she would be there for him always, no matter what.

  He fought back the tears as best he could and dropped on his knees beside his mother, clinging on to her slender form with his sister. He had always felt so safe and protected when he did this, but not any more.

  There was no refuge for them in this world.

  ‘It can’t be true!’ Vater hit the table with his fist. The horror and pain over the death of his brother was written all over his face. ‘Crooks!’ he shouted. ‘A corrupt heartless bunch of crooks!’

  Harri hunched his shoulders and bent over his books.

  His sister came closer despite herself. Next door Tante Gerda was trying to put her devastated sons to bed.

  ‘Not so loud, Samuel, please!’ Mutter reached out to her husband but he shook her off roughly, his eyes wide with grief, hate and fear.

  ‘He was innocent!’ he kept saying. ‘Every point of the accusation was made up but they ended up shooting him anyway, for nothing. Three weeks ago!’ He began to sob and buried his head in his hands. ‘Do you know what this means?’

  ‘Yes, I know,’ Mutter said quietly. ‘It means that your brother is a convicted traitor to the people and we will all be made to feel it. The children at school and us . . .’ She said no more and took a deep breath. ‘We will have to be especially careful from now on, you hear?’ She looked at Vater tensely. ‘Which is why you should lower your voice right now. I can’t imagine what might happen if anyone heard you.’

  He snorted bitterly. ‘Aren’t we even allowed to say what we think within our own four walls any longer?’

  ‘Yes, we are,’ she said quietly, ‘but no one else must ever hear us.’ She pointed to the window, which was open a crack.

  ‘Has it come to this?’

  ‘It is far worse.’ Mutter pointed towards the closed door where the sounds of the bereaved family’s weeping could be clearly heard. ‘I don’t want to be in their position in a few weeks’ time.’ Her voice was shaking.

  ‘Forgive me, I am sorry,’ Vater whispered in a broken voice. Then he stood up and took her in his arms.

  ‘So am I, dreadfully so.’

  Harri felt his sister relax beside him. She hated it when their parents argued and was relieved it was over.

  He couldn’t calm down at all. He was sad and angry about what had happened to his uncle, but now he suddenly realised that it was pure coincidence that his father hadn’t been the one to be caught.

  Chapter 14

  March 1938, Settlement Sor-El, Soviet Republic of Komi

  Anna put her arm round Yvo’s shoulder as they walked home from the station. She saw her daughter secretly wipe away a tear and didn’t blame her. Her own heart was just as heavy. She was worried and sad and missing Rita already. She knew Yvo must be feeling even worse. The two girls couldn’t have been any closer if they had been real sisters, and the fact that Erich had gone too didn’t make it any easier. On the one hand, Anna was relieved that he wouldn’t be bullied by the boys of his age over the next couple of weeks. He had to put up with far more provocation than his sister and Anna would never have wanted Rita to take the long-distance journey all by herself. At the same time she was worried at the thought that, without her supervision, the two of them might grow closer than she thought wise. She would just have to trust the children not to overstep certain boundaries, and she had asked Agnes to keep an eye on the two of them just in case.

  Her ambivalent feelings about letting Erich go weren’t just because of his relationship with Rita. Wilhelm’s case had been heard two days ago; Boris Alexeyevich had been able to tell them this much at least, but she hadn’t heard how it had been decided. Secretly she was getting used to the idea that she wouldn’t see Wilhelm again for a long time. She refused to allow herself to think that he could end up in front of one of the many firing squads, but she had no doubt that his fate was precarious to say the least. If something were to happen to her as well, while Erich was away, Yvo would be left entirely on her own. In the end she had only allowed her son to depart after Maria had promised to take care of Yvo for a while if the worst came to the worst, but she wouldn’t be able to breathe easily until he was safely back home.

  ‘It all seems so empty,’ Yvo said miserably as they stepped into their apartment. She looked around, feeling lost.

  Anna forced a bright smile. She knew just how her daughter was feeling. It had been almost too crowded in here with all five of them at times, but now the rooms seemed lifeless and deserted.

  ‘They’ll be back,’ Anna said to comfort her. ‘Erich will be home by the time school starts again.’ She deliberately didn’t mention the other two.

  ‘I know,’ Yvo nodded. ‘I’m going out to the barn to milk the cow,’ she said quietly. ‘Maybe we can sell the extra milk at the market, or make cheese.’

  ‘That sounds like a good idea, darling.’ Anna watched as her daughter put on an apron and headed outside with a large bucket. She was so proud of her. Yvo had grown up too. She’d stopped being a little girl a long time ago. Without her help, Anna would have had difficulty keeping the house in order. Up until now Yvo and Rita had shared the chores. From now on Yvo would have to take on the bulk of the work even though she was only ten, and yet she never uttered a single word of complaint or accusation.

  Anna took off her coat, then put on her apron to start preparing the lunch. She was almost finished when the front door opened. Anna didn’t look up as she was sure it was Yvo with the full pail of milk. ‘Thank you, darling,’ she said, wiping her hands on her apron and turning to the door. ‘In twenty minutes we can . . .’

  The words stuck in her throat. Anna gasped, could hardly believe her eyes. ‘Willi?’ Laughing and crying all at once, she rushed into her husband’s arms with a shout of joy. Willi was standing in the doorway, smiling happily. He pulled her close and whirled her around.

  ‘Mama, what happened?’ Yvo ran into the house in alarm. The milk in the brimming pail lapped over the edge but she paid no attention. ‘Papa!’ She only just managed to put down the pail without knocking it over before she too leapt into his arms. ‘Papa!’ Yvo sobbed again and again, wrapping her arms around his neck so tightly that he pretended to choke. ‘How are you?’

  Yvo’s greeting was so wild that Anna stepped back from her husband for a moment and had a quick look at him. He was wearing the same clothes as on the day of his arrest – creased and dirty but no worse for wear. All in all, Wilhelm looked remarkably unscathed.

  ‘I’m
absolutely fine now,’ he reassured her. Then he started looking around. ‘Where are the other two?’

  ‘Erich is taking Rita to her aunt’s. They only just left. They would so have loved to see you before they went. I’ll send a letter off to them straight away to let them know of your release.’ She faltered. ‘You have been released, haven’t you?’

  ‘Yes, I have,’ he nodded. ‘Boris Alexeyevich put in a very good word for me. He declared that I couldn’t have made that treasonable statement on the given day, because I was busy checking various data for him until late into the night. He also said that he had known me for many years and assured the commissioners that he could recognise a traitor if he saw one. They kept me locked up for a couple more days to seek further evidence, so they said, but in the end they had no choice but to let me go. Boris Alexeyevich has some weight in the local Party. Presumably they didn’t want to get on the wrong side of him.’

  ‘I am so relieved you’re here again,’ Anna said, relaxing at last. ‘I really hope they’ll leave you alone from now on.’

  ‘Of course they will,’ Wilhelm smiled. ‘They’ll have to accept that we’re simple law-abiding citizens at some stage.’

  ‘You will still have to be very careful though. Whoever accused you might not give up that easily.’

  Although Anna was overjoyed that her husband had returned, she hadn’t forgotten that there was someone out there who wanted to get rid of him.

  May 1938, City of Armavir, North Caucasus

  The knock on the door made everyone jump. Harri set down his spoon slowly and looked around in fear. The same tension he was feeling was mirrored in the surrounding faces. Even Viktor and Ludwig, who would have been the first to run to the door in the past, didn’t move and stayed where they were. Since Uncle Otto’s death, no one ever associated an unexpected letter or unannounced visit with any sort of good news any more.

  Another knock on the door.

  Vater wiped his mouth with his napkin and stood up. ‘Stay here,’ he said earnestly to the children. He needn’t have worried – they had no intention of going anywhere.